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GLOSSARY OF ARMOUR
Armet
A type of closed helm that conforms to the shape of the head, covering
it completely.
Arming Cap
A small quilted cap worn under the maille coif that offered protection
against blows and the friction of mail against the head.
Arming doublet
Quilted garment worn under armour from the early fifteenth century,
equipped with points to attach mail gussets and pieces of armour.
Arming points
Laces, cords or similar ties used for fastening sections of armour together.
Also used to attach or hang armour from an arming doublet.
Aventail
A combination mantle-and-scarf of maille attached with vervelles to
the bottom edge of a helm, protecting the neck and shoulders.
Back Plate
A form-fitted piece of plate armour, enclosing and protecting the back
half of the upper body.
Barