Welcome to the Knyghtly Armes Resource Library

We are pleased to provide an ever-growing collection of arms and armour photographs as a resource to students of Medieval history. We have been fortunate enough to view some of the finest Medieval collections in Europe including the Wallace Collection in London, Royal Armouries in Leeds, Musée de l'Armée in Paris, Legermuseum in Delft, La Real Armería in Madrid, and, most recently, the Imperial Armoury (Weltmuseum) in Vienna, Austria. Users of the Knyghtly Armes site are permitted to freely reproduce the digital images for non-commercial purposes. All that is required is for Knyghtly Armes to be acknowledged as the source.

Our digital library contains thousands of images of arms and armour, late medieval artwork, European castles and strongholds, in addition to photos from countless living history events over the years. As of 2026, all of our galleries have been transferred to the Knyghtly Armes Facebook page.

Transcription of “The Man That Will” English Fighting Treatise

The MS Harley 3542 is a compilation manuscript that contains a early- to mid-15th-century English fencing manual. It currently resides in the British Library, London. The fencing treatise, known as Man yt Wol ("The Man That Will"), comprises folios 82 through 83 and is bound between two alchemical compendia and a medical compendium. It is one of only three extant treatises on Medieval English martial arts. Knyghtly Armes has transcribed the original text and provided a side-by-side modern English translation.

Transcription of “The Play with the 2 Hand Sword in Verse”

Folios 84 and 85 of the MS Harley 3542 is a continuation of "The Man That Will" in verse form. The poem, titled as "The Play with the 2 Hand Sword in Verse" comprises folios 84 through 85. Knyghtly Armes has transcribed the original text and provided a side-by-side modern English translation.

Transcription of “Treatise of the Points of Worship in Arms by John Hill, Armorer Sergeant in the King’s Armory, 1434

Bodleian Library's Ashmole Collection MS 856, article 22 (pages 376-83) contain an incomplete treatise on judicial duels in England that is dated to 1434. It is entitled "Treatise of the Points of Worship in Arms by John Hill, Armorer Sergeant in the King’s Armory". Similare to Sir John Astley's Ordonances of Chivalry [MS M.775], it contains a section detailing how a man should be armed when it is to fight in a judicial duel on foot. Knyghtly Armes has provided a modern English translation of the transcription made during the reign of Charles II which was part of the Ashmolean Collection.