Leather armor pieces names Continue The medieval knight prepared for battle was dressed in an armor suit known as a body harness. A common construction technique used slames or metal strips that overlapped, a bit like the tiles of a ceiling. These laminations were often used in the neck, shoulder and abdominal areas to facilitate movement. Underneath the armor suit may have worn a cushioning gambeson, a padded jacket stuffed with trailer (short linen fibers), wool, grass or horse hair. Some of the basic elements of the plate harness are illustrated below: Parts of an armor suit - An extension from front to back through the top of the helmet that helps strengthen the structure of the helmet. During the Renaissance period this component of the helmet could be very large and ornate. Armor for the head. Visor - A rotating plate stuck to the front of the rudder providing protection for the face. Frequently, the visor contained breaths, holes or cracks for ventilation, which also provided some extra visibility. Gorget (pronounced GOR-jet or gor-ZHAY) — Armored neck made of front plates or laminates. Pauldron - Shoulder armor as vest that added some protection on the chest plate and through the upper back. — As the name suggests, this plate protected the upper part of the chest. Plackart — An armored reinforcement covering the lower half of the maternal plate. Depending on the design, the plackart could cover almost the entire plate. Fauld — Armor, usually composed of smes, which bind to the breast plate > (and plackart), serving to protect the abdomen. Tasset (TAS-et) — Solid armor plates or a skirt of sme hanging from the fauld to cover the gap between the fauld and the armour of the thigh. (REER-brass) — Armour shielding of the upper arm. The rerebrace is also known as the upper cannon. Couter (COW-ter) — Armored elbow guards. Vambrace — Forearm shielding. This term is sometimes used to refer to the entire arm defense, which is divided into upper and lower cannons. Similarly, the term bracers can refer to all arm defense or components such as shielding that protects the forearms of an archer from the bow rope. Glove - Armored glove. Cuisse (KWIS) — Thigh armor. Poleyn (PO-lane) - Cup-shaped knee guards, often equipped with fan plates. Fan plates - Heart-shaped guards or fan for the side of the knee, which extends from the poleyn. Greave (GREEV) — Lower leg armor. Sabaton (SAB-a-ton) — Articulate foot armor. Some designs even included long projections of the dagger. (alias Chain Maille) - Metal rings woven to create a flexible protective fabric. Ladder Armor - Small overlapping metal (they resemble scales) attached to fabric or leather. Splint armor - An armor suit, considered a simplified version of plate armor, where metal plates were coated in Fundamentals. Ring Mail - A ring fabric, larger than those used in chain mail, attached and improving a leather armor. For information about other armor or weapons see our main armor and weapons page. Body armor, European, of the Middle Ages Late medieval Gothic armor with list of elements This table identifies several pieces of body armor used from medieval times to the beginning of the modern era in the Western world, mostly plaque but some mail armour, arranged by the body part that is protected and more or less by date. No attempt has been made to identify subjunction components or various appendages such as resting on the plums or clothing such as tabards or surcoats that were often worn on a harness. The helmet slot is called occularium. There are a variety of alternative names and spellings (such as cowter/couter or bassinet/bascinet/basinet or besagew/besague) that often reflect a word introduced by the French. In general, English spelling has been preferred (including mail instead of the maille used lately or the inautentic term chainmail). Comparison summary of the components of medieval European harness Name Example Period(Century) Description Head Mail coif 400BC? in the 15th mail hood, often used with a hauberk. Sometimes it is done integrally with the hauberk, sometimes a separate piece. Spangenhelm 4th to 11th A metal frame (usually iron) with plates (metal, leather or horn) riveted inside; Some had front cheek watchers or handshakes. Standard rudder from the late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. Nasal helmet Late from 9 to 13 the nasal helmet was characterized by the possession of a bodyguard, or 'nasal', composed of a single strip of metal that extended from the skull or brow over the nose to provide facial protection. The helmet appeared throughout Western Europe at the end of the ninth century, and became the predominant form of head