Armour

I

Introduction

Armour, any equipment of various materials, but generally of metal, used to protect a body in combat. The oldest of protective devices is the shield; the earliest body armour was a wide belt to protect the abdomen.

II

Ancient Armour

In ancient Egypt (c. 3000 bc) this belt was developed into a wraparound garment extending from armpits to knees, reinforced by quilting, and held up by shoulder straps. In Syria (c. 1400 bc) the national costume, a sleeved shirt, was reinforced with bronze scales and used as armour for charioteers, who with both hands occupied were unable to hold a shield. The scales were sewn on to a fabric backing or were laced together in flexible rows of lamellae. Helmets, in the form of tight-fitting caps of beaten copper, were first used by the Sumerians (c. 3000 bc). Assyrian helmets were conical bronze caps with small earflaps.

III

Greek and Roman Armour

Both scale and lamellar armour were taken over by the Scythians and the Greeks. Greek armour was a wraparound of reinforced quilts with wide shoulder flaps; its lower part was a skirt of loose strips, or pteryges. A cuirass, or thorax, of hammered bronze plates realistically embossed to portray the muscles of a naked torso was also worn to protect chest and back. Greek body armour was completed by bronze greaves, that is, a covering for the lower legs, and by a round oxhide shield. Helmets were designed to enclose the entire head; in their perfected form only a Y-shaped opening for eye-slits and for breathing was left.

IV

Early Medieval Armour

Roman technology survived in the armament of the most typical figure of the European Middle Ages, the knight. By the 11th century a knight's armour consisted of a thigh-length shirt of mail (known as a hauberk) with elbow-length sleeves and a conical helmet with nose guard. In the 12th century the mail shirt gained an attached hood (coif), and the sleeves were full length, terminating in mittens. Mail chausses protected the legs. A mail shirt, containing up to 250,000 metal rings, might weigh about 11 kg (about 25 lb). Mail offers resistance to sword cuts, but it can be penetrated by the points of spears or arrows and is too yielding against a heavy blow. A padded undergarment, or acton, and a shield were, therefore, essential as shock breakers.

In the 11th century it became acceptable battle technique to charge with the lance couched, that is, held under the right armpit. The left, or shield, side of the knight was always turned to the enemy. The former oval-shaped shield was, therefore, modified to an elongated form with a sharp lower point, to protect the horseman from eyes to knee, but this protection locked the fighter in too rigid a position. After a face-covering visor was developed and added to the helmet, the upper part of the shield was cut straight; after solid knee protectors and greaves of plate had been developed, the lower point of the shield was shortened. Since the visor made the knight's face unrecognizable, identifying marks had to be placed on his shield, the most convenient surface. This was the origin of heraldry. Crusaders wore a sleeveless surcoat over their mail armour as protection against the hot sun; these surcoats too became emblazoned with heraldic emblems and were known as coats of arms.

Bolts released by the improved crossbows introduced in the first quarter of the 14th century were able to penetrate mail with ease. Armour with deflecting surfaces, therefore, became necessary. This was achieved, about 1350, by the development of full plate defences for arms and legs, and body armour made of small plates riveted inside the surcoat, known as a coat of plates or brigandine. The loose-fitting mail shirt was slipped on over the head, but the coat of plates had to be tight-fitting and opened in front. The fighting position was with the left, shield-protected side towards the enemy; to deflect spear points and sword blades, therefore, the coat of plates had to be buckled with its left side overlapping the right. (For this reason, men's jackets are still buttoned left over right.)