![Lossy-page1-2122px-Hästrustning - Livrustkammaren - 72697 aaa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Lossy-page1-2122px-H%C3%A4strustning_-_Livrustkammaren_-_72697_aaa.jpg)
Plate armour is a historical type of personal
body armour made from
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
,
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
, or
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
, especially in the context of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
, from the
coat of plates
A coat of plates is a form of segmented torso armour consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates is considered part of the era of transitional armour and was normally worn as part of a full ...
worn over
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
suits during the 14th century.
In
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, plate armour reached its peak in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The full suit of armour, also referred to as a
panoply
A panoply is a complete suit of armor. The word represents the Ancient Greek ('), where the word (') means "all", and (') means "arms". Thus, ''panoply'' refers to the full armor of a hoplite or heavily-armed soldier, i.e. the shield, breast ...
, is thus a feature of the very end of the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
period. Its popular association with the "
medieval knight” is due to the specialised
jousting armour which developed in the 16th century.
Full suits of
Gothic plate armour
Gothic plate armour (german: Gotischer Plattenpanzer) was the type of steel plate armour made in the Holy Roman Empire during the 15th century.
History
While the term "Gothic" in art history covers the 12th to 15th centuries, Gothic plate arm ...
were worn on the battlefields of the
Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following:
*Someone or something from Burgundy.
*Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...
and
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
. The most heavily armoured troops of the period were
heavy cavalry, such as the
gendarmes and early
cuirassiers, but the infantry troops of the
Swiss mercenaries and the
Landsknecht
The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line wa ...
s also took to wearing lighter suits of "three quarters"
munition armour, leaving the lower legs unprotected.
The use of plate armour declined in the 17th century, but it remained common both among the nobility and for the cuirassiers throughout the
European wars of religion
The European wars of religion were a series of wars waged in Europe during the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. Fought after the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, the wars disrupted the religious and political order in the Catholic Chu ...
. After 1650, plate armour was mostly reduced to the simple
breastplate (
cuirass) worn by cuirassiers. This was due to the development of the
flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...
musket, which could penetrate armour at a considerable distance. For infantry, the breastplate gained renewed importance with the development of
shrapnel in the late
Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. The use of steel plates sewn into
flak jackets dates to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, replaced by more modern materials such as
fibre-reinforced plastic
Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass (in fibreglass), carbon (in carbon-fib ...
since the 1950s.
Early history
![Bronze cuirass BM GR1873](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Bronze_cuirass_BM_GR1873.8-20.223.jpg)
Partial plate armour, made out of bronze, which protected the chest and the lower limbs, was used by the ancient
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, as early as the late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. The
Dendra panoply
The Dendra panoply or Dendra armour is an example of Mycenaean-era panoply (full-body armor) made of bronze plates uncovered in the village of Dendra in the Argolid, Greece.
Description
Several elements of body armour (body cuirass, shoulder ...
protected the entire torso on both sides and included shoulder and neck protections. Less restrictive and heavy armor would become more widespread in the form of the
muscle cuirass during
classic antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
before being superseded by other types of armor.
Parthian Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
and
Sassanian heavy cavalry known as
Clibanarii
The Clibanarii or Klibanophoroi ( el, κλιβανοφόροι, meaning "camp oven-bearers" from the Greek word meaning "camp oven" or "metallic furnace"), in Persian Grivpanvar, were a Sasanian Persian, late Roman and Byzantine military unit of ...
used cuirasses made out of scales or mail and small, overlapping plates in the manner of the
manica for the protection of arms and legs. Plate armor in the form of the
Lorica segmentata was used by the Roman empire between the 1st century BC and 4th century AD.
Single plates of metal armour were again used from the late 13th century on, to protect joints and shins, and these were worn over a
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
hauberk
A hauberk or byrnie is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon ("little hauberk") generally refers to the quilted undergarment used with a hauberk, but the terms ...
. Gradually the number of plate
components of medieval armour increased, protecting further areas of the body, and in
barding those of a cavalryman's horse. Armourers developed skills in articulating the
lames or individual plates for parts of the body that needed to be flexible, and in fitting armour to the individual wearer like a tailor. The cost of a full suit of high quality fitted armour, as opposed to the cheaper
munition armour (equivalent of
ready-to-wear) was enormous, and inevitably restricted to the wealthy who were seriously committed to either soldiering or
jousting. The rest of an army wore inconsistent mixtures of pieces, with mail still playing an important part.
