Reading about knights, warriors of the thirteenth century, we often come across references to their armor and weapons. What did the military armor of the 13th century look like, how did the warrior put on all his equipment, how did he use it? You can of course refer to the numerous reference materials that provide information on these issues, but nothing beats a good hands-on demonstration of 13th century knightly equipment.
Numerous military history clubs study military equipment from different eras, make knightly armor and weapons, and even know what underwear was like in the 13th century. 
Members of military history clubs are well aware that it is much more interesting to see everything with your own eyes.
Practice has shown that to put on all equipment and complete equipment of a 13th century warrior will need a lot of time and help at least one squire servant, but it is better to take two assistants who know what to do.
To begin with, the knight must put on thirteenth-century underwear.
Over his underwear, the warrior puts on not one-piece pants, but two quilted trousers , which are attached with special leather straps to the belt. On the feet of a warrior homemade leather shoes , sewn according to old patterns.
The knight's first piece of chainmail is chain mail leggings
(English Chain Leggings), which are worn "On the leg"
over quilted trousers. 
Mail Leggings rather difficult to put on , as they should fit snugly enough to the leg.
If they were too loose, it would be difficult for the knight to walk, the legs would cling to one another.
Mail Leggings give the knight is able to sit comfortably on a horse.
Chainmail leggings are attached with special straps to the belt knight.
For. to prevent sagging chain mail leggings, they are supported by additional leather straps tied around the knee and ankle.
Then the knight puts on a thick soft quilting (English gambeson - overalls), consisting of many layers of material, fabric, cotton wool and horsehair, the whole quilting is stitched with strong threads, so it is hard to the touch, and at the same time soft armor, like a blanket.
A good quilt can stand on its own! Quilted dense fabric, like a padded jacket, weakens the force of any blows that may hit the knight, and also serves as a softening protective layer from the hard touch of iron chain mail.
Quilting is a very warm and poorly breathable material, so the knight would become very hot and sweaty while moving or fighting for several hours. Before a battle or before a campaign, a warrior had to drink a sufficient amount of water, otherwise he could die from dehydration.
Then the knight puts on a soft, quilted comforter, which hides his hair and serves to protect his head from the iron chain mail
.
What is typical for the manufacture of chain mail of this period?
If you look closely at the close-up, you can see that it consists of alternating rows of solid rings and riveted links.
This method of joining rings is a little faster because you do not need to rivet each ring, but it is still a very laborious process.
First, the blacksmith forged steel, made individual links, correctly connected them, performing riveting.
We are talking about several weeks of work of a qualified craftsman, as well as expensive materials. That is why chain mail was very expensive, and ordering it to a master was possible only for wealthy people.
Chain mail was invented approximately in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. NS., but it is impossible to say for sure who and where first made it.
Word "Chain mail" comes from the Vedic Sanskrit word “armor of many rings (with the root“ kol ”,“ kolo ”-“ circle, ring ”); armor, close to the upper body, carapace of rings. This word is derived from root "kank" - kañc - 1) ‘to bind’, 2) to “shine”.
Putting chain mail on a warrior on your own is also not easy. Hauberk
quite heavy, but it is also very flexible, so a knight in it can easily 
move.
Since the 10th century, the distribution of chain mail reached its maximum when they were invented hauberk , with a hood and mittens and shirt (English mail shirt) covering the whole body.
The word hauberk comes from the old German word “ Halsberge
", Which originally meant Hals- "hols" 
- throat and berge- "take care".
B XIII century in Europe chain mail sometimes reinforced with extensive shoulder and chest plates.
As you can see, the hauberk has a built-in Hood
to be laced with a leather strap around your head. 
A leather strap holds the hood in place, and serves so that it does not fall forward into the eyes, but would hold on the knight's forehead when he rides a horse or fights in battle.
The hood has a collar that protects the throat.
Flexible hood collar can be fixed in two positions - up and down.
An important part of a knight's outfit is belt on the waist which helps to distribute the weight of the heavy chain mail.
When a knight puts on a hauberk, the entire weight of the iron equipment hangs down, presses on his shoulders.
If the warrior raises his hands and the squire servant is tight tie a belt around the waist , then lowering his hands again, the warrior will feel that a large some of the weight of the chain mail is now supported by the belt.
An integral part of the knight's equipment of the 13th century are mittens.
The gauntlets have chain mail protection with back side , but from the side of the palm they are made of leather, so that it would be easier for the knight to hold the horse's reins and weapons.
There is a slit on the palm of the leather mitten so that the knight can take his hand out of the mitten when necessary. 
If you look at modern illustrations of combat, you will see that the knights are always wearing gauntlets, and there is a reason for this.
No one in their right mind will go into battle without gloves, first of all, this is protection from damage to the hands holding the weapon. Hands in mittens, bound with chain mail protection from the back, are powerful weapons in close combat.
Gauntlets attached to the hauberk (English hauberk), but are located so that you can take them off or put them on. They also have a leather band around the wrist to keep them in place.
Over the hauberk, the knight puts on chemise
(eng. sur
+ coat - "surcoat", hence the word "coat"). The researcher disagrees on the original purpose of wearing the shirt. 
