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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
A cuirass (/kwɪˈræs, kjʊəˈræs/ kwih-RASS, kyuu-RASS;[1] French: cuirasse; Latin: coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material.
The term originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word cuirace and the Latin word coriacea. The use of the term cuirass generally refers to both the breastplate and the backplate pieces; whereas a breastplate protects only the front, a cuirass protects both the front and the back of the wearer.
In Hellenistic and Roman times, the musculature of the male torso was idealized in the form of the muscle cuirass[2] or "heroic cuirass" (in French the cuirasse esthétique)[3] sometimes further embellished with symbolic representation in relief, familiar in the Augustus of Prima Porta and other heroic representations in official Roman sculpture. As parts of the actual military equipment of classical antiquity, cuirasses and corsets of bronze, iron, or some other rigid substance were used. Secondary protection for the breast was worn in earlier times by men-at-arms in addition to mail hauberks and reinforced coats. It was not until the 14th century that the plate armour became an established part of medieval armour.[4]
The Roman emperor Galba donned a cuirass just before he went to his death. Suetonius records in 12 Caesars that, "As [Galba] was offering sacrifice on the morning before he was killed, a soothsayer warned him again and again to look out for danger, since assassins were not far off. Not long after this he learned that Otho held possession of the camp, and when several advised him to proceed thither as soon as possible – for they said that he could win the day by his presence and prestige – he decided to do no more than hold his present position and strengthen it by getting together a guard of the legionaries, who were encamped in many different quarters of the city. He did however put on a linen cuirass, though he openly declared that it would afford little protection against so many swords."
The latter portion of the 14th century saw the cuirass gradually come into general use in connection with plate armour for the limbs until, at the close of the century, mail was phased out among the nobles (e.g., knights) except in the camail of the bascinet and at the edge of the hauberk. The cuirass was almost universally worn throughout its lifespan as a form of armour. The globule form of the breast-armour of the Black Prince, in his effigy in Canterbury Cathedral, 1376, intimates that a cuirass (as well as a hauberk) is to be considered to have been covered by the royalty-emblazoned jupon (surcoat) of the Prince.[4]
Historical cuirass, contrary to many modern reproductions, did not rest on the hips. Historical cuirass usually stopped somewhere around the midriff or navel in order to allow a sufficient range of movement to the wearer.[citation needed] A cuirass ending at the waist would severely limit the ability of the wearer to lean forward, backward, or sideways. Thus, to protect the rest of the torso, mail, or fauld were used, depending on the time period.
Early in the 15th century, plate armour, including the cuirass, began to be worn without any surcoat; but in the concluding quarter of the century the short surcoat, with full short sleeves, known as a "tabard", was in general use over the armour. While the surcoat was being phased out, small plates of various forms and sizes (and not always made in pairs, i.e., the plate for the sword-arm often being smaller and lighter than the one for the off-hand) were attached to the armour in front of the shoulders, to defend the otherwise vulnerable points where the plate defenses left a gap.[4]
About the middle of the 15th century, the breastplate of the cuirass was made in two parts; the lower adjusted to overlap the upper, held together with a strap or sliding rivet in order to add flexibility to the advantages plate armour had over mail. In the second half of the 15th century, the cuirass was occasionally superseded by the brigandine jacket, the medieval forerunner of the flak jacket. In essence, the brigandine jacket was constructed of metal plates sewn into a fabric jacket. The fabric was generally a rich material, and was lined throughout with overlapping scales of metal which were attached to the jacket by rivets, having their heads, like studs, visible on the outside.[4]
Around 1550, the breastplate piece of the cuirass was characterized by a vertical central ridge, called the tapul, having near its center a projecting point. Somewhat later, the tapul was moved lower on the breastplate. Eventually, the profile of the plate began to resemble a pea pod and, as such, was referred to as the peascod cuirass.[4] During the English Civil War (1642–1651), only the wealthiest and physically strongest men could afford this type of armour.
Corslets, provided with both the breast and back pieces, were worn by foot-soldiers in the 17th century, while their mounted comrades were equipped with heavier and stronger cuirasses. These defenses continued in use longer than any other single piece of armour. Their use never altogether ceased and in modern armies mounted cuirassiers, armed with breast and back plates as in the earlier days, have, to some degree, emulated the martial splendour of the body armour of the era of medieval chivalry.[4]
British, French, German, and Russian heavy cavalry wore cuirasses as part of their parade uniforms leading up to World War I. Although in the early part of the conflict, the French still wore their cuirasses into battle, for the most part they were covered with a cloth canvas for protection against the weather and to reduce enemy visibility, as well as their ornate neo-Roman style helmets. All other militaries had taken them out of combat use by World War II.
