Plate armour

mail

suits during the 14th century.

In Europe, plate armour reached its peak in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The full suit of armour, also referred to as a panoply, is thus a feature of the very end of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 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 and Milanese plate armour were worn on the battlefields of the Burgundian Wars, Wars of the Roses, Eighty Years' War, French Wars of Religion, Italian Wars, Ottoman–Habsburg wars, Polish–Ottoman Wars, a significant part of the Hundred Years' War, and even the Thirty Years' War. 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 Landsknechts also took to wearing lighter suits of "three quarters" munition armour, leaving the lower legs unprotected.^[1]

The use of plate armour began to decline in the early 17th century, but it remained common both among the nobility (e.g., the

shrapnel in the late Napoleonic Wars. The use of steel plates sewn into flak jackets dates to World War II, and was replaced by more modern materials such as fibre-reinforced plastic

, since the mid-20th century.

Mail armour is a layer of protective clothing worn most commonly from the 9th to the 13th century, though it would continue to be worn under plate armour until the 15th century.

rivets. It was made this way so that it would be able to follow the contour of the wearer's body, maximizing comfort. Mail armour was designed mainly to defend against thrusting and cutting weapons, rather than bludgeons.^[3] Typical clothing articles made of mail at the time would be hooded cloaks, gloves, trousers

, and shoes. From the 10th to the 13th century, mail armour was so popular in Europe, that it was known as the age of mail.

Early history

Further information: Coat of plates

Partial plate armour, made out of bronze, which protected the chest and the lower limbs, was used by the ancient

Sassanian heavy cavalry known as Clibanarii 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 armour 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

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

Main article: Japanese armour

In the Kofun period (250–538),^[4] iron plate cuirasses (tankō) and helmets were being made.^[5] Plate armour was used in Japan during the Nara period (646–793); both plate and lamellar armours have been found in burial mounds, and haniwa (ancient clay figures) have been found depicting warriors wearing full armour.^[5]

In Japan, the warfare of the Sengoku period (1467–1615) required large quantities of armour to be produced for the ever-growing armies of foot soldiers (ashigaru). Simple munition-quality^[6] chest armours (dō) and helmets (kabuto) were mass-produced.

In 1543, the Portuguese brought matchlock firearms (

tanegashima) to Japan.^[7] As Japanese swordsmiths began mass-producing matchlock firearms and firearms became used in war, the use of Lamellar armour (ō-yoroi and dō-maru), previously used as samurai armour, gradually decreased. Japanese armour makers started to make new types of armour made of larger iron plate and plated leather.^[8] This new suit of armour is called tōsei gusoku (gusoku), which means modern armour.^{[9][10][11][12]} 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.^[8] 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 16th century.^[13][14]

In the 17th century, 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.^[15]

Late Middle Ages

Further information:

Components of medieval armour

By about 1420, complete suits of plate armour had been developed in Europe. A full suit of plate armour would have consisted of a

cuisses, poleyns, greaves, and sabatons. 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.^[18]

European leaders in armouring techniques were Northern Italians, especially from Milan, and Southern Germans, 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 gave the wearer very good protection against sword cuts, as well against spear thrusts, and provided decent defense against blunt weapons.

The evolution of plate armour also triggered developments in the design of offensive weapons. While this armour was effective against cuts or strikes, their weak points could be exploited by thrusting weapons, such as

German so-called Maximilian armour 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 barbutes.^{[citation needed]} During the early 16th century, the helmet and neckguard design was reformed to produce the so-called Nürnberg armour, many of them masterpieces of workmanship and design.^[20]

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, made in 1555, is covered with meticulous embossing, which has been subjected to blueing, silvering and gilding.^[21]

Such work required armourers to either collaborate with artists or have artistic skill of their own; another alternative was to take designs from

• 
  Suit of armour of the Italian condottiero Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona
• 
  Painting of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (c. 1605), after an original by Titian, depicting an elaborate Renaissance-era suit of armour.
• 
  Parade armour from 1562, belonged to

  Etienne Delaune

  .

Infantry

Reduced plate armour, typically consisting of a

During the 1490s, emperor Maximilian I 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

The extremely heavy helmets of the Stechzeug are explained by the fact that the aim was to detach the crest 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.

• 
  Stechzeug; note that the parts protecting the lower body and the legs were incorporated as part of the

  horse armour

  (not shown).
• 
  Rennzeug
• 
  Armour designed for the Kolbenturnier, dated to the 1480s. The Kolbenturnier was a late form of the tournament, 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, London lobsters, dragoons, demi-lancers 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

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 marshals, 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 period), but even this tradition became obsolete. Thus, a portrait of Frederick the Great in 1739 still shows him in armour, while a later painting showing him as a commander in the Seven Years' War (c. 1760) depicts him without armour.

• 
  Savoyard munition armour, c. 1600
• 
  Christian the Younger of Brunswick wearing cuirassier armour (1620)
• 
  Portrait of Charles III of Spain in a suit of armour (1761).
• 
  French cuirassier armour (1854).

Modern body armour

Body armour made a brief reappearance in the

Plate armour was also famously used in

In 1916, General Adrian of the French army provided an abdominal shield which was light in weight (approx. one kilogram) and easy to wear.[25] A number of British officers recognised that many casualties could be avoided if effective armour were available.^[26]

The first usage of the term "flak jacket" refers to the armour originally developed by the Wilkinson Sword company during World War II to help protect Royal Air Force (RAF) air personnel from flying debris and shrapnel. The Red Army also made use of ballistic steel body armour, typically chestplates, for combat engineers and assault infantry.^[27]

After World War II, steel plates were soon replaced by vests made from synthetic fibre, in the 1950s, made of either

• 
  German body armour (Sappenpanzer; 1918)
• 
  American cuirass of WWI after fire testing

See also

• Ballistic vest
• Components of medieval armour
• Mirror armour
• Plated mail
• Proofing of armour

References