Researchers of military equipment believe that the outer shirt protected the iron chain mail from heating in the sun, because the chain mail could become too hot, or the shirt could protect the chain mail from rain, because the iron chain mail could rust. In any case, the shirt served both purposes.
Top shirt (Surcoat) used for drawing the coat of arms of a knight, which was very important, as it is very difficult distinguish one warrior from another, when they are wearing chain mail helmets and their collars are turned up.
At the beginning of the 13th century, heraldic symbols were quite simple, mainly geometric patterns or stylized images animals.
On the shields of the knights of the 13th century, there were not yet very complex heraldic emblems and coats of arms, consisting of quarters and eighths, indicating kinship with the distant ancestors of the clan. 
The emblems of the 13th century can be described as "embellished sable", that is, black and white.
Over the shirt with the coat of arms, the knight wore belt with a sword. A sword in a sheath was attached to the left side so that the knight can quickly and easily grab the sword hilt with his right hand.
By the way, swords of the 13th century are much less heavy than many believe, they weighed about 3 pounds or 1.5 kg, which is only three times more than a fencing epee. The sword is a weapon of balance and skill, not a strike weapon like a mace.
A knight could hold a mace or an ax in his left hand, and deliver crushing, deadly blows to the enemy. Depending on the situation, the knight could use his shield while holding it in his left hand.
Then an additional soft protective headdress is put on the knight's head, with a sewn-in circle, like egalema which are worn on head Arabs. This circle helps to hold the chainmail helmet in place, just as the egalem holds the men's headscarf - kufyu.
Now the helmet. The beginning of the thirteenth century was a kind of transitional time for helmets: if you look at modern illustrations, you will see old-fashioned bow-helmets next to the later type of “mask” helmet. However, the most modern fashion of the 13th century there was a flat-top helmet, the design of which was a clear step backwards, not a good idea for a helmet, as it can be very wrinkled on impact, leading to serious injury to the knight. At the end of the thirteenth century, the design of the helmet changed. , and began to look like a "sugar loaf", in subsequent centuries helmets almost always have a rounded shape, which protects the head well, but the shoulders may suffer. Chain mail was reinforced with shoulder armor that protected the shoulders of a warrior.
Wearing a helmet does not give the warrior a wide range of vision, nor does it take into account the ease of breathing. A balance had to be struck between more safety and a smaller visual range, which would basically mean that the knight's head was completely covered. With a wider range of vision, the warrior should have a more open and vulnerable face to injury. Thus, the 13th century helmet design resulted in narrow eye slits and small airways.
The shield is worn on the knight's left hand.
On the back of the shield are two short belts (English enarmes) through which the warrior passes his left hand. But there is also a longer belt on the shield called gige (English guige), that is giga ntsky to hang it over his shoulder when not using it for protection. The 13th century shield is made of wood and covered with several layers of thick leather to form a strong, layered defense. As well as on the top shirt, on the shield was depicted the distinctive sign of the knight, the coat of arms.
The main weapon of the knight of the 13th century was, of course, not a sword, but a spear. In the early thirteenth century, the spear was not a blunt striped wooden pole, but rather a real war lance, which was a wooden rod ten to twelve feet long, with a sharp, double-edged metal point at the end.
In earlier centuries, the spear was used more often during combat, as seen where William's Norman cavalry fought against Harold's Anglo-Saxon heavy infantry at the Battle of Hastings. October 14, 1066. The impact force of the horseman's spear was much higher than the impact force of the spear of a heavily armed foot soldier.
By the early 13th century, knights were using the technique of striking a spear held firmly under the rider's right hand. Considering that the knight sat firmly enough in the saddle of his horse, and the entire weight of the rider in armor and the galloping horse was concentrated on the sharp cutting edge of the spear, which acquired the destructive power of a projectile. There is reliable news of contemporaries of events that say that a spear pierced an enemy in armor through and through.
What were the horses in the army of the 13th century? Contrary to popular myths, war horses were not massive animals, however, they were very strong to carry the entire weight of an armed knight in armor.
So, the knight is now armed and ready to fight.
There are a few things to note that refute common misconceptions from Hollywood movies or television. Firstly, it is physically impossible for a knight to independently put on all the necessary military equipment and arm himself. As you can see in the photographs, a warrior could never have put on equipment without assistance: he needs at least one, and preferably two, assistants. 
Secondly, it takes a lot of time to properly equip a knight. In modern conditions, at least about twenty minutes of time is required, provided that you have two experienced assistants. Under other conditions, it will take at least half an hour to put on and tie everything correctly and neatly, and not sloppy and crooked. Otherwise, the hood can fall off over the eyes of the knight, and the sleeves of the chain mail slide down onto the gauntlets, which would be a disaster for the war during the battle. Preparation for battle must be thorough and thorough; it will be too late to do this during a battle.
Finally, there are issues of weight and ease of movement. Yes, the armor is heavy - it should be, otherwise it is unlikely to be useful for protecting a warrior. But let's not forget that the knight has been training, almost every day, since childhood. This meant that he was used to the armor and its weight, and could easily move in it. The chain mail is flexible enough, and its owner has freedom of movement.