protection until the closed hull and the large rudder were introduced in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Late closed helmet 12 at the beginning of the 13th century Great primitive rudder or first great rudder, precursor of the great rudder. The closed helmet covered the entire head, with full face protection and a slightly deeper cover for the sides and the back of the head than what is found in the previous types of helmets. It was developed near the end of the 12th century and was largely overlaid by the real great rudder by c. 1240. Great late rudder 12th to 14th It started as a simple cylinder with a flat top, but later developed a curved sugar loaf pointed at the top to deflect the crushing punches. It has small cracks for the eyes and breathing / ventilation that can be decorative as well as functional. Often removed the initial shock of spears, as it prevents sight and breathing and is very hot. Often used with another rudder underneath. The rudder of a stereotypical knight of the Crusader period. Cervelliere skull cap at the end of the 20th century a rudder or under a great rudder. Sometimes used below instead of over the coif. Bassinet Early 14th to early/mid 15th Originally used under a large rudder and had no visor, but developed nostrils to protect the nose. In the mid-14th century he replaced the great rudder and was fully visor, often face of dog (the conical hounskull visor), often used without visor for visibility and breathability. Used with a vein then with a throat. The visor windows of the English bassinets have a hinge on each side, while the German bassinets have a single hinge stuck in the middle. Sallet Mid-15th When carried with a drink as usual outside Italy, a sallet covers the entire head. The Italian version was a curvy helmet with a short tail, and sometimes a handcuffed visor was provided. The German sallet was distinguished by a long, sometimes laminated, tail that stretched to cover the back of the neck and by a single, long eye opening. It had no ventilation holes, as there was a vacuum where the rudder and bevor are found. The sallets of England, the Netherlands and France were intermediate between the Italian and German forms, with a short tail. A favoured rudder in England and Western Europe, including sister areas (the tail may have influenced the design of German helmets during World War II). Barbute 15th Narrow fit helmet with a characteristic Y or T-shaped slit for vision and breathing, reminiscent of the ancient Greek helmets Armet 15th A bowl helmet that closes the entire head with the use of front cheek plates that fold backwards. A gorge was attached and there may be a comb. You can also have a snoring on the back. The later armies have a visor. The rudder of a stereotypical gentleman. Favoured in Italy. Close helmet or helmet from the 15th to the 16th centuries A bowl helmet with a cabinet visor, very visually similar to an armband and often the two are confused. However, it does not have the front cheek plates of an armband and instead has a mobile bevor, fronted in common with the visor. Burgonet At the beginning of the 16th century Open helmet in the shape of a bowl with neck, a peak, a very characteristic comb, sometimes with pieces of cheek. Sometimes it has a buffalo (a visor that goes down, rather than breeding). Coll Aventail or Camail Removable Mail hanging from a helmet to protect the neck and shoulders, often worn with bassinets. Bevor used with a sallet to cover the jaw and throat (spreading a little through the sternum). It can also cover the back of the neck if carried with a bassinet instead of a sallet. It can be solid or made of smes. Sometimes worn with a throat. Gorget Steel necklace to protect the neck and cover the opening of the neck in a full battleship. Unlike a modern shirt necklace in which, in addition to covering the front and back of the neck, covers part of the harpsichords and sternums and an area like the back. Standard, Pixane, or Bishop's mantle An email or leather collar. In common with a gorge, it's not like modern shirt necklace. Rather, it's a circle with a hole in the neck to fit through. It covers the shoulders, chest and upper back, perhaps as an extremely small poncho. Torso Brigandine at the end of the 12th century in the 16th piece of fabric, usually fabric or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted in the fabric. Hauberk or Haubergeon? in the 15th century (most died during the 14th and 15th centuries.) Mail shirt that reaches the middle of the thigh with sleeves. The first mail shirts in general were quite long. During the hauberks of the 14th-15th century it became shorter, lowering to the thigh.