The mail ("chainmail" is a term invented by the Victorians) hauberk would have been the main armour for a knight or richer man-at-earms throughout the period we portray - a shirt of mail, often with leather bound edges. Around 1066, a hauberk would have been roughly knee length, with elbow length sleeves, and possibly an integral hood. For mobility, infantry would have side splits , cavalry a split at front/rear. During the 12th century, the hauberk developed to be slightly longer, have full length sleeves with integral mail mittens (mufflers), and an integral hood, often with a flap (ventail) to protect the low part of the face.
Examples of mail have been excavated dating as early as the 4th Century BC, and archaeological finds seem to indicate that it originates (at least in Europe) with the Celtic civilization. Early examples are frequently of butted ring construction - the ends aren't closed in any special way. Some have been found with butted rings mixed in with solid rings, the solid rings being presumably forge-welded, others with a mixture of solid rings and rings with the ends riveted together. Around the 1st Century AD, the solid ring/riveted ring combination becomes more common. It has not been clearly determined if this was a Roman improvement on the Celts' work, or if the Romans merely popularized the form (some earlier Celtic examples feature the same combination). Nonetheless, after the 1st Century AD, the solid ring/riveted ring construction appears to be the favorite right up until the end of the 14th Century AD, after which maille of all-riveted construction appears almost exclusively.
The hauberk comprised of between twenty and forty thousand iron rings, arranged in a "4 in 1" pattern (each ring passing through four others). Historically, the rings were made from relatively short lengths of drawn wire fastened together with a small rivet. The wire was iron or pearlitic steel with a low carbon content and was not very strong. The state of technology during that period did not allow the armourer to draw long lengths of wire or to produce wire of the strength and hardness available today.
A separate mail coif, covering the head and shoulders and comprising about five thouand rings, may have been worn, however an integral hood on the hauberk is more commonly documented.
Mail mittens, generally made in one piece as part of the hauberk. The palms would be of soft leather, split down the centre to allow the hand to be thrust though and the muffler pulled back to allow normal use of the hand when not fighting. Mufflers generally start to appear in pictures of hauberks from the mid to late 12th century. In some cases, only the sword (right) arm is so equipped, nothing being worn on the shield arm.
It is not clear as to whether the back of the hand would have any padding under the mail - for modern reenactment purposes mufflers are normally made as a padded mitten with a mail backing, some form of hand protection is always worn for safety purposes, even though not authentic.
Armoured gloves (with separate fingers) only start to appear toward the end of the 13th century (the end of the period we portray), these being leather gloves with small plates of iron or Baleen (often called whalebone, but not bone as such) attached.
Suprisingly, a significant defence against arrows for a richer knight could well have been his shirt. Linen was the most common material for shirts, but when hit by an arrow it does exactly what you'd expect - nothing, the arrow passes straight though, and the barbs of the head embed in the flesh.
A silk shirt, however, reacts differently. Silk is a much stronger material and the weave is much closer. Rather than allowing the arrow to pass through, a silk garment can wrap around the spinning arrow head as it enters the wound. This covers the barbs, allowing easier removal, and also offering some degree of protection from infection. The saracens were aware of this principle, and it may have been adopted by western knights during the crusades.
While mail will stop the cutting action of a weapon, it does little to dissapate the concussive force of the blow. Mail links can be broken, and forced into a wound leading to infection. A Gambeson is a heavy tunic made of linen or similar, quilted in rows and stuffed with wool, tow etc. It reaches to at least the knees, and below the elbows, usually fastening at the back. The gambeson may also be worn on it's own as a light armour.
Later, the term gambeson is used to specifically refer to padded armour worn in it's own right (or even over other armour as additional chest protection), and the term ahketon is used to refer to a smaller padded garment used under armour. This latter term appears to be Arabic derived and suggests the use of cotton in the construction.
During most of our period, the term gambeson appears to be used to describe any padded armour.
The Maciejowski bible (Paris, 1250), shows foot soldiers wearing gambesons with high collars as their main armour.
Whilst the Romans knew and used mail (lorica hamata) with padding underneath, there is little hard evidence of the use of padding between their time and aound the 11th/12th Century. However, given the inability of mail to stop the concussive part of a blow, common sense says some form of padding must have been used.
A padded linen head covering, acting as an extra buffer between the head and the helm. The more usual one is simply a heavily quilted version of the civilian coif, less common is a variety depicted on the front of the Wells Cathedral, c. 1230, which is an arming cap with an additional roll of padding set at about the brow of the wearer. This provides additional support for the early forms of great helm developing at that time.
Early Norman knights wore no leg protection. At the time of the Battle of Hastings only very high ranking lords wore mail stockings to protect the legs and feet. Into the 12th century, mail coverings for the legs start to appear for lesser knights. Initially, these were simple sheets of mail covering the front of the legs, laced at the back with thongs. These developed into a full mail stocking that covered the whole leg (including the foot) to about mid-thigh. They were suspended from a waist belt in a similar manner to hose, with a garter or tie below the knee causing the mail to bag allowing normal movement of the joint. Spurs (if worn) would hold the chausse to the foot. It is probable that the mail did not continue under the foot, being held in place with thonging, or possibly a separate leather sole was attached.
Padded covering (similar in construction to the gambeson) for the thigh and knee, generally worn over the mail chausses. They appear from the mid 13th century onwards, with an iron or cuir-boulli (hardened leather) polyn covering the kneecap itself. The bulk of evidence suggests the cuisses were plain coloured, with vertical quilting. The top of the cuisse is tied to the same belt as the chausses, with some form of tie below the knee.
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Forged Conical helm. 10th to 13th Century. Beaten from a single sheet of metal. |
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Spangenhelm. 9th to 13th Century. Four plates rivetted together within a frame. |
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Forged, with forward tilted peak (Phrygian). Early 12th Century. |
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Round helm, mid to late 12th Century |
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Full face ("Crusader") helm, late 12th Century. |
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Pot Helm, c. 1215 |
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Great Helm, 13th Century. |
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Kettle Hat, or Chapel-de-Fer, 13th Century |
Lamellar armour consists of small metal or hardened leather plates laced together, while scale consists of plates attached to a leather or heavy cloth backing. In scale, the plates overlap downwards, wherease in lamellar the overlap is usually upwards. This form of defence would normally only cover the body, but could be extended to the arms as well.
Use of scale and lamellar appears to originate in Byzantium and the East, only being used in Europe following after Crusades. Even so, their use was more prevelant in the Crusader, Italio-Norman and Rus states, being comparitively rare in Western Europe.
Development of improved defenses for the limbs was probably accompanied by corresponding improvement in of armour for the torso. Unfortunately, for quite a long period, these body defenses were obscured in illustrations, engravings, etc. by the surcoat.
The surcoat was sometimes reinforced (possibly as early as the late 12th century) with rows of fairly long, rectangular plates, set vertically and riveted to the inside of the fabric. These can be seen on a sleeping guard from part of a sculpture of the resurrection of Christ from Wienhausen, now in the Provinzial Museum, Hanover. Only one known 13th-century illustration of this arrangement exists, in the third quarter of the century.
A variation on this them appeared in the mid-13th century. This was shaped like a cross with an opening near the junction for the head. The long side covered the back, while the other three protected the front and wrapped around the sides, buckling in the rear. These sides were lined with oblong plates which were riveted onto the garment at their ends. Plates from this type of garment were excavated at the Castle of Montfort in the Holy Land, and must date to before 1271, when the castle fell to the Saracens. Garments of this type, of cloth or leather lined with metal plates, were the most widely used type of body defense into and throughout the 14th century. It is usually referred to as a coat of plates, but was known then as a pair of plates, hauberk of plates, cote ŕ plates, or simply plates.Plate armour does not really develop until the 14th century, after the period we portray. However the 13th century shows the early beginnings of its use:
The first reliable indication of emerging usage of plate is an increasing appearance in contemporary illustrations of reinforcing plates (poleyns) laced or strapped to the knees of the chausses, or, more frequently, the cuisses. They start off rather small, but after c. 1270 they become large and hemispherical, completely covering the front and sides of the knees.
From around 1260 until the early 13th century, these were small plates of wood, leather or iron worn on the shoulders. They were normally decordated with the colours or arms of the knight. Their use as a defence is questionable, probably being solely a means of identification as a result of the helm now covering the face.
Appearing for a short time around 1280, these are circular plates covering the armpits that are tied to the mail. They reappear later in 14th century when full plate arm harness develops.
Disc-shaped plates (similkar to besagews), called couters, attached to the elbows of the hauberk, are found as early as c. 1260 on the effigy of William Longespáe the Younger, although no other examples appear earlier than the first decade of the 14th century.
Protection for the lower arm. Plate armour for the arms does not develop until the early part of the 14th century. Use of vambraces made of leather, or leather with metal splints, is documented outside Europe (e.g Byzantium), but there is little European evidence of their use.
Shynbalds are potection for the shin, later called greaves. There are references to schynbalds in a list of armor supplied to Edward I's sons, Edward Prince of Wales and John Duke of Lancaster, for the campaigns in Scotland in 1299. The Maciejowski Bible (Paris, 1250) shows Goliath wearing them, but they appear nowhere else in its numerous (and consistent) illustrations. This tends to indicate that, while they were known about, their use was very unusual at this time.
An long flowing garment developed during the crusades to protect the mail from the elements, and the knight inside from the effects of the sun. Later as early heraldy started to develop, the surcoat was used to display the knights colours for ease of identification in battle.
©Mark Graves 2002