A bevor ( ) or beaver is a piece of

plate armour Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...

designed to protect the neck, much like a

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...

Etymology

The word “bevor” or “beaver” is derived from

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

''baver'', meaning ‘to dribble’. This is a reference to the effect on the wearer of the armour during battle.

Description

The bevor was a component of a medieval suit of armour. It was usually a single piece of

protecting the chin and throat and filling the gap between the

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

and

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...

. The bevor could also extend over the knight’s left shoulder doubling the thickness of the armour. The bevor was originally worn in conjunction with a type of helmet known as a

sallet The sallet (also called ''celata,'' ''salade'' and ''schaller'') was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also ...

. With the

close helm The close helmet or close helm is a type of combat helmet that was worn by knights and other men-at-arms in the Late Medieval and Renaissance eras. It was also used by some heavily armoured, pistol-armed, cuirassiers into the mid-17th century. I ...

and

burgonet The burgonet helmet (sometimes called a burgundian sallet) was a Renaissance-era and early modern combat helmet. It was the successor of the sallet. Characteristics The burgonet helmet is characterised by a skull with a large fixed or hinged ...

, developments of the sallet in the late medieval and Renaissance period, the bevor became a hinged plate protecting the lower face and throat. In the 16th century, the bevor developed into the

falling buffe The falling buffe is 16th century armour for the throat and lower face. It evolved from the bevor and was composed of several lames, retained in place by spring catches, which could be lowered for better ventilation and vision. It was often att ...

. This was a composite piece made up of several lames protecting the lower face and throat, but which could be raised or lowered as the lames were articulated.

References

External links

The bevor's description on myarmoury.com

''The Art of Chivalry : European arms and armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art : an exhibition''
Issued in connection with an exhibition in 1982 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Medieval armour Western plate armour {{medieval-armour-stub