In this article, in the most general terms, the process of the development of armor in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (VII - late 15th centuries) and at the very beginning of the Early Modern (early 16th century) is considered. The material is provided with a large number of illustrations for a better understanding of the topic. Most of the text has been translated from English.
Mid-7th - 9th centuries Viking wearing a Wendel helmet. They were used mainly in Northern Europe by the Normans, Germans, etc., although they were often found in other parts of Europe. Very often it has a half mask that covers the upper part of the face. Later it evolved into a Norman helmet. Armor: short chain mail without chain mail hood, worn over the shirt. The shield is round, flat, of medium size, with a large umbo - a metal convex hemisphere plate in the center, typical for Northern Europe of this period. On the shields, a gyuzh is used - a belt for wearing the shield while hiking on the neck or on the shoulder. Naturally, horned helmets did not exist at that time.
X - early XIII centuries Knight in a Norman helmet with a rhondash. An open Norman helmet of a conical or ovoid shape. Usually, a nasal plate is attached in front - a metal nasal plate. It was widely distributed throughout Europe, both in the western and eastern parts. Armor: long chain mail up to the knees, with sleeves of full or incomplete (up to the elbows) length, with a coif - a chain mail hood, separate or integral with the chain mail. In the latter case, the chain mail was called "hauberk". The front and back of the chain mail have slits on the hem for more comfortable movement (and it is more comfortable to sit in the saddle). From the end of the 9th - the beginning of the 10th centuries. under the chain mail, the knights begin to wear gambeson - long under-armor clothes stuffed with wool or tow to such a state that they absorb the blows on the chain mail. In addition, arrows were perfectly stuck in the gambesons. It was often used as a separate armor by the poorer infantrymen compared to knights, especially archers.
Tapestry from Bayeux. Created in the 1070s. It can be clearly seen that the Norman archers (left) have no armor at all.
Often, to protect the legs, they wore chausses - chain mail stockings. Since the X century. Rondash appears - a large Western European shield of the knights of the early Middle Ages, and often of infantrymen - for example, the Anglo-Saxon Huskerls. It could have different shapes, more often round or oval, curved and with an umbilicus. Among the knights, the rondash almost always has a pointed shape of the lower part - the knights covered the left leg with it. It was produced in various versions in Europe in the X-XIII centuries.
Attack of knights in Norman helmets. This is exactly what the crusaders looked like, who captured Jerusalem in 1099
XII - early XIII centuries Knight in a one-piece forged Norman helmet in surcoat. The carrier is no longer attached, but is forged together with the helmet. Over the chain mail, surcoats began to be worn - a long and spacious cape of various styles: with sleeves of various lengths and without, one-color or with a pattern. The fashion went from the first Crusade, when the knights saw similar cloaks from the Arabs. Like chain mail, it had front and back slits on the hem. Functions of the cloak: protection against overheating of the chain mail in the sun, protecting it from rain and dirt. In order to improve protection, wealthy knights could wear double chain mail, and in addition to the nosepiece, attach a half mask that covered the upper part of the face.
Archer with a long bow. XI-XIV centuries
End of XII - XIII centuries. Knight in a closed pothelma. Early pothelmas were without face protection, they could have a nosepiece. The protection gradually increased until the helmet began to completely cover the face. Late pothelm - the first helmet in Europe with a visor (visor) that completely covers the face. By the middle of the XIII century. evolved into topfhelm - potted or big helmet. The armor does not change significantly: the same long chain mail with a hood. Muffers appear - chain-mail mittens woven to the hawberk. But they did not receive wide distribution; leather gloves were popular among the knights. The surcoat somewhat increases in volume, in its largest version becoming a tabard - a garment worn over armor, sleeveless, on which the owner's coat of arms was depicted.
King of England Edward I Leggy (1239-1307) in open pothelma and tabard
First half of the 13th century Knight in topfhelm with targe. Topfhelm is a knight's helmet that appeared at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century. Used exclusively by knights. It can be cylindrical, barrel-shaped or truncated in shape, fully protects the head. Topfhelm was worn over a chain mail hood, under which, in turn, a felt comforter was put on to soften blows to the head. Armor: long chain mail, sometimes double, with a hood. In the XIII century. appears, as a mass phenomenon, chain-brigantine armor, providing stronger protection than just chain mail. Chestplate - armor made of metal plates, riveted on a cloth or quilted linen base. Early chain-brigantine armor was a bib or vest worn over chain mail. Shields of the knights, due to the improvement by the middle of the XIII century. the protective qualities of armor and the appearance of completely closed helmets, are significantly reduced in size, turning into targe. Tarje is a kind of wedge-shaped shield, without the umbon, in fact, a cut-off version of the teardrop-shaped rondash at the top. Knights no longer hide their faces behind shields.