So here he is - an armored knight of the thirteenth century.
The chain mail in the photo is made of a metal cord, and is an exact copy of the knightly equipment of the 13th century.
Weight of various pieces of equipment of a knight of the 13th century in modern design:
Jumpsuit (English Gambeson): 10 lbs (4.5 kg)
Chainmail (English Hauberk; Hauberk): 38 lbs (17 kg)
Leggings (English Chausses - road): 18 lbs (8 kg)
Helm: 6 lbs (2.5 kg)
Shield: 4 lb (2 kg)
Scabbard and sword belt: 2 lbs (1 kg)
Sword: 3 lbs (1.5 kg)
Ax (English Ax): 4 lbs (2 kg)
This is a total of 85 pounds or 38.5 kg.
Knight of the 13th century, equipped in all armor, was an "armored tank" of his time - almost invincible and not killed with all the iron protection. Very few knights of the 13th century died in battle, much more died civilians or lightly armed foot soldiers.
Many thanks to Knight Colin Middleton and his loyal squire.
2018-12-15Knights are valiant warriors who strictly followed a code of conduct. These representatives of the privileged class gave birth to a special type of culture that became one of the brightest aspects of the Middle Ages environment. An active lifestyle, involving most of his life on the battlefields and tournaments, could not be maintained without the use of heavy knightly weapons and wearing protective armor. What did the clothes of the knights of the Middle Ages look like?
Armor - reliable protection in battle
Not a single knight appeared on the battlefield without his armor. In most cases, they were made to order. Up to a dozen artisans worked on the creation of one headset. Some forged and polished the plates, the second made fasteners and fasteners, and others sewed the lining.
At the final stage, each headset was fitted to the figure, due to which it sat like a glove. Special attention was paid to this moment, because the slightest mistake could cost the knight his life.
Mail Vestments
At the dawn of the Middle Ages in the 9th-12th centuries, armor consisted of a soft fabric shirt and a bendable wicker chain mail. They were wicker items made of metal rings with a diameter of 6-12 mm, outwardly resembling forged nets.
The chain mail could be made in the form of a shirt, covering the torso, or a hauberk, completely enclosing the torso. To protect the hands, chain-mail sleeves were used, ending with mittens or gloves with separate fingers. To protect the legs, they used chaussures - chain mail pants.
Chain mail, woven from metal rings, combined with soft leather clothing, did an excellent job, softening stabbing and chopping blows that could be deadly without protective clothing. The writers of the Middle Ages in their works repeatedly described the pictures when the knights returning from the battlefield looked like porcupines stuck with arrows, which, no matter what, remained unharmed.
Lightly armed horsemen on the battlefield could appear without protective armor at all, donning only leather shirts and aketones - quilted outfits stuffed with horsehair and tow.
An interesting fact is that for all its merits, the chain mail had a significant drawback - it quickly rusted. To remove rust, the suits were "washed" in barrels with sand.
With the development of weaponry, knightly armor was continuously improved. They began to strengthen military clothing with plate bibs and aylets - shoulder pads. The plates were attached to a leather base with rivets.
By this time, gunsmiths had learned how to forge helmets from metal sheets. On top of the "cervelier" helmet, which was tightly attached to the head, an additional coif was put on - a chain mail hood. Thanks to this, the clothes of the knights of the Middle Ages protected the body of warriors in the literal sense from top to toe.
Plate suits
By the XIII-XIV century, armor of iron plates replaced chain mail, and then solid steel armor. Armored armor did an excellent job with the task assigned to them, protecting the torso, neck and limbs from the blows of any weapon. They could serve almost forever. But the solid articulated armor was incredibly heavy. The weight of one set could reach 15-30 kg.
The inconvenience of use in everyday life and the high cost of the kits are the main reasons why armored clothing could not completely replace the usual chain mail. To protect their bodies in battle, the medieval knights of limited means used armor of the carapace type. It was a hard, protective coating woven from tough scales.
By the 15th-6th centuries, since the massive introduction of offensive weapons such as crossbows, pointed swords and halberds, braided chain mail was no longer a reliable defense. Instead of a quilted underguard and chain mail, medieval knights began to wear plate "white armor" made of polished steel. The kit included several elements:
- cuirasses in the form of a bib and a napkin partially overlapping it;
- salade with visor and chin;
- gorget - a standing metal collar that protects the neck;
- shoulder pads and large bracers, complemented by combat gauntlets;
- a set of leg armor similar in structure.
To enhance protection and increase comfort when wearing armor, the suit was supplemented with a quilted stitch that served as an underarmor.
By this period, skullcap craftsmen had reached a high level of skill, having learned how to stamp protective headgear. This made it possible to reduce the cost of production and increase the strength of products. Helmet designs were constantly changing and supplemented, providing better face protection: potted, bascinets, burgonets, with a pointed crown, with a pointed armet ... One thing remained unchanged - the presence of a visor, which made it possible to regulate the degree of visibility and protection of the face.
