Note:  This is documentation from an old A&S entry.  I have not had the opportunity to revise it.

French Arming Cap,

Linen, circa 1250.

Based on illuminations in the Maciejowski Bible[1], France, c.1250

(M. 638, f.23v, The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York).

An arming cap is a quilted fabric cap which was worn separately or under additional head protection such as a chainmail coif, skullcap, or helmet.  The quilted cap provided a layer of comfort and protection between the chain mail coif and the head.  While chainmail is quite resistant to punctures, its flexibility provides little protection against crushing blows…which the padded arming cap does provide. 

Although there are many references to arming coifs in text, there are no known extant examples from this period or area, and due to the nature of an arming cap (usually being worn under another article) few clear images of an arming cap exist. 

I have found three manners of construction of padded arming coifs within period:

1. A cap constructed of a coiled rope, German, 15th century.  Currently housed in the Metropolitan Museum (See figure 1)[2]  I have found no mention of this technique being used for caps before this time.  Caps (although perhaps not intended for use with armor) made with this construction method were also used by the Teutonic people during the bronze age[3]
2. A leather undercap with an attached padded roll, c. 1240, on an effigy in Wells Cathedral (See figure 2)[4]
3. The padded arming coif shown several times in the Maciejowski Bible, c. 1250, created in France, currently residing at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York[5] (See attached figures).  A similar, extant coif was made around 1480 in Germany for use with a jousting helmet[6]. 

I chose to make an example of coif #3, a padded linen coif..  A padded arming cap could have been worn over a plain linen cap or next to the hair.  Then, a skull-cap with aventail or mail coif could have been worn over the arming cap.  There may also have been an additional roll of padded leather or cloth to support the great helm.[7][8]

Most items which were intended to be worn next to the skin were made of linen[9]

The most common stuffing items in this period would have been rags, grass, straw, tow, wool, or (surprisingly) cotton.  I did not have enough linen scraps to use for padding, and I did not want to use straw (for the sake of comfort and washability).  I also did not want to use wool because of its heat retention properties and I thought a hot, humid environment with steady friction and pressure might cause the stuffing to felt and shrink.  Since this item is to be a prize for a tournament and I did not know how much care the recipient would like to take with the item, I decided to use cotton batting.

About Cotton and its authenticity:

Normally, I would just footnote the use of a fiber, however, cotton is such a controversial subject that I feel I must address the issue.  The following is a quote from Textiles and Clothing:

"Raw unspun cotton was certainly imported in the 13th and 14th centuries, and was used as wadding for jousting garments, and for stuffing bed mattresses and coverlets; it cost 5d.-5 ½ d. per lb. in the 1330's.  …There is some evidence that it was used in making clothes for Richard II"[10].

Supporting this quote, in 1254, the French crusader-king, Saint Louis, slept on a mattress stuffed with cotton[11] as a form of penitence.  If cotton had been extremely rare and valuable, a cotton mattress would have been a sign of luxury rather than self-denial.  In addition, Saint Louis' use of cotton proves that cotton was used as stuffing in France[12] around 1250.  Cotton was processed in Italy.[13]  In fact, cotton was grown in Spain as early as the tenth century by the Moors, and Spanish historians claim that Andalusian cottons were exported all over the world. [14]  I suspect that the Spanish exported much less cotton after the Inquisition, hence the scarcity of cotton in Europe in the sixteenth century.

About the Construction of the Arming Cap:

I hand-sewed the lining pieces and outer pieces together with linen thread[15] using a tight running/backstitch[16] combination.  Then, I sewed the padding together, butting the edges so as to have no "seam ridge".  I then placed all the pieces together and tacked them in place.  I turned the raw edges in and used a hem stitch[17] to bind the lining and the outer layer together.  I then stitched several rows of quilting[18] using a running/backstitch combination (a running stitch would have given a "puckered" look and a double running stitch would have meant 1/3 more stitching with no noticeable improvement to the finished garment).  I used silk thread because it is stronger than linen thread[19] and hand-quilting thickly padded garments requires a good tug now and then.  I did not use any machines or technology which was unavailable in France in1250 to make this arming cap.

The straps were fashioned from scrap linen, sewn with silk thread, and attached to the inside of the hat.  None of the pictures have a good representation of the straps, so I chose to utilize a very simple possible construction rather than construct an elaborate hypothesis.

The following pictures from the Maciejowski Bible[20] give a few illustrations of men wearing arming caps, which I have blown up.  Notice the obvious difference between the gray patterned mail and the white, smooth arming cap.  These images were taken from a web page, however, I believe the images have not been altered, and black and white photocopies do not do the pictures any justice.

Additional photocopies are attached with commentary as well.