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Medieval Armor
By Med | January 26, 2006
Protecting oneself in battle has always been a concern for any soldier, and medieval knights were no exception. In fact, it was their protective armor that helped define them as a military unit and social class. Armoring oneself during the Middle Ages was a great expense that only the wealthy could afford.
Among the earliest metallic armor to be worn by medieval knights was chainmail armor, consisting of tens of thousands of interlocking rings woven painstakingly by hand to form a shirt, coif, or leggings. Because of the mild steel produced in medieval times each ring had to be riveted to keep all the rings from spreading and opening under the weight of the piece. Underneath the metal arm
or the knight would wear a padded garment known variously as an “aketon”, or “gambeson”. To this defensive equipment he added a shield, usually made of leather-covered wood, and a helmet. As the medieval arms race progressed and new, more powerful weapons were developed (such as the longbow and crossbow), chainmail became ineffective on its own.
Late in the Middle Ages plate armor began to appear (ca. late 13th/early 14th century), first as reinforcements to vital areas such as the chest and shoulders, and finally as a complete suit (ca. early 15th century). The medieval “knight in shining armor” that most people think of when the subject of knights comes up, is the fully plate-armored knight. Chainmail armor was now relegated to protecting smaller vital areas that could not be covered with plate armor, such as the groin and under the arms. The shield became smaller, or disappeared altogether as it became unnecessary and redundant.
Ironically it was soon after the development of the full suit of plate armor that the medieval knight’s advantage in battle began to wane. With the effective use of gunpowder weapons (ca. 15th/16th century) not even plate armor could protect the knight, and the cumbersome armor gradually became ineffective and impractical.