Body armor, which is a continuous protection of the whole body, was worn by medieval knights under jupons or surcoat amice cloaks. Contrary to popular belief, they did not particularly limit the mobility of the soldiers, giving them the opportunity to move not only on horseback, but also on foot. This effect was achieved due to the moving connecting elements of the suit: leather belts and rivets.
For reference: modern studies conducted by British scientists have found that walking in armor consumes 2.2 times more energy than without them. While running or fighting, this parameter increases by 1.8 times. This is due to the need to additionally overcome resistance with plate armor when changing the position of the limbs.
By the end of the 16th century, firearms were invented. To resist bullets, armor had to be made of thicker metal. The weight of the armor became more and more. Therefore, plate armor began to be used only as ceremonial vestments.
Unchanging companions of the knights
The sword with a cruciform hilt is the main weapon of medieval warriors, which served as a kind of symbol of chivalry. He surpassed other types of edged weapons in convenience and maneuverability. In experienced hands, a meter-long sword, weighing about 2 kg, could be used with incredible efficiency. The pointed sword easily penetrated armor and cut off limbs.
Representatives of the military aristocracy, who showed themselves excellently in battles, received the right to name their weapons. In peacetime, it could even be carried around in public places and used for self-defense.
By the 15th-16th centuries, a dagger was also an obligatory element of a combat suit. It was always placed to the left of the saddle. The shield was an indispensable assistant for protection from spears and blows of swords. Wooden items were covered with leather and upholstered with metal stripes.
The constant companion of the medieval knight was his faithful horse. Armor was also used to protect the strong, battle-trained animals. The armor, referred to as "bard", included 5 main elements:
- krupper - to protect the torso;
- kritnet - for the neck;
- shanfron - for the head;
- neutral - for the chest;
- flanshard - for the sides.
A horse in an iron blanket, saddled by a knight dressed in armor, became a kind of fortress. Due to this, the rider, along with the animal, was hardly vulnerable to being hit by arrows, as well as by blows from swords and spears of the enemy.
Covering the horse over the entire area of the body, 1.5 mm of metal turned into colossal figures of the total weight of the "outfit". The weight of horse armor varied between 30-45 kg. If we add these numbers to the mass of the rider dressed in armor, it is easy to calculate that the horse had to carry 25% of its own weight.
Knight's costume as an indicator of status
The quality and power of the armor acted not only for protective purposes, but also served as a confirmation of the status of a knight. The stronger the armor, the higher the significance of the person under the knight's clothing.
During the period of the Crusades, over armor, representatives of the privileged class wore a light cloak - surcoat. He not only perfectly protected from bad weather, but also clearly demonstrated the family coat of arms and distinctive colors.
Beginning in the 13th century, knightly costumes were additionally seen as a way to flaunt luxury. For this, tunics were worn on top of the protective vestments. The outfits, which reached the middle of the shin, were very much like monastic amice in their cut. Expensive fabrics were used for their sewing, and gold inserts and precious stones were used to decorate stripes in the form of emblems. Over time, in an effort to demonstrate the luxury of the outer garment, the knights began to decorate their tunics not only in the back and chest, but also along the entire length with multiple images of coats of arms.
The desire to make an impression also touched the military armor. Particularly indicative in this regard were knightly tournaments organized by barons and major lords in honor of significant events. Participants of the tournaments had an excellent opportunity not only to demonstrate their military prowess, but also to surpass each other with the sophistication of their own vestments and the decoration of horses. The performances were very entertaining. The only negative - such "competitions" often brought the knights on a budget to complete ruin.
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In the Middle Ages, the helmet was the invariable and most important attribute of knightly armor. In addition to its main purpose - to protect the head of the owner, it also served to intimidate opponents, and in some cases was a badge of distinction during tournaments and battles, where in the general crowd it was difficult to make out who was who. For this reason, gunsmiths tried to endow each of their products with features inherent only to it, and often real works of art appeared in their workshops.
Ancient World Helmets
The oldest prototypes of future knightly helmets, dating back to the III millennium BC. e., discovered during excavations of Ur, the largest city of the Sumerian civilization. Their appearance in that era became possible due to a fairly high level of metal processing technologies.
However, helmets made of gold and copper were extremely expensive and inaccessible to most warriors. Therefore, the bulk of the warriors used special headdresses made of leather and flax, reinforced with copper plates only in the most vulnerable places.
The birthplace of iron helmets, which appeared in the VIII ─ VII centuries BC, were the two states of the Ancient World ─ Assyria and Urartu. There, for the first time, gunsmiths began to abandon bronze and preferred a cheaper and more durable material - iron. The workshops made steel sphero-conical helmets, however, they were able to completely replace their bronze predecessors only in the 1st millennium AD. NS.
Armor as a symbol of the era
Historians note a very paradoxical fact: the heyday of the production of knightly armor, and in particular helmets, falls on the period of the Late Middle Ages, that is, the XIV ─ XV centuries, when the knighthood itself had already lost its significance as the main fighting force.
