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Transitional armour. Transitional armour describes the armour used in Europe around the 13th and 14th centuries, as body armour moved from simple mail hauberks to full plate armour. The couter was added to the hauberk to better protect the elbows, and splinted armour and the coat of plates provided increased protection for other areas.
- Maille and Status
- Crusader Fashion
- Massacre at Visby
- Plate Is King
- The Impact of Plate
With the fragmentation of the Roman Empire, the enormously interconnected networks of trade that permitted Roman plate armor to be made were replaced by the much more localized production of chainmail for early feudal elites. However, the Roman style, characterized by alternating round and flat rings remained dominant; surviving early post-Roman ch...
During the Crusader period (1099-1291), chainmail armor developed to its greatest extent: the full-length hauberk was augmented by acoif (hood),chausses (leggings), sabatons (foot coverings), andmitons (mitten-gauntlets) all made from maille. Knights now frequently wore the great helm, enormous barrel-shaped steel helmets that were worn over layers...
Thus, armorers, knights, and soldiers began to experiment with alternatives to chainmail around the start of the 1200s CE. Some of this was likely systematic, but a lot was probably done as a matter of ad-hoc experimentation! Historians refer to these as “transitional armors”, since they were part of an experimental interregnum between the supremac...
By the end of the 14th century, medieval plate armor was being produced on a large scale for the first time since the Roman Empire. The fact that plate armor re-emerged in this period tells us a lot about the degree of interconnected trade networks that were required for the production of this kind of armor; it required the significant division of ...
Plate armor revolutionized warfare. Now, the battlefield was dominated by small (but increasingly large) numbers of heavily-armored mounted elites who were near-impossible to stop. Swords, spears, and most other ordinary infantry weapons were more or less useless against a fully-armored knight. Poorly-armed troops could overwhelm a lone knight by s...
Similar suit currently being made. This suit is based on several Italian harnesses of the late 14th century. "Transitional" is the term generally used to describe armours of this time period. During the 14th century armour styles were transitioning from primarily chainmail to full plate. Short inspirational texts from the Bible were etched into ...
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A coat of plates is a form of segmented torso armour consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates is considered part of the era of transitional armour and was normally worn as part of a full knightly harness. The coat saw its introduction in Europe among the warring elite in the 1180s or ...
- The Helmet or Helm. The medieval helmet has a long and varied history. Helmets were used in ancient times, but they were generally simple in design and made of materials such as leather or bronze.
- The Gorget. The medieval gorget was a piece of armor worn to protect the neck and throat. Its history can be traced back to the 14th century, when knights began wearing mail coifs to protect their heads and necks.
- Pouldrons. Medieval pouldrons, also known as pauldrons, were a type of armor worn to protect the shoulders. They were first used in the 14th century and continued to be popular throughout the medieval period.
- Spaulders. Spaulders were a type of shoulder and upper arm protection that were designed to protect the upper arms and shoulders, which were vulnerable areas in battle.
Transitional armour describes the armour used in Europe around the 14th century, as body armour moved from simple maille hauberks to full plate. The couter was added to the hauberk to better protect the elbows, and splinted armour and the coat of plates provided increased protection for other areas. Armourers in general began experimenting with various forms of rigid defense. They worked in a ...
For most of the medieval period, mail was the most common, and most effective sort of armor. Dressed in a padded tunic (jupon) with a mail coat (hauberk) and leggings (chausses) a knight was extremely well protected against any sort of attack. By the end of the High Middle Ages (~1000 to 1300 AD) mail armor was supplemented by reinforcements of ...