Japan
![南蛮胴具足](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/%E5%8D%97%E8%9B%AE%E8%83%B4%E5%85%B7%E8%B6%B3.jpg)
In
Kofun period
The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...
Japan, during the 4th and 5th centuries, iron plate cuirasses called ''
tankō
Tankō ( Jap. "short armor") is a form of Japanese armor that was common in the Kofun period.
Tankō
The ''tankō'' is the first uniquely definable type of Japanese armor. Other types that were used earlier such as ''Jòdai no Katchù'' (anci ...
'' and helmets were made.
[''Oriental Armour'', H. Russell Robinson, Courier Dover Publications, 2002, page 167](_blank)
Plate armour was used in Japan during the
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
(646-793); both plate and
lamellar armours have been found in burial mounds, and ''
haniwa
The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique, ...
'' (ancient clay figures) have been found depicting warriors wearing full armour.
In Japan, the warfare of the
Sengoku period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
(15th and 16th centuries) required large quantities of armour to be produced for the ever-growing armies of foot soldiers (''
ashigaru''). Simple munition-quality chest armours (''dō'') and helmets (''
kabuto
' (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors which, in later periods, became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.
Note that in the Jap ...
'') were mass-produced.
In 1543, the Portuguese brought matchlock firearms (
''tanegashima'') to Japan. As Japanese swordsmiths began mass-producing matchlock firearms and firearms became used in war, the use of Lamellar armour (''
ō-yoroi'' and ''
dō-maru
''Dō-maru'' (胴丸), or "body wrap", was a type of chest armour (''dou or dō'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Dō-maru'' first started to appear in the 11th century as an armour for lesser samurai and retainers. Like the ''ō ...
''), previously used as samurai armour, gradually decreased. Japanese armour makers have started to make new types of armour made of larger iron plate and platy leather.
[日本の甲冑](_blank)
Costume Museum This new suit of armour is called ''tōsei gusoku'' (gusoku), which means modern armour. The type of ''gusoku'', which covered the front and back of the body with a single iron plate with a raised center and a V-shaped bottom like plate armour, was specifically called ''nanban dou gusoku'' ("Western style ''gusoku'') and was used by some samurai.
Japanese armour makers designed bulletproof plate armour called ''tameshi gusoku'' ("bullet tested"), which allowed soldiers to continue wearing armour despite the heavy use of firearms in the late 1500s.
In the 1600s, warfare in Japan came to an end, but the samurai continued to use plate armour until the end of the samurai era in the 1860s, with the known last use of samurai armour occurring in 1877 during the
Satsuma rebellion.
Late Middle Ages
![Italian - Sallet - Walters 51580](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Italian_-_Sallet_-_Walters_51580.jpg)
By about 1420, complete suits of plate armour had been developed in Europe. A full suit of plate armour would have consisted of a
helmet, 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 ...
(or
bevor),
spaulder
Spaulders are pieces of armour in a harness of plate armour. Typically, they are a single plate of steel or iron covering the shoulder with bands ( lames) joined by straps of leather or rivets. By the 1450s, however, they were often attached to t ...
s,
pauldron
A pauldron (sometimes spelled pouldron or powldron) is a component of plate armor that evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the a ...
s with gardbraces to cover the armpits as was seen in French armour, or
besagew
Besagews, also spelled besagues, are a type of rondel designed to protect the armpits, as part of a harness of plate armour. The armpits are the location of the axillary arteries, and protecting them was therefore vital. Armour without besagues ...
s (also known as
rondels) which were mostly used in Gothic Armour,
rerebraces,
couters,
vambraces,
gauntlets, a
cuirass (breastplate and backplate) with a
fauld,
tassets
Tassets are a piece of plate armour designed to protect the upper thighs. They take the form of separate plates hanging from the breastplate or faulds. They may be made from a single piece or segmented. The segmented style of tassets connected b ...
and a
culet, a
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
skirt,
cuisses,
poleyns,
greave
A greave (from the Old French ''greve'' "shin, shin armour") or jambeau is a piece of armour that protects the leg.