Thus, the numerous armor presented in various museums around the world and sometimes being genuine masterpieces of the art of arms, for the most part are only decorative attributes of the era and indicators of the high social status of their owners.
The emergence of steel helmets in Europe
The beginning of the widespread distribution of protective equipment made of iron in Europe is considered to be the Early Middle Ages, which, as it is commonly believed, came after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. Fighting helmets, created in the early period of this era, had a characteristic feature - they were based on a frame of thick steel strips, on top of which metal segments were attached. This design provided them with reliability and simplified the manufacturing process, but also significantly increased the weight of the product.
Only in the 6th century, European armourers abandoned the frame structure and switched to the manufacture of a new type of helmets, riveted or welded from several segments. Often, masters supplemented them with nasos - narrow, vertically arranged metal stripes that protected the warrior's face. This novelty was first used by the Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons, and only over the next two centuries did it spread among other European peoples.
The emergence of new models of helmets
In the XII century, knight's helmets with a cylindrical crown came into use, which soon transformed into a new independent type, which received the name "topfhelm" for its characteristic shape, which means "pot helmet" in German. They survived until the XIV century.
Around the same period, one more peculiar type of helmets appeared - chapels, which were metal caps with brims, the shape of which often varied depending on the taste of the master and the wishes of the customer.
Since the main advantage of the chapels was their relative cheapness, they were used mainly by the infantry and poor equestrian knights. By the way, in the 15th - 16th centuries, one of the varieties of this type of helmets was used by the conquistadors - the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors of the New World.
Further developments of gunsmiths
The most widespread were the so-called cerveliers ─ iron hemispherical helmets, tightly fitting the head and resembling a modern helmet. They were deprived of any external protective elements, with the exception of the nasos, but at the same time they had an important advantage: on their inner side were attached gaskets made of thick shock-absorbing material and covered with fabric. They softened the blows received by the warrior in the head.
Cerveliers held out in service with the largest European armies until the beginning of the XIV century, after which they were supplanted by domed or hemispherical bascinet helmets, equipped with a chain mail aventail, and had many varieties. It is known that initially they, like the cerveliers, were designed to be worn under the larger topfhelma helmets, which were discussed above, but over time they received independent use.
Many original helmets of this type, equipped with visors of various designs, have survived to this day. Some of their samples are equipped only with nose pads or generally have a design that did not provide for face protection. The common element has always been the chain mail frame, which protected the warrior's neck and shoulders.
Knights sung by poets
Modern researchers receive information about knightly armor and their transformation over the centuries not only on the basis of those specimens that make up the collections of the largest museums in the world, but also from the literary monuments of the Middle Ages, among which French poems occupy a special place.
Their authors paid great attention to describing not only the exploits of the heroes, but also their armor, the decoration of which sometimes had both decorative and heraldic character. For example, knightly helmets often adorned not only plumes of feathers, but also rather complex structures in the form of horns and crests of fantastic animals, as well as elements of the generic coats of arms of their owners.
The appearance of helmets equipped with a visor
An important stage in the history of protective weapons was the appearance in the first quarter of the 13th century of helmets that fully protected the head and were equipped with only narrow slots for the eyes. The effectiveness of this design pushed gunsmiths to further develop it, and about a century later, knightly helmets, equipped with a visor, a movable part designed to protect the warrior's face, came into use. In the middle of the XIV century, they became an integral part of any combat armor.
When studying helmets from different eras, a characteristic difference inherent in Western European models is striking. It is noted that open structures have been characteristic of Asia in all centuries, providing warriors with wide visibility, the same can be said about the helmets of Ancient Rome. In Europe, on the contrary, knights preferred reliable deaf protection of the head and face, even in those cases when it created certain inconveniences.
"Dog hood"
The gunsmiths sought to combine reliability with comfort in their products. An example of this is the form of helmets that appeared in the XIV century and firmly established, which bore the characteristic name "hundsgugel", which means "dog's hood" in German.
Its feature was the presence of a cone-shaped visor extended forward, in shape that really resembled a dog's face. This design served two purposes. Firstly, it made the warrior's head more protected from arrows and spears of the enemy, which ricocheted off an inclined surface, and secondly, it made it possible to make more ventilation holes on the increased surface of the visor, and thereby facilitate breathing.
Models of helmets of the Late Middle Ages
In the 15th century, despite the fact that the importance of heavy cavalry in battles decreased significantly, the design of armor continued to improve, since the custom of holding knightly tournaments remained throughout Europe. At this time, the most interesting novelty was a helmet with a visor, called "armet".
Unlike the cone-shaped structures that existed at that time, this helmet had a spherical shape and a chin that opened in two halves, fastened with a pin during the battle. In addition, he was equipped with a second visor that moved to the back of the head and special devices that reliably protected the throat and collarbones.
Another knight's helmet, which became widespread in the Late Middle Ages, is also very interesting. It is called "salade" and is a distant relative of the bascinets described above. A characteristic feature of these designs was the back piece ─ the part of the helmet pulled back, not only protecting the warrior from blows from the rear, but also preventing him from being pulled off the horse with special hooks designed for this purpose. Salads were made with or without visors. In the first case, they were intended for mounted warriors, in the second, for the infantry.
