Historically what kind of feathers would have been used for helmet decoration? Did they have ostrich farms? Were things like scarves and feathers purely for show or did they have any significance?
>>1271683
I am unsure but I reckon it's just for show, I mean it looks hella fancy. And they either had farms or like places where they had ostriches, peacocks, pheasants or whatever feather they fancied. Doubt they ran out in the woods, tackled the first good bird and ripped a few feathers off.
Ostriches were common game in certain parts of africa and their plumes were traded via a long chain of middlemen, reaching civilization at the port of Aden where the unusual objects were distributed throughout the Islamic world, eventually being found by crusaders in the Levant who proudly displayed them as mementos of their adventures, soon it became a symbol of valor and their value increased promoting an expansion of the trade.
>>1271683
Ostrich feathers were the symbol of the Princes of Wales from the Black Prince onwards. They were a symbol and badge of the house of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses as well.
>>1271683
>Were things like scarves and feathers purely for show or did they have any significance?
Both. The richer you were the more garish you tried to make your armor, which included sticking as much shit as you could on top of your helmet. And as has already been said ostrich feathers were exotic and so added to the poshness.
>>1271683
Being fancy is its own significance. By showing off your wealth, the enemy would be more likely to capture than kill you. It's easier to just kill a commoner, but a nobleman with blinged out armor is worth the effort to keep alive and ransom.
Bird feathers.
Nah im just kidding, theres a lot of different birds which give big feathers, and they would be dyed too.
>>1273330
>>1273404
This desu
Dont forget that value prior to industrial production was directly related to the skill and labor hours of artisans/craftsmen and their guilds.
>More ornate = more skill = more time = more money to buy it, more street cred to flaunt it
It wouldn't be ostriches for most of Europe considering how far they would need to be imported. There are other birds which give large feathers.
They are worn for show, to make you look fancy, also taller, and in earlier times in certain cultures, as a signifier of rank.
They would not be removed for combat as someone is likely to come along claiming. They weight very little and grabbing them would just pull them straight out.
