This was the more streamlined, close-fitting bascinet, with a curtain of mail (camail) from chin to shoulders, which frequently had a movable visor. A new form of helmet joined the all-encompassing great helm and the wide-brimmed chapel-de-fer (war hat). The small, square, convex shield of the time (the targe) was eventually relegated to use in tournaments, since improved body armor made it unnecessary. To counter this, knights first wore a poncho-like coat with small rectangular plates riveted to it, while articulated plate armor was developed for the legs, arms, and hands. Later, boiled leather or steel pieces protected the knees (kneecops), while small squares of the same hard materials covered the vulnerable shoulder joints (ailettes).īy the fourteenth century, the improved crossbow was able to pierce shields and mail armor.

By 1200, mail for the legs, called chausses, was commonly worn by mounted warriors. To distinguish friend from foe, the knight’s triangular shield was painted with identifying symbols. Toward the end of the twelfth century, a new flat-topped type of helmet with side plates, which hid the face of a knight, became popular. 1033–1109) listed the equipment of a knight: his war horse (which by the thirteenth century was protected by mail and fabric), bridle, saddle, spurs, hauberk (a long-sleeved mail shirt, sometimes with a hood, or coif), helmet, shield, lance, and sword. Weapons were the spear, sword, ax, and the bow and arrow.Īt the height of the Middle Ages, Saint Anselm (ca. A hole in the center of each shield was bridged by a hand grip inside and a shield boss outside. Shields were oval or round and made of light, tough wood covered with leather. Body armor was usually either a short-sleeved mail shirt (byrnie), made up of interlocking iron rings, or a garment of overlapping scales of iron, bronze, or horn. One of the most widely used types of helmet was the Spangenhelm.

European warriors of the early Middle Ages used both indigenous forms of military equipment and arms and armor derived from late Roman types.

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