Brigantine
Second half of XIII - beginning of XIV centuries. Knight in topfhelme in surcoat with aylettes. A specific feature of topfhelms is a very poor visibility, so they were used, as a rule, only in a spear collision. For hand-to-hand combat, topfhelm is poorly suited because of its disgusting visibility. Therefore, the knights, if it came to hand-to-hand combat, dropped it. And so that the expensive helmet was not lost during the battle, it was attached to the back of the neck with a special chain or belt. After that, the knight remained in a chain mail hood with a felt comforter under it, which was a weak defense against the powerful blows of a heavy medieval sword. Therefore, very soon the knights began to wear a spherical helmet under the topfhelm - a cervelier or hirnhaube, which is a small hemispherical helmet, tightly fitting the head, similar to a helmet. Cervelier does not have any face protection elements, only very rare cerveliers have nose guards. In this case, in order for the topfhelm to sit more tightly on the head and not shift to the sides, a felt roller was put under it over the cervelier.
Cervelier. XIV century.
The topfhelm was no longer attached to the head and rested on its shoulders. Naturally, the poor knights did without a cervelier. Alettas are rectangular shoulder shields, similar to shoulder straps, covered with heraldic symbols. Used in Western Europe in the XIII - early XIV centuries. as primitive shoulder pads. There is a hypothesis that shoulder straps originated from the Aylettes.
From the end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV centuries. tournament helmet decorations became widespread - various heraldic figures (kleinods), which were made of leather or wood and attached to the helmet. Among the Germans, various types of horns were widespread. Ultimately, topfhelms completely fell out of use in the war, remaining purely tournament helmets for a spear collision.
First half of the 14th - early 15th centuries Knight in bascinet with aventail. In the first half of the XIV century.the topfhelm is replaced by the bascinet - a sphero-conical helmet with a pointed top, to which an aventail is woven - a chain mail cape that frames the helmet along the lower edge and covers the neck, shoulders, nape and sides of the head. The bascinet was worn not only by knights, but also by infantrymen. There are a huge number of varieties of bascinets, both in the shape of the helmet and in the type of attachment of the most different types of visor, with and without a nosepiece. The simplest, and therefore the most common visors for bascinets, were relatively flat klapvisors - in fact, a face mask. At the same time, a variety of bascinets with a visor hundsgugel appeared - the ugliest helmet in European history, but nevertheless very common. Obviously, security at the time was more important than appearance.
Bascinet with a visor hundsgugel. End of the XIV century.
Later, from the beginning of the 15th century, bascinets began to be equipped with plate neck protection instead of chain mail aventail. Armor at this time is also developing towards enhancing protection: chain mail with brigantine reinforcement is still used, but already with larger plates that better withstand a blow. Separate elements of plate armor began to appear: first, plastrons or placards covering the stomach, and breastplates, and then plate cuirasses. Although, due to their high cost, plate cuirasses at the beginning of the 15th century. were available to few knights. Also appear in large numbers: bracers - part of the armor that protects the arms from elbow to hand, as well as developed elbow pads, greaves and knee pads. In the second half of the XIV century. the gambeson is replaced by aketon - a quilted under-armor jacket with sleeves, similar to the gambeson, only not so thick and long. It was made from several layers of fabric, quilted with vertical or rhombic seams. In addition, it was not stuffed with anything. The sleeves were made separately and laced to the shoulders of the aketone. With the development of plate armor, which did not require such thick under-armor as chain mail, in the first half of the 15th century. Aketon gradually replaced the gambeson from the knights, although it remained popular among the infantry until the end of the 15th century, primarily because of its cheapness. In addition, the richer knights could use a doublet or purpuen - essentially the same aketon, but with enhanced protection from chain mail inserts.
This period, the end of the XIV - the beginning of the 15th centuries, is characterized by a huge variety of combinations of armor: chain mail, chain mail-brigantine, composed of a chain mail or brigantine base with plate bibs, back plates or cuirass, and even shin-brigantine armor, not to mention all kinds of bracers, elbow pads, knee pads and greaves, as well as closed and open helmets with a wide variety of visors. Small shields (targe) are still used by knights.