Combat and tournament helmets
Medieval helmets, like all protective weapons, developed in two different ways, depending on their purpose. For tournaments, heavier and more durable samples were forged, providing greater safety, but not allowing them to be in them for a long time. In particular, the widely used tournament model "toad's head", which was one of the most reliable in the history of chivalry, but lacking proper ventilation, was designed only for short-term use, not exceeding 5 minutes. After this period, the supply of air in it dried up, and the warrior began to choke.
Combat weapons, which included the entire set of armor, were made in such a way as to allow the owner to be in it for a long time. Based on this, in its manufacture, the gunsmiths tried to give all the details the least weight. This requirement fully applied to helmets. Without sacrificing reliability, they had to be extremely lightweight, well ventilated and provide good visibility.
Invented by ancient times, they were continuously improved, keeping pace with the fashion and achievements of the arms business. Meanwhile, far from everyone blames the mot to afford the best. Further the story will go about that. as medieval armor went from chain mail, which consisted and intertwined metal to armor, covering the whole body.
Chain mail
At the dawn of the Middle Ages, most knights wore chain mail, which consisted of thousands of tiny steel rings with a diameter of 6-12 millimeters. This type of armor has been known since ancient times and weighed 10-25 kilograms. Not only shirts were made of chain mail, but also kapu-shons, called coifs, mittens and stockings, as well as armor for horses. The chain-mail shirt, strong and flexible, defended well enough from the chopping blows of the sword. However, a strong blow with a mace could break bones and cause internal bleeding without breaking through the chain mail. She did not give sufficient protection against spear blows or arrows. Initially, the knights tried to increase their chances of survival by wearing a quilted jacket under their chain mail. Later, a brigantine was worn on top of the chain mail - a leather up-speed, on which small steel plates were riveted. During the period of the Crusades, a special light cloak, surcoat, began to be worn over the chain mail. He not only protected from bad weather, but also showed the distinctive colors or coat of arms of the knight. Chain mail remained in use until the 18th century, but starting from the 1200s, knights began to switch to more reliable forged armor.
Plate and scale armor
In parallel with chain mail, other types of armor were also used in the Middle Ages, which were cheaper, but at the same time quite reliable. For example, the upper armor of the Franks under Charlemagne and the Normans under William the Conqueror were covered with plates, scales and rings, which were attached to a leather base in the following ways:
Knight in chain mail, 1066
This 11th century knight is dressed in full chain mail, which required about 30,000 rings to make. The weight of this armor was about 14 kilograms. But the chain mail quickly rusted. The rust was cleaned off by the pages, "washing" the armor in a barrel of sand.
1 aventail
2 long sleeve chain mail shirt (replaced the short sleeve shirt in the 1100s)
3 double-edged sword
4 front and back on the chain mail shirt there were slits for the convenience of mounted warriors
a) metal rings sewn together;
b) scale armor (scales made of steel or tanned leather overlapped, like a tile on a roof);
c) light plates (made of metal or leather and riveted onto a leather base).
Short-sleeved chainmail shirt - hauberk, leather leggings, conical helmet with nosepiece, shield (long teardrop or round)
Long-sleeved hauberk, gloves, aventail, chain mail chaos, flat-top helmet, long shield with a straight top
Hauberk, gloves, aventail, leather shoulder pads, kol-foreign highway, knee pads, surcoat, helmet, ecu shield
Hauberk and chain mail chausses connected to steel plates, leggings, brigantine, surcoat, large bascinet, aventail, ecu shield
Plate armor with chain mail in open areas, armet, aventail, ecu shield
Full Gothic plate armor, made in Italy, with chain mail in open areas and reinforced protection of the shoulders and knees instead of a shield, salade helmet
Chain mail making
Making a hauberk was not very difficult, but it required a long and painstaking work that lasted several weeks. The sequence of actions was as follows:
a) the heated wire was wound around an iron rod, and then divided into rings using a cold cutting tool or tongs;
b) the rings were compressed with a clamp to bring their ends together;
c) the ends of the rings were flattened, and a hole was made in each of them;
d) each ring was connected to four adjacent ones and riveted - four-in-one weaving was the most popular, but there were other options.
Plate armor
By the XIII century, the fashion and level of development of the arms business had changed. With the advent of sharp-edged swords that could pierce chain mail, knights-ri more and more often attached plates of double leather to it. In the XIV century, leather plates were replaced by metal ones, and the breastplate, bracers and leggings began to be made of hard steel sheets. In the next century, the knights were already clothed from head to toe in shining steel, which reflected the blows of the sword. This is how full plate armor appeared.
At the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the French king Philip II Av-gust was surrounded by enemy infantrymen, but thanks to the excellent quality of his armor he survived - the enemy could not "open the tin can." The monarch, who was on the verge of death, was saved by the help that came in time.
Gambeson, or quilting
Quilted was the cheapest and most common protective clothing worn on its own or as an under-armor. It increased protection and allowed the armor to be worn more comfortably.
According to historical sources, the most common type of armor in the 13th century was chain mail, consisting of iron rings connected to each other.