Some years after the Battle of Waterloo (1815), certain historical cuirasses were taken from their repose in the Tower of London and adapted for ceremonial service by the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals of the British Army's Household Cavalry.[4]
For parade purposes, the Prussian Gardes du Corps and other corps wore cuirasses of richly decorated leather.[4] The Pontifical Swiss Guard still wear cuirasses for swearing-in ceremonies, Christmas and Easter.
Cuirasses were manufactured in Japan as early as the 4th century.[5] Tankō, worn by foot soldiers, and keikō, worn by horsemen, were both pre-samurai types of early Japanese cuirass constructed from iron plates connected by leather thongs. During the Heian period (794–1185), Japanese armourers started to use leather as a material and lacquer for weatherproofing.
By the end of the Heian period, the Japanese cuirass had arrived at the shape recognized as part of iconic samurai armour. Scales of iron and leather, bound together by silk lace, were used to construct samurai armour.[6] The introduction of firearms to Japan in 1543 resulted in the development of a cuirass constructed of solid iron plates. The use of the samurai cuirass lasted until the 1860s, when the national army using conventional uniforms and weapons was established.[7] Samurai armour was last worn into battle during the Satsuma Rebellion (1877).[8]
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
A cuirass ( kwih-RASS, kyuu-RASS; French: cuirasse; Latin: coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word cuirace and the Latin word coriacea. The use of the term cuirass generally refers to both the breastplate and the backplate pieces; whereas a breastplate protects only the front, a cuirass protects both the front and the back of the wearer.
In classical antiquity, the muscle cuirass (Latin: lorica musculata), anatomical cuirass, or heroic cuirass is a type of cuirass made to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized male human physique. It first appears in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Originally made from hammered bronze plate, boiled leather also came to be used. It is commonly depicted in Greek and Roman art, where it is worn by generals, emperors, and deities during periods when soldiers used other types. In Roman sculpture, the muscle cuirass is often highly ornamented with mythological scenes. Archaeological finds of relatively unadorned cuirasses, as well as their depiction by artists in military scenes, indicate that simpler versions were worn in combat situations. The anatomy of muscle cuirasses intended for use might be either realistic or reduced to an abstract design; the fantastically illustrated cuirasses worn by gods and emperors in Roman statues usually incorporate realistic nipples and the navel within the scene depicted.
The Ksour Essef cuirass is an ancient triple-disc cuirass found in a Punic tomb in 1909 not far from Ksour Essef, Tunisia. This piece of armour is of Italiote origin and comes from Southern Italy. Traditionally, its discovery in Tunisia led researchers to link it to the expeditions of the Second Punic War led in Italy by the Carthaginian general Hannibal between 211 and 203 BC and, as a result, the piece is broadly dated to the 3rd century BC. This hypothesis, although tempting, is now widely questioned following in-depth examination of the various objects found in the tomb, which seem to rather suggest a date in the second half of the 4th century BC or, at least, before the First Punic War. The cuirass is nowadays kept in the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, as is the archaeological material found in the same tomb. It is still, a century after its discovery, one of the emblematic pieces of its ancient department.
The triple-disc cuirass was a type of bronze cuirass used in Southern Italy during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. It is named after the three discs, two on top and one on the bottom, which form a triangular plate of armor for the chest. The chest plate was connected to a back plate with shoulder- and side-plates. Modern scholars frequently call this armor a Samnite cuirass, but it is not clear that it was a symbol of their identity. It offered a greater amount of protection than the single-disc kardiophylax. According to an inventory by Horsnaes, the vast majority of triple-disc breastplates, at least thirteen, have been found at Poseidonia. Six of these have been dated to the period of 420–350 BC and one to the late fourth century BC. Burns gives a higher count of 38, of which only two have been found outside of Southern Italy: one at Vulci and the Ksour Essef cuirass at Carthage. All of these were found in graves. Burns argues that the triple-disc cuirass was developed in the central Apennine region of Italy. The earliest examples have been recovered from the necropolis at Alfedena in the Abruzzo and are dated to the second half of the fifth century BC. No examples of triple-disc cuirasses have been found in Campania, but it is the most frequently depicted type of armor on red-figure pottery from that region, which implies its use there as well. The appearance of the triple-disc cuirass in tombs and other representative artifacts from Campania, Lucania and Apulia coincides with the conquest of these regions by Samnite peoples.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.