Description
The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to the skin ...
s, and
sabaton
A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot.
History
Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes o ...
s. The very fullest sets, known as garnitures, more often made for jousting than war, included pieces of exchange, alternate pieces suiting different purposes, so that the suit could be configured for a range of different uses, for example fighting on foot or on horse. By the Late Middle Ages even infantry could afford to wear several pieces of plate armour. Armour production was a profitable and pervasive industry during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
![ArmeriaPalacioRealMadrid](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/ArmeriaPalacioRealMadrid.JPG)
A complete suit of plate armour made from well-tempered steel would weigh around . The wearer remained highly agile and could jump, run and otherwise move freely as the weight of the armour was spread evenly throughout the body. The armour was articulated and covered a man's entire body completely from neck to toe. In the 15th and 16th centuries, plate-armored soldiers were the nucleus of every army. Large bodies of
men-at-arms
A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...
numbering thousands, or even more than ten thousand men (approximately 60% to 70% of French armies were men-at-arms and the percentage was also high in other countries), were fighting on foot, wearing full plate next to archers and crossbowmen. This was commonly seen in the Western European armies, especially during the
Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...
, the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
or the
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
.
European leaders in armouring techniques were Northern
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
, especially from
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, and Southern
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
, who had somewhat different styles. But styles were diffused around Europe, often by the movement of armourers; the Renaissance
Greenwich armour was made by a royal workshop near London that had imported Italian, Flemish and (mostly) German craftsmen, though it soon developed its own unique style. Ottoman Turkey also made wide use of plate armour, but incorporated large amounts of mail into their armour, which was widely used by shock troops such as the
Janissary Corps.
Effect on weapon development
Plate armour was virtually invulnerable to
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
slashes. It also protected the wearer well against spear or pike thrusts and provided decent defense against blunt trauma.
The evolution of plate armour also triggered developments in the design of offensive weapons. While this armour was effective against cuts or blows, their weak points could be exploited by
long tapered swords or other weapons designed for the purpose, such as
pollaxes and
halberd
A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...
s. The effect of
arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
s and
bolts is still a point of contention with regard to plate armour. The evolution of the 14th-century plate armour also triggered the development of various
polearms. They were designed to deliver a strong impact and concentrate energy on a small area and cause damage through the plate.
Maces
Mace may refer to:
Spices
* Mace (spice), a spice derived from the aril of nutmeg
* '' Achillea ageratum'', known as English mace, a flowering plant once used as a herb
Weapons
* Mace (bludgeon), a weapon with a heavy head on a solid shaft used ...
,
war hammers and the hammer-heads of pollaxes (poleaxes) were used to inflict blunt trauma through armour. Strong blows to the head could result in
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
even if the armor is not penetrated.
Fluted plate was not only decorative, but also reinforced the plate against bending under slashing or blunt impact. This offsets against the tendency for flutes to catch piercing blows. In armoured techniques taught in the
German school of swordsmanship
The German school of fencing (') is a system of combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire during the Late Middle Ages, Late Medieval, German Renaissance, and Early Modern periods. It is described in the contemporary Fechtbuch, Fechtbücher ("fenci ...
, the attacker concentrates on these "weak spots", resulting in a fighting style very different from unarmoured sword-fighting. Because of this weakness, most warriors wore a mail shirt (haubergeon or hauberk) beneath their plate armour (or coat-of-plates). Later, full mail shirts were replaced with mail patches, called
gussets
In sewing, a gusset is a triangular or rhomboidal piece of fabric inserted into a seam to add breadth or reduce stress from tight-fitting clothing. Gussets were used at the shoulders, underarms, and hems of traditional shirts and chemises made ...
, sewn onto a gambeson or arming jacket. Further protection for plate armour was the use of small round plates called
besagew
Besagews, also spelled besagues, are a type of rondel designed to protect the armpits, as part of a harness of plate armour. The armpits are the location of the axillary arteries, and protecting them was therefore vital. Armour without besagues ...
s that covered the armpit area and
couters and
poleyns with "wings" to protect the inside of the joint.
