Brigantinų plokštelės iš Vilniaus pilių teritorijos
ENArchaeological artefacts from the Vilnius Lower Castle territory for several decades have been among the main sources for information on Lithuanian warfare and military-related history. The volume and variety of armour fragments alone surprises both Lithuanian and foreign researchers, and provides a wealth of valuable information for reconstruction of the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This article gives an analysis of Brigandine plates that have yet to be examined in Lithuanian historiography. It is very important that this gap be filled, and that the mentioned coat-of- armour plates found in the Vilnius Castles territory be scientifically investigated. The Brigandine plates from the Vilnius Castles territory are very varied. Unfortunately, due to the constructional features of this type of armour and the poor quality of the archaeological artefacts, typologisation of single details is very difficult, and in some cases even impossible. Thus, in this article the plates are grouped partly based on their shape and by the most common dimension, their height, which could in theory be the most uniting factor for grouping different plates. Therefore, classification of these plates is not based on their date but is purely relative, which should simplify the course of additional future research.As they were so widespread in Western Europe, Brigandine armour is rarely associated with the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nevertheless, archaeological data from the Vilnius Castles territory shows that Brigandine armour was not a very rare type of armour in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Even though the number of single artefacts is not so great, compared to other types of plate armour details, their sheer variety testifies to the great popularity of Brigandine armour not just among the military elite, but also regular soldiers. A majority of the Brigandine plates date to the late 14th-early 15th centuries. This trend is undoubtedly related to a period of unrest, sieges of the Vilnius Castles, the subsequent increase in troops in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the gradually increasing Westernisation of its army. It could be that this kind of armour appeared in the Vilnius Castles as a result of closer association between the soldiers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland and Livonia, and the presence of Polish soldiers in the castle garrison.
