It's often said that the Mongols had a secret weapon over their enemies; silk shirts which could stop an arrow in its tracks. But is there any truth to this? Here, we do a bit of medieval mythbusting as I demonstrate for you the origins of this claim and how it compares to the historical sources.

CHAPTERS:
1:21 Part 1: The Claim
2:30 Part 2: Previous Experimentation
5:15 Part 3: The Origins
9:02 Part 4: Actual Uses of Silk
12:40 Part 5: What do the Sources say about the Mongols wearing silk?
18:49 Conclusion

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FULL SOURCE LIST: (Primary, Secondary literature, included): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d...

PRIMARY SOURCES:

‘AtaMalik ‘AlaAlDin Juvaini. The History of the World Conqueror. Volume I. Translated by
John Andrew Boyle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.

Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China. Vol. III.
Missionary FriarsRashiduddinPegolottiMarignolli. Translated and edited by Henry Yule. London: Hakluyt Society, 1914.

Li ChihCh’ang. The Travels of an Alchemist: The Journey of the Taoist Ch’angCh’un from
China to the Hindukush at the summon of Chingiz Khan. London: Routledge & Sons, 1931.

Li Xinchuan. “Selections from Random Notes from Court and Country since the Jianyan Years,
vol. 2.” in The Rise of the Mongols: Five Chinese Sources. Translated and edited by Christopher P. Atwood, 4569. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2021.

Mission to Asia: Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China
in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Translated by a Nun of Stanbrook Abbey. Edited by Christopher Dawson. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck: His Journey to the Court of the Great Khan Möngke,
12531255. Translated by Peter Jackson. Edited by Peter Jackson and David Morgan. London: The Hakluyt Society, 1990.

Peng Daya and Xu Ting. “A Sketch of the Black Tatars.” In The Rise of the Mongols: Five
Chinese Sources. Translated and edited by Christopher P. Atwood, 93130. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2021.

Polo, Marco. The Description of the World. Translated and edited by A.C. Moule and Paul
Pelliot. London: George Routledge & Sons Limited, 1938.

The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century. 2
Volumes. Translated by Igor de Rachewiltz, Boston: Brill, 2004.

Song Zizhen. “SpiritPath Stele for His Honor Yelü, Director of the Secretariat.” in The Rise of
the Mongols: Five Chinese Sources. Translated and edited by Christopher P. Atwood, 1311. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2021.

ZhaoGong. “A Memorandum on the MongTatars.” in The Rise of the Mongols: Five Chinese
Sources. Translated and edited by Christopher P. Atwood, 7192. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2021.

Links to some videos mentioned:

“Arrows v’s silk shirts and other myths.” Tod’s Workshop, 19 Oct 2020.    • Arrows v's silk shirts and other myths  

Brian Olson. “Medieval Mythbusting: Silk Shirt vs Arrows.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mrEs...

“Warfare Research Series (Episode 1): Chinese Lamellar.” The Way of Archery, 10 June 2019.    • Warfare Research Series (Episode 1): ...  

“Warfare Research Series (Episode 3): Lamellar Revisited.” The Way of Archery, 30 September 2021.    • Warfare Research Series (Episode 3): ...  

MUSIC ATTRIBUTES:

“Throat singing Tuvan Chylandyk style,” Giovanni Bortoluzzi / CC BYSA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

The other music is provided by Epidemic Sound. http://www.epidemicsound.com