Renaissance
German so-called
Maximilian armour
Maximilian armour is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German plate armour associated with, and possibly first made for the Emperor Maximilian I. The armour is still white armour, made in plain steel, but it is decorated w ...
of the early 16th century is a style using heavy fluting and some decorative etching, as opposed to the plainer finish on 15th-century
white armour. The shapes include influence from Italian styles. This era also saw the use of closed helms, as opposed to the 15th-century-style
sallets and
barbute
A barbute (also termed a barbuta, which in Italian literally means "bearded", possibly because the beard of a wearer would be visible) is a visorless war helmet of 15th-century Italian design, often with a distinctive "T" shaped or "Y" shaped ...
s. During the early 16th century, the helmet and neckguard design was reformed to produce the so-called
Nürnberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
armour, many of them masterpieces of workmanship and design.
As firearms became better and more common on the battlefield, the utility of full armour gradually declined, and full suits became restricted to those made for
jousting which continued to develop. The decoration of fine armour greatly increased in the period, using a range of techniques, and further greatly increasing the cost. Elaborately decorated plate armour for royalty and the very wealthy was being produced. Highly decorated armour is often called parade armour, a somewhat misleading term as such armour might well be worn on active military service. Steel plate armour for
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
, made in 1555, is covered with meticulous embossing, which has been subjected to blueing, silvering and gilding.
Such work required armourers to either collaborate with artists or have artistic skill of their own; another alternative was to take designs from
ornament print
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornam ...
s and other prints, as was often done.
Daniel Hopfer Daniel Hopfer (circa 1470 in Kaufbeuren – 1536 in Augsburg) was a German artist who is widely believed to have been the first to use etching in printmaking, at the end of the fifteenth century. He also worked in woodcut. Although his etchings we ...
was an etcher of armour by training, who developed
etching as a form of
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...
. Other artists such as
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...
produced designs for armour. The
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
ese armourer
Filippo Negroli
Filippo Negroli (ca. 1510–1579) was an armourer from Milan. He was renowned as being extremely skilled, and may be considered the most famous armourer of all time. Working together with his younger brothers Giovan Battista (ca. 1511–1591) and ...
, from a leading dynasty of armourers, was the most famous modeller of figurative
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
decoration on armour.
File:KHM Wien A 3 - Armor of Roberto da Sanseverino (d. 1487).jpg, Suit of armor of the Italian ''condottiero
''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...
'' Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona
File:Emperor charles v.png, Painting of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...
by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (c. 1605), after an original by Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
, depicting an elaborate Renaissance-era suit of armour.
File:Erik XIVs rustning från 1562 - Livrustkammaren - 73817.tif, Parade armor from 1562, belonged to Erik XIV of Sweden
Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Est ...
. Made by Eliseus Libaerts and Etienne Delaune.
Infantry
Reduced plate armour, typically consisting of a
breastplate, a
burgonet,
morion
Morion may refer to:
* Morion (helmet), a type of military helmet
* Morion (mineral), a variety of smoky quartz
* ''Morion'' (beetle), a genus of beetles in the family Carabidae
Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Car ...
or
cabasset
A morion (Spanish: ''morrión'') is a type of open-faced combat helmet originally from the Kingdom of Castile (Spain), used from the beginning 16th to early 17th centuries, usually having a flat brim and a crest from front to back. Its introdu ...
and
gauntlets, however, also became popular among 16th-century
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
, and there are many references to so-called
munition armour being ordered for infantrymen at a fraction of the cost of full plate armour. This mass-produced armour was often heavier and made of lower quality metal than fine armour for commanders.
Jousting
Specialised
jousting armour produced in the late 15th to 16th century was heavier, and could weigh as much as 50 kg; as it was not intended for free combat, it did not need to permit free movement, the only limiting factor being the maximum weight that could be carried by a
warhorse
The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...
of the period.
The medieval
joust has its origins in the military tactics of
heavy cavalry during the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
. Since the 15th century, jousting had become a
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
(''
hastilude
Hastilude is a generic term used in the Middle Ages to refer to many kinds of martial games. The word comes from the Latin ''hastiludium'', literally "lance game". By the 14th century, the term usually excluded tournaments and was used to des ...
'') with less direct relevance to warfare, for example using separate specialized armour and equipment.
