The introduction of plate armour in medieval Europe*

Abstract

The principal type of metal armour used by well-equipped warriors in Europe from about the third century BC to the mid fourteenth century ad was mail. Mail is a flexible form of armour constructed of interlocking links of iron wire, the ends of the links closed either by rivets or by forge welding. One of the chief problems with mail is that it is very difficult to depict. The development of armour from the eleventh to thirteenth century is obscured by the adoption of the surcoat, worn over the hauberk, for this hides whatever is being worn underneath. The sleeves of the mail shirt were extended to cover the backs of the hands, defences known as mufflers. Otherwise mail changed little during the medieval period. The introduction of composite technology, that is the use of horn, wood and sinew, for the making of crossbows clearly owes its origin to the bow construction for ordinary Asiatic bows used for over millennium.

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