However, despite its widespread occurrence, only a few chain mails dating back to the period before the XIV century have survived to this day. None of these are made in England.
Therefore, researchers rely mainly on images in manuscripts and sculptures.
By now, the secret of making chain mail has been largely lost, although descriptions of some procedures are known.
First, an iron wire was pulled through a board with holes of different diameters. Then the wire was wound on a steel rod and the resulting spiral was cut lengthwise, forming separate rings.
The ends of the ring were flattened and a small hole was made in them. Then the rings were woven so that each of them covered four others. The ends of the ring were connected and secured with a small rivet.
To make one chain mail, several thousand rings were required.
The finished chain mail was sometimes cemented by heating it in a mass of burning coals.
In most cases, all chain mail rings were
riveted, sometimes rows alternated
riveted and welded rings.
| 1 |
Among the armor, chain mail occupied |
| 2 |
Bandaged riveted chain mail rings. |
| 3 |
Iron scale armor. |
| 4 |
Helmet with visor. |
| 5 |
Cylindrical helmet with nasal |
| 6 |
A helmet with a chin plate. |
| 7 |
Round helmet with nasal plate. |
| 8 |
Lined tapered helmet. |
| 9 |
Quilted comforter. |
| 10 |
Chain helmet. |
| A source | |
There were also large chain mail, which reached the knee in length, had long sleeves ending in mittens.
The collar of a large chain mail passed into a chain mail hood or comforter.
To protect the throat and chin, there was a valve, which rose up before the fight and was secured with a ribbon.
Sometimes there was no such valve, and the sides of the hood could go over each other. Usually, the inner surface of the chain mail, in contact with the warrior's skin, had a cloth lining.
In the lower part, the large chain mail had slits that made it easier for the warrior to walk and mount on a horse.
A quilted cap was worn under the chain mail comforter, which was held with the help of ties under the chin.
| 11 |
Chain mail without surcoat and mittens. |
| 12 |
Surko, worn over civilian clothes. |
| 13 |
Long shirt with Hungarian sleeves. |
| 14 |
Chainmail mittens. |
| 15 |
Chain-link strip that protects the leg. |
| 16 |
Chain mail track tied to the belt. |
| A source : "English knight 1200-1300." (New Soldier # 10) | |
Around 1275, knights began to wear a chain mail comforter, separated from the chain mail, but the former chain mail, combined with a comforter, continued to be widely used until the end of the 13th century.
The chain mail weighed about 30 pounds (14 kg) depending on its length and the thickness of the rings. There were chain mails with shortened and short sleeves.
Around the middle of the 13th century, Matthew of Paris depicted combat gloves, separated from the sleeves of chain mail. However, such mittens met
infrequently until the end of the century.
By that time, leather mittens with reinforcing iron or whalebone overlays had appeared.
The overlays could be located outside or inside the mitten.
The protection of the legs was provided by highways - chain mail stockings. Chaussies had leather soles and were tied to a belt, just like traditional stockings.
Linen underpants were pulled under the highway.
Sometimes, instead of shosses, the legs were protected with chain mail strips that covered only the front side of the leg, and at the back they were held on by ribbons.
Around 1225, quilted quisses appeared, which were worn on the hips. The cuissas were also suspended from the belt, as were the chausses.
In the middle of the century, the use of knee pads was first noted, which were attached directly to chain mail tracks or to quilted quisses.
Initially, the knee pads were small in size, but then they increased dramatically, covering the knees not only in front, but also on the sides.
Sometimes knee pads were made of hard leather. The knee pads were held in place with lacing or rivets.
Elbow pads were very rare.
The shins were covered with metal leggings worn over the shosses.
| 1 |
Chain mail remains the main type |
| 2 | |
| 3 |
In the middle of the 12th century, a helmet appeared in |
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A comforter with a curly hat, worn under a large helmet. |
| 5 |
Cap with shock absorber, worn under the big helmet. |
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Inner helmet worn under |
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Surcoat with sleeves and fringe. |
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Quilted hips protectors. |
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Highway knee pad. |
| 10 |
Knee pad on kuissa. |
| A source : "English knight 1200-1300." (New Soldier # 10) | |
Quilted aketon or gambeson was usually worn under the chain mail.
Aketone itself consisted of two layers of paper tissue, between which was placed a layer of wool, cotton wool and other similar materials.
Both layers, together with the lining, were sewn with longitudinal or sometimes diagonal stitches. Later, aketones appeared from several layers of linen fabric.
According to some descriptions, it is known that gambesons were worn over aketones. Gambesons could be made of silk and other expensive fabrics.
Sometimes they were worn on chain mail or lamellar armor.
Sometimes a long, loose shirt was worn over the chain mail. Shirt
was too flexible to be quilted.
Although chain mail, due to its flexibility, did not hinder the movement of a warrior, for the same reason, a missed blow could cause serious injuries from bruising and concussion to bone fracture.
If the chain mail could be pierced, the fragments of the links could get into the wound, which caused additional pain and threatened infection.