During the 1490s, emperor
Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to:
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519
*Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651
*Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689)
*Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795 ...
invested a great deal of effort in perfecting the sport, for which he received his nickname of "The Last Knight".
''Rennen'' and ''Stechen'' were two sportive forms of the joust developed during the 15th century and practiced throughout the 16th century. The armours used for these two respective styles of the joust were known as ''Rennzeug'' and ''Stechzeug'', respectively.
The ''Stechzeug'' in particular developed into extremely heavy armour which completely inhibited the movement of the rider, in its latest forms resembling an armour-shaped cabin integrated into the
horse armour
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
more than a functional suit of armour. Such forms of sportive equipment during the final phase of the joust in
16th-century Germany
The German-speaking states of the early modern period (c. 1500–1800) were divided politically and religiously. Religious tensions between the states comprising the Holy Roman Empire had existed during the preceding period of the Late Middle Ag ...
gave rise to modern misconceptions about the heaviness or clumsiness of "medieval armour", as notably popularised by
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's ''
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court''.
The extremely heavy helmets of the ''Stechzeug'' are explained by the fact that the aim was to detach the
crest
Crest or CREST may refer to:
Buildings
*The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York
*"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York
*Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
of the opponent's helmet, resulting in frequent full impact of the lance to the helmet.
By contrast, the ''Rennen'' was a type of joust with lighter contact. Here, the aim was to hit the opponent's shield. The specialised ''Rennzeug'' was developed on the request of Maximilian, who desired a return to a more agile form of joust compared to the heavily armoured "full contact" ''Stechen''. In the ''Rennzeug'', the shield was attached to the armour with a mechanism of springs and would detach itself upon contact.
File:Stechzeug of Maximilian I by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg, ''Stechzeug''; note that the parts protecting the lower body and the legs were incorporated as part of the horse armour
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
(not shown).
File:Rennzeug by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg, ''Rennzeug''
File:HJRK B 75, A 79 - Kolbenturnierhelm, 1480-85, and arms, 1486.jpg, Armour designed for the ''Kolbenturnier'', dated to the 1480s. The ''Kolbenturnier'' was a late form of the tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
, unlike the joust played with two teams using wooden clubs (''Kolben'') to hit opponents' helmet crests.
Early Modern period
Plate armour was widely used by most armies until the end of the 17th century for both foot and mounted troops such as the
cuirassiers,
dragoon
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...
s,
demi-lancer
The demi-lancer or demilancer was a type of heavy cavalryman in Western Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Characteristics
"Demi-lancer" was a term used in 16th-century military parlance, especially in England, to designate cavalrymen ...
s and
Polish hussars. The infantry armour of the 16th century developed into the ''Savoyard'' type of three-quarters armour by 1600.
Full plate armour was expensive to produce and remained therefore restricted to the upper strata of society; lavishly decorated suits of armour remained the fashion with 18th-century nobles and generals long after they had ceased to be militarily useful on the battlefield due to the advent of inexpensive
muskets.
The development of powerful firearms made all but the finest and heaviest armour obsolete. The increasing power and availability of firearms and the nature of large, state-supported infantry led to more portions of plate armour being cast off in favour of cheaper, more mobile troops. Leg protection was the first part to go, replaced by tall leather boots. By the beginning of the 18th century, only
field marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
s, commanders and royalty remained in full armour on the battlefield, more as a sign of rank than for practical considerations. It remained fashionable for monarchs to be portrayed in armour during the first half of the 18th century (late
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
period), but even this tradition became obsolete. Thus,
a portrait of
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
in 1739 still shows him in armour, while
a later painting showing him as a commander in the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
(1760s) depicts him without armour.
File:Savoyard armour IMG 3805.jpg, Savoyard munition armour, c. 1600
File:Herzog Christian von Braunschweig-Lüneburg.jpg, Christian the Younger of Brunswick wearing cuirassier armour (1620)
File:Charles III of Spain.jpg, Portrait of Charles III of Spain
it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Elisabeth Farnese
, birth_date = 20 January 1716
, birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain
, death_d ...
in a suit of armour (1761).
File:Cuirasse-1854-p1030165.jpg, French cuirassier armour (1854).
