Man began to defend himself for a long, long time, when the weapon as such was not yet in sight. Man had to defend himself from weapons from the moment the weapon itself appeared. Simultaneously with the development of weapons for the offensive, weapons began to develop for protection: protecting a person, his body from sharp teeth, claws and horns of animals. Then it was a primitive defense made from improvised means: animal skins, the same horns, etc. Protective clothing was light, which provided the hunter with good mobility, did not interfere with running quickly and being dexterous and agile in a duel with the beast. Before becoming a full-fledged knightly armor, covering the entire human body, protective clothing has come a rather long way of development.
For protection from arrows, as well as from sliding accidental blows, combat armor was intended, which, even when penetrated, reduced the severity of injuries. The chance of survival increased, that's all.
Heavy cavalry sword with a basket handle (in English terminology "basket sword") 1600–1625. Length 100 cm. Weight 1729 England. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
If we carefully consider the mass of armor, we will see that for several centuries it has not changed. In the XIII century - chain mail protection, in the XIV century - "transitional" armor, the XV century - full armor, XVI - XVII centuries - "three-quarter" armor, they all weighed the same: 30 - 40 kilograms. This weight was distributed throughout the body and was equal in strength to the average warrior (compare, the equipment of a modern soldier - 40 kg, a soldier from elite units such as the Airborne Forces - up to 90 kg). Only tournament armor, designed not to protect against accidental blows or to reduce the severity of injuries, but to completely prevent them even when struck with a spear "ram" in the chest, was knocked out of this series. Naturally, this armor was not used in battle. Wearing armor for a long time exhausted the warrior, and in the heat he could get heatstroke. Therefore, often the warriors tried to at least partially free themselves from their protective equipment, even realizing that they could be captured without armor by the enemy by surprise, because this happened often. Sometimes they also took off their armor when crossing or fleeing, and sometimes they cut it off to save their own life: armor is expensive, but life is more expensive!
The handle of the "basket sword" 1600–1625 England. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The clumsiness and clumsiness of a warrior in armor is nothing more than a myth. After all, battle plate armor, even very heavy, allowed the warrior who put it on to fully complete any movements necessary for battle, and some medieval sources describe the performance of acrobatic stunts by soldiers. It is enough to visit the Royal Arsenal in Leeds in England for the animation of the knightly duel of warriors dressed in Greenwich armor, to see that they can jump, kick each other in the chest, and hit each other in the face not with a blade, but with the hilt of a sword. However, with active actions, a warrior in armor quickly got tired, so excellent physical fitness was needed to wear armor. By the way, animators in Leeds also sweat and get tired …
Special requirements were imposed by European archers for mantles, which interfere with archery, slowing down the speed of hand movements. Not every shoulder design allows you to fully raise your arms or spread them to the sides with low energy consumption. In Asia, kuyachny, laminar or lamellar mantles were used - flexible sheets hung freely from the shoulders, in this case, mobility improved due to good protection, because the armpit area was not covered by anything.
In Europe, they began with the manufacture of sets of fairly light chain mail armor, and then consistently improved their protective properties. This was the beginning of the competition between offensive and defensive weapons. Only the widespread use of firearms ended this competition. Outside of Europe, the armor makers did not try to achieve absolute protection at all. A shield was preserved, actively taking enemy blows and protecting from arrows. In Europe, by the 16th century, the shield fell out of use, since the new technique of fencing with swords made it possible to do without it in close combat, they began to take the blow of a spear directly on the cuirass, and the arrows were no longer afraid of the soldier.
So, instead of protecting the entire body of a warrior with solid plates, characteristic of Europe since the 15th century, more powerful armor began to protect especially vulnerable places and vital organs, and the rest were mobile and light armor.
The historiography of England offers many books on this topic - just eyes widen, and this is understandable - this is their history, the biography of their country. Many topical and now works were written in the last century and the British themselves refer to them to this day! But let's start with the background. And here's what we'll find out.
Armor of the English pikeman infantry of the 17th century.
It turns out that in the 16th century, for example, in 1591, English archers (and archers were still used!) Were demanded that they wear armor covered with bright fabric - a "battle doublet", made of quilted fabric, or lining with metal plates. Historians D. Paddock and D. Edge explain this by the fact that firearms had obvious successes, but the quality of gunpowder was still quite low. Therefore, a shot from a musket was effective at a distance of no more than 90 m. The equipments of the riders were also appropriate for the weapons of that time.
In medieval Germany, the reiters of Henry VIII were armed with a spear 3.5 meters long, and, in addition, each was armed with two pistols with wheel locks. The pistol had a pretty solid weight and was about 3 kg, had a half-meter length, the bullet weighed 30 grams, but the range of destruction was about 45 m. Pistols happened and more than two, if there was such an opportunity. And then they were tucked into the tops of their boots and a couple more were tucked into the belt. But science is moving forward and the quality of gunpowder has improved. Pistols and muskets have become more effective against the previous means of protection, already outdated. More advanced armor, which came to the disposal of the Reiters after production, was now tested for strength and quality using bullets. The entire set was checked for vulnerability, especially the helmet.
Archduke Ferdinad of Tyrol had an armor set "Eagle", reinforced with an additional plate on the chest, providing additional bulletproofness. But such armor, along with its invaluable quality - safety, had a big drawback - they were heavy, which, of course, affected the warrior's mobility.
At the same time, in England, there was a process of bringing the armor to a certain uniform pattern, since there were changes in the organization of the system of purchasing weapons for the army. According to the law of 1558, it was now the responsibility of the population to arm the army. The amount of the contribution depended on the amount of income on an annualized basis. Thus, a "gentleman" with an annual income of £ 1,000 or more was obliged to equip six horses for the army (three of them must be harnessed), and armor for the rider; 10 horses for light cavalry (with armor and harness). For the infantry: 40 regular sets of armor and 40 lightweight, German-style: 40 pikes, 30 bows (24 arrows for each); 30 light iron helmets, 20 halberds or bill-type spears; 20 arquebus; and twenty morion helmets. The rest bought weapons according to their income. Therefore, the master gunsmiths began to massively forge sets of the same armor. This led to the "in-line production" of vestments and greatly facilitated their release. It is curious that the export of all these weapons to other states was strictly prohibited.
The heavily armed cavalry wore a cuirass, a legguard to the middle of the thigh, arms were fully protected, and the Morion helmet had a comb and metal cheek pads that were tied with laces under the chin. They were armed with a heavy spear without a shield and a sword. The lightly armed cavalry wore a chain mail shirt and the same morion, and on their feet were very high cavalry boots made of thick leather, the same as those of the heavy cavalry. They were armed with a sword and a light spear. In Norwich, the light cavalry in 1584 carried two pistols in holsters at the saddle. For protection, a brigandine or a jacque was used - a jacket with a lining of horizontal metal plates.
Brigandine of the XVI century. Most likely made in Italy around 1570-1580. Weight 10615 g. View from outside and from inside. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Irish pikemen were protected by a cuirass, their arms were fully covered, their heads were covered with a morion with a comb, they did not wear legguards. They were armed with a long "Arab lance" (about 6 m long), like a heavy sword and a short dagger.
