Schynbalds were an early experiment in

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, ...

for the lower leg. Schynbalds were metal plates strapped over

chausses Chausses (; ) were a Medieval term for leggings, which was also used for leg armour; routinely made of mail and referred to as mail chausses. They generally extended well-above the knee, covering most of the leg. Mail Chausses were the standar ...

. Each schynbald was a single piece of steel that covered the front and outside of the shin. Schynbalds did not enclose the lower leg: hence, they were not true

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 sk ...

s. Schynbalds first appeared in the 1230s or 1250s and remained in use during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.Gravett, Christopher. ''English Medieval Knight 1200-1300''. Oxford: Osprey Pub, 2002. Print. Complete suits of armor survive only from the latter part of the schynbald era. In fifteenth century

Gothic 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 ...

they were strapped not to mail but to fastenings on a padded undergarment. By the early fifteenth century greaves had supplanted schynbalds in

white armour White armour, or ''alwyte armour'', was a form of plate armour worn in the Late Middle Ages characterized by full-body steel plate without a surcoat. Around 1420 the surcoat, or "coat of arms" as it was known in England, began to disappear, in fav ...

. Schynbalds were essentially obsolete by the sixteenth century.

Citations

References

* Medieval armour Western plate armour {{Medieval-armour-stub