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Noel you are mixing things, what you found is based on the first crusade which happened in the early 12c, here we have a Miles Christi from the 1320-50. The highmark of the Kingdom of Outremer, defender of the Faith.Noel Petroni wrote:More information found on a forum
I was reading one day a book by Amin Malouf about the Crusades as seen by the Arabs. In his book, he states twice (as far as I can remember) that the crusaders had long hair. Now, I'm aware that a lot of Normans participated in the crusades, and during the days of William the conqueror (just several years previously) they shaved the backs of their heads. I also have seen several examples of iconography in which western Europeans are shown with more or less short hair. Can someone please enlighten me on the 'doos the crusaders wore?
Crusaders came from several European countries, even though French and Germans probably were predominant; however, we doi know of Italians, Brits, Spaniards and other countries' crusaders.
It's likely that their hairdoes varied; on the other hand, it's also likely arabs noticed those who resembled more different from them, in that as well as in other aspects, forgetting those whose appearance was more "normal" from their POV.
If any of you have gone through the Alexiad the perceptive Anna Comnena records the hairstyles of the leading crusaders when she says "and Bohemund, unlike the other crusaders, had his hair cut short (to the ears), unlike the other men who lets theirs vainly grow long past their shoulders". Most of the crusaders had fairly longish hair at the back but it was cut short at the front according to Anna and my history lecturer a couple of weeks ago mentions this also. So in the first crusade only one prominent crusader had short hair. It would seem a people from a cold, rough climate who are enduring the rigours and deprivation of a military campaign allowed their hair to grow long. Such rustic men rarely cared much for the affectation and attention needed to have short hair.
Anna Comnena actually notes that the leading crusaders, with the singular exception of Bohemond, kept their hair long for reasons of vanity. She thought Bohemond was more masculine because he did not follow this fashion, among other reasons (as a 14 yr old girl I suspect she had a bit of an infatuation with him). She records that all the other crusading leaders had hair grown past their shoulders. Considering most did not take more than several months to reach Constantinople after setting out and also that they had plenty of time to rest in Constantinople with access to its very extensive personal grooming facilities it would seem to indicate the crusading leaders thought long hair made them look more manly. It seems to be a fashion of warriors, the long hair hopefully making the wearer look fierce and untamed. For fashion trends we cannot really rely on the art of the time all that much, if the Bayeux tapestry were accurate the vast bulk of figures depicted would have beards.
[i]My opinion is to judge his clothing. A very important point. His tunic is all patched and torn meaning
a) he has been in battle for a long period and no time for hair cuts
b) he is not wealthy to carry servents with him so he can have a haircut
c) being in battle for a long period the hair will look a mess due to the heat and sweat
Your assumptions and opinions are not based on any historical facts as you have to based things on a typical crusader not an elite knight from an Order. Knights in an Order did noit have personal servants, they were strict in their rules but had squires. As I said till date nothing I have found regarding hairstyles, but if we are assuming something and as all Orders were based on a monastic rule, long hair was not the norm for clerics if he was not a hermit!
As your issue on the tattered garment, OK this figure looks h has seen better days, but just remember that at that period the Mamluks were winning back all the major territories, reclaimed after the conquest of Saladin. If they were on a defensive or maybe under siege, infact he is armed as a foot man at arms not for a horseman, still sieges did not took years, the major and biggest ones ended in days, so I guess what might he had was long beard not his hair as a biker, as it takes more than a month to get a couple of cm to grow! In the first crusade it was different, these crusaders have been travelling across Europe till Costantinopile, then all the way to Acre, then to Jerusalem, this took months and years! Our Crusader is established in the Knigdom of Outremer so he is no wonderer! Infact a muslim chronicale states he smelled the Frankish army before it arrived!
When dealing with Crusaders and the Knigdom of Outremer, the problem is that it spens from th 1120s till late 1300s ... it is so vast, changes in fashion and military equipment. Leaders came from all the major countries like France, Italy and Germany ... not to forget influence from the Arabic states, Byzantians, Orthodox, Greeks, Turcopoles and Armenians. Infact the market is flooded with mix and match of this kind of figures nad very few are pin point!
This is like saying that all WW2 Germans had blue eyes and blonde hair!
Yet again there is a given token to the artist for artistic licencse as finally if for example Ray wants to portray the role of a melitant cleric, an image of a saint or Jesus himself to get the feel of the zeal of a religious war, I give credit to that ... IMHO! That is art subject to critisism!
guess I'm UNBEATABLE on SOMETHING at least 
he has spurs which I'll fix in the end, so that puts him in the saddle at some point 
did you put a visible moustache on your 75mm Romeo Ifrir 
painting will commence on january =)
