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Medieval Armor
In the early Norman times, the Medieval Armor was mainly the chain-mail, quilted-work, jazerant, scale, and a small proportion of plate used as an additional protection to the breast.
The scale was a type of armor made of small metallic scales overlapping,
and fastened upon leather or cloth, while the jazerant was a body
defense made of small plates of metal sewn upon linen. The materials were iron, leather, and horn, with wool, tow, or cotton for quilting defenses.
The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most valuable sources in
establishing what was the standard Medieval Armor of the period. The ordinary series of body-garments worn by the knight were the tunic, the
gambeson and the hauberk. The gambeson was a defensive garment made of
stuffed and quilted cloth. The surcoat, though found in same rare instances at the close of the
12th Century, does not become a characteristic part of the knightly equipment till the
13th Century.
The hauberk was the chief part of the Medieval
Armor of the period. It
reached to the knees. The skirt sometimes opened in front, sometimes at
the sides. The sleeves usually terminated at the elbow, but occasionally
extended to the wrist. Sometimes the hauberk reached as high as the
neck only, but more generally it was continued so as to form a coif,
leaving only the face of the knight exposed. In most cases it was of a
uniform structure. The picture on the left depicts a hauberk with lateral
openings. It is remarkable also for the way the sword is carried
partially beneath the hauberk. The defense is continued over the head
as a coif. This feature of the Medieval Armor of the period is
also known as the "continuous coif" and is surmounted by the usual conical nasal helmet.
The hood of mail made separately from the
hauberk does not appear till the 13th Century.
At the beginning of the 13th Century, the
hauberk of chain-mail was made with continuous coif and gloves, the coif
somewhat flattened at the top of the head, and the gloves not divided
into fingers. It descended nearly to the knees, and at the face opening
left little more then the eyes and nose of the knight in view. In the second half of
the century, the round topped coif became more usual. The sleeve
of the hauberk was sometimes secured at the wrist by a lace or strap.
In order to liberate the hands occasionally from their fingerless
gloves, an aperture was left in the centre of the palm.The Medieval Armor of the 14th Century offers the most
brilliant and striking combinations encountered during the Middle Ages.
The mixture of chain-mail,
glittering plate, embossed leather, and rich heralding decorations,
offers an ample field for the display of color,
and variety of form.
The medieval knights, dissatisfied with their old panoply of chain-mail, searched for substitutes, and in the end accorded their preference to the armor of plate.
The body-armor was composed of the breast-plate, continued under the
waist with chain-mail, or metal strips covered with cloth or velvet.
The long surcoats of the old fashion proved to be a serious
impediment when the knights descended from their horses to fight on
foot. The garment underwent a clipping in front, in which case the
evil was but half remedied. But, because the full skirt, a
necessity of the long dress, had now no meaning, it was abandoned, and
the garment became the short, tight surcoat.
In the early years of this
period, the legs were protected by the chain-mail chausses. As an
occasional occurrence, we find them until the middle of the century. The
legs defense, like the arms defense, made a steady progress to the
complete equipment of plate.
During the 15th Century, the Medieval Armor is
entirely of plate. It had shoulder and elbow guards, and gauntlets
formed of broad overlapping plates. The breast plate evolved from
one piece to the two parts construction, lower overlapping the upper,
and contrived, by means of straps or sliding rivet, to give flexibility
to this defense.
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