Modern body armour
Body armour made a brief reappearance in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
with mixed success. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, both sides experimented with shrapnel armour, and some soldiers used their own dedicated ballistic armour such as the American
Brewster Body Shield, although none were widely produced. The heavy cavalry armour (known as cuirass) of
Napoleonic France
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...
, as well as the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
British and
Second French empires were also actively used throughout the 19th century, right up to the first year of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when French
cuirassiers went to meet the enemy in armour outside of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The cuirass represents the final stage of the tradition of plate armour descended from the late medieval period. Meanwhile, makeshift steel armour against
shrapnel and early forms of
ballistic vests began to be developed from the mid-19th century to the present day.
Plate armor was also famously used in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
by the Kelly Gang, a group of four
bushranger
Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...
s led by
Edward "Ned" Kelly, who had constructed
four suits of improvised armour from plough mouldboards and whose crime spree culminated with a violent shootout with police at the town of
Glenrowan in 1880. The armour was reasonably effective against bullets and made Kelly seem almost invincible to the policemen, who likened him to an evil spirit or
Bunyip with one constable reporting that "
fired at him point blank and hit him straight in the body. But there is no use firing at Ned Kelly; he can't be hurt", however it left sections of the groin and limbs exposed; during the infamous "Glenrowan Affair", gang member Joe Byrne was killed by a bullet to the groin, Kelly was captured after a fifteen-minute last stand against police (having sustained a total of 28 bullet wounds over his body), and the remaining two members are thought to have committed suicide shortly after. Although the recovered suits were almost immediately mismatched, they have since been reorganized and restored and today remain as a powerful symbol of the Australian outback.
In 1916, General Adrian of the French army provided an abdominal shield which was light in weight (approx. one kilogram) and easy to wear. A number of British officers recognised that many casualties could be avoided if effective armour were available.
The first usage of the term "
flak jacket" refers to the armour originally developed by the
Wilkinson Sword
Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for Safety razor, razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in Co ...
company during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
to help protect
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) air personnel from flying debris and
shrapnel. The
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
also made use of ballistic steel body armour, typically chestplates, for combat engineers and assault infantry.
After World War II, steel plates were soon replaced by vests made from synthetic fibre, in the 1950s, made of either
boron carbide
Boron carbide (chemical formula approximately B4C) is an extremely hard boron–carbon ceramic, a covalent material used in tank armor, bulletproof vests, engine sabotage powders,
as well as numerous industrial applications. With a Vickers hard ...
,
silicon carbide, or
aluminium oxide. They were issued to the crew of low-flying aircraft, such as the
UH-1
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...
and
UC-123, during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
The synthetic fibre
Kevlar was introduced in 1971, and most ballistic vests since the 1970s are based on kevlar, optionally with the addition of
trauma plate
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. ...
s to reduce the risk of blunt trauma injury. Such plates may be made of ceramic, metal (steel or titanium) or synthetic materials.
File:Sappenpanzer model 1917-Morges Inv 1010791-P5120277-gradient.jpg, German body armour (''Sappenpanzer''; 1918)
File:French cuirass of WWI.jpg, American cuirass of WWI after fire testing
See also
*
Ballistic vest
*
Components of medieval armour
*
Mirror armour
*
Plated mail
Mail and plate armour (plated mail, plated chainmail, splinted mail/chainmail) is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, North Africa, Ottoman Empire, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Central ...
*
Proofing of armour
The proofing of armour is testing armour for its defensive ability, most commonly the historical testing of plate armour and mail (armour). In the early Middle Ages, armour would be classified by the blows it could withstand, being certified as pro ...
References
Further reading
*
R. E. Oakeshott
Ronald Ewart Oakeshott (25 May 1916 – 30 September 2002) was a British illustrator, collector, and amateur historian who wrote prodigiously on medieval arms and armour. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Founder Member of the Ar ...
, ''European weapons and armour: From the Renaissance to the industrial revolution'' (1980).
* (see index)
*
Brian R. Price Brian R. Price is an American university professor, historical fencing instructor, and member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. He taught at Hawai'i Pacific University, (where he offered courses in the history of warfare, in counterinsurgen ...
, ''Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction''. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2000.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plate Armour
Body armor
Early Modern armour