In some manuscripts of the 13th century, you can find images of foot soldiers in leather shells, reinforced with metal plates.
In some illustrations in the Matzeevskaya Bible, you can see warriors whose surcoat has a characteristic curve on their shoulders. It can be assumed that in this case a shell was worn under the surcoat.
There is also another explanation.
In the list of Fawkes de Breaute (1224), an "epolier" of black silk is mentioned. Perhaps, this meant a shock absorber mantle or a collar that goes over the shoulders.
There were indeed special collars; they can be seen in several drawings depicting warriors with open aventails or cap comforters removed. Outside, such a collar was trimmed with fabric, and inside it could be iron or whalebone. The individual collars were quilted.
It is not known if the collars were a separate piece or part of the aketone. It is also unknown how the collar was worn.
With equal probability, it could be in two parts, connected at the sides, or have an articulation on one side and a fastener on the other.
| 1 |
By the end of the century, many knights |
| 2 |
Italian helmet. |
| 4 |
The helmet is a bowler hat. |
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Comforter with lacing at the back of the head. |
| 6 |
Elbow pad. |
| 7 | |
| 8 |
Lamellar shell. |
| 9 |
Handguard with whalebone scales. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Waist belt with sword sheath. |
| 12 | Great sword. |
| 13 | Sword. |
| 14 | Sword. |
| 15 |
Garnache with a hood. |
| A source : "English knight 1200-1300." (New Soldier # 10) | |
At the end of the century, gorgets were used to protect the neck, which came to England from France.
The surcoat was a cape worn over armor.
The first surcoats appeared in the second quarter of the 12th century and spread everywhere by the beginning of the 13th century, although until the middle of the 13th century there were knights who did not have surcoats. The main purpose of the surcoat is unknown.
Perhaps it protected the armor from water and did not allow them to heat up in the sun.
It was possible to wear your coat of arms on the surcoat, although most often the surcoats were of the same color.
The surcoat lining usually contrasted with the color of the outer layer.
On the belt, the surcoat was usually intercepted with a cord or belt, which simultaneously intercepted chain mail, shifting part of its mass from the shoulders to the hips.
There were surcoats reinforced with metal plates.
In the middle of the XIII century, a new kind of armor appeared - a plate shell, which was worn over the head like a poncho, and then wrapped around the sides and fastened with ties or straps.
In front and on the sides, the carapace was reinforced by a plate of iron or whalebone.
Scaly shells were rare. Scaly shells are sometimes found on book miniatures, but are almost always worn by the Saracens or
any other opponents of Christian knights.
The scales were made of iron, copper alloy, whalebone, or leather.
Each scale was attached to a cloth or leather shirt so that the upper row of scales overlapped the lower one.
There were several main types of helmet.
The conical helmet could be forged from a single piece of iron with or without the addition of reinforcing linings, or it could consist of four segments connected by rivets, like an old German spangen helmet.
Such segment helmets were used in the middle of the 13th century, but even then they were considered obsolete.
By 1200, hemispherical and cylindrical helmets were encountered. All helmets had a nasal plate and sometimes a visor.
At the end of the 12th century, the first primitive large helmets appeared. Originally, the large helmets were shorter at the back than the front, but already on the Richard I seal there is an image of the large helmet equally deep on both the front and the back.
Closed helmets became more and more popular throughout the 13th century. In front there was a narrow horizontal eye slit, reinforced with metal overlays.
The flat bottom of the helmet was riveted to it. Although the bottom of the helmet, for reasons of strength, should have been made conical or hemispherical, this shape of the helmet took root and became widespread rather late.
| 1 |
This illustration is based on a miniature in a 13th century Spanish manuscript. |
| 9 — 11 |
Bridle with a mouthpiece. |
| A source : "English knight 1200-1300." (New Soldier # 10) | |
In the second half of the 13th century, the upper part of the helmet walls began to be made slightly conical, but the bottom remained flat. Only in 1275 did large helmets appear, in which the upper part is a full, rather than a truncated cone.
By the end of the century, helmets with a hemispherical bottom appeared.
By 1300, visored helmets appear.
In the middle of the 13th century, a bascinet or cervelier helmet appeared, which had a spherical shape. The bascinet could be worn both over and under a chain mail comforter.
In the latter case, a shock absorber was put on the head.
On the inside, all helmets had shock absorbers, although not a single sample has survived to this day. The earliest surviving are shock absorbers
XIV century - are two layers of canvas, between which horsehair, wool, hay or other similar substances are laid.
The shock absorber was either glued to the inside of the helmet, or laced through a series of holes, or riveted.
The upper part of the shock absorber is adjustable in depth, allowing the helmet to fit under the wearer's head so that the slots are at eye level.
The lining of the big helmet did not go down to the level of the face, as there were ventilation holes there.
The helmet was held on the head by a chin strap.
At the end of the 12th century, a crest appeared on the helmets. For example, such a helmet can be seen on the second seal of Richard I.
The crest was sometimes made from a thin sheet of iron, although wood and fabric were also used, especially on tournament helmets.
Sometimes there were voluminous ridges made of whalebone, wood, fabric and leather.