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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.
Jan 29, 2022 · By the 16th century, armorers began to mass-produce “munition armor”, cheap and effective articulated half-armor suits for infantry that could be used to instantly outfit a town militia or mercenary company.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, improvements in hand firearms forced armourers to increase the thickness and, therefore, the weight of their products, until finally plate armour was largely abandoned in favour of increased mobility. Armour cuirasses and helmets were still used in the 17th century, but plate armour largely disappeared from ...
- Peter Mansoor
In western Europe, the development of plate armor for the body began in the thirteenth century and progressed throughout the fourteenth century. Aside from steel, plate armor was also made of leather, some of which was hardened by boiling in wax or oil (cuir bouilli).
From the beginning of the sixteenth century onward, and at first in addition to the decorative ridges and grooves, armor began to be adorned more and more frequently with etched decoration.
As part of Europe’s first standing army, the soldiers of the Roman Republic and empire were equipped with plain and serviceable armor of bronze or iron, and shields often painted with devices signifying the unit to which the soldier belonged.
The armoury was formed by imported master armourers hired by Henry VIII, initially including some from Italy and Flanders, as well as the Germans who dominated during most of the 16th century. The most notable head armourer of the Greenwich workshop was Jacob Halder, who was master workman of the armoury from 1576 to 1607.