Looting the city. France. Miniature of the beginning of the 15th century.
By the middle of the 14th century, following the new fashion that spread throughout Western Europe to shorten outerwear, surcoat was also greatly shortened and turned into a jupon or tabar, which performed the same function. The bascinet gradually developed into the grand bascinet - a closed helmet, rounded, with a neck protection and a hemispherical visor with numerous holes. It fell out of use at the end of the 15th century.
First half and end of the 15th century Knight in salade. All further development of armor goes along the path of enhancing protection. It was the 15th century. can be called the age of plate armor, when they become somewhat more accessible and, as a result, appear en masse among the knights and, to a lesser extent, among the infantry.
Crossbowman with pavise. Mid-second half of the 15th century
With the development of blacksmithing, the design of plate armor was more and more improved, and the armor itself changed according to the armor fashion, but plate Western European armor always had the best protective qualities. By the middle of the 15th century. the arms and legs of most of the knights were already fully protected by plate armor, the torso by a cuirass with a plate skirt attached to the lower edge of the cuirass. Also, plate gloves appear instead of leather gloves. Aventail is replaced by gorzhe - plate protection of the neck and top of the chest. It could be combined with both a helmet and a cuirass.
In the second half of the 15th century. Arme appears - a new type of knight's helmet of the 15th-16th centuries, with a double visor and neck protection. In the construction of the helmet, the spherical dome has a rigid back and movable face and neck protection in front and on the sides, on top of which a visor fixed to the dome is lowered. Thanks to this design, the armé gives excellent protection both in spear collisions and in hand-to-hand combat. Armé is the highest stage in the evolution of helmets in Europe.
Arme. Mid-16th century
But it was very expensive and therefore available only to wealthy knights. Most of the knights from the second half of the 15th century. wore all kinds of salads - a type of helmet, elongated and covering the back of the neck. Salads were widely used, along with chapels - the simplest helmets, and in the infantry.
An infantryman in a cap and cuirass. First half of the 15th century
For the knights, deep salads with full face protection were specially forged (the fields in front and on the sides were forged vertical and became actually part of the dome) and neck, for which the helmet was supplemented with a buwer - protection for the collarbones, neck and lower part of the face.
Knight in a cap and a bouvier. Middle - second half of the 15th century.
In the XV century. there is a gradual abandonment of shields as such (due to the massive appearance of plate armor). Shields in the 15th century. turned into bucklers - small round fist-shields, always steel and with an umbilicus. They appeared as a replacement for knightly targe for foot combat, where they were used to parry blows and deliver blows with a boom or edge to the enemy's face.
Buckler. Diameter 39.5 cm. Beginning of the XVI century.
End of the 15th - 16th centuries Knight in full plate armor. XVI century historians no longer refer to the Middle Ages, but to the early modern times. Therefore, full plate armor is a phenomenon to a greater extent of the New Age, and not of the Middle Ages, although it appeared in the first half of the 15th century. in Milan, famous as the center for the production of the best armor in Europe. In addition, full plate armor has always been very expensive, and therefore was available only to the most wealthy part of the chivalry. Full plate armor, covering the entire body with steel plates, and the head with a closed helmet, is the culmination of the development of European armor. Half drones appear - plate shoulder pads that provide protection for the shoulder, upper arm, and shoulder blades with steel plates due to their rather large size. Also, to enhance protection, tapes - hip guards - were attached to the plate skirt.
In the same period, a bard appeared - plate horse armor. Consisted of the following elements: chanfrien - muzzle protection, critnet - neck protection, neutral - chest protection, krupper - croup protection and flanchard - side protection.
Complete armor for knight and horse. Nuremberg. The weight (total) of the rider's armor is 26, 39 kg. The weight (total) of the horse's armor is 28, 47 kg. 1532-1536
At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. two mutually opposite processes take place: if the armor of the cavalry is more and more strengthened, then the infantry, on the contrary, becomes more and more naked. During this period, the famous landsknechts appeared - German mercenaries who served during the reign of Maximilian I (1486-1519) and his grandson Charles V (1519-1556), who, at best, retained for themselves only a cuirass with tassettes from all protection.
Landsknecht. Late 15th - first half of the 16th centuries
Landsknechts. Engraving of the beginning of the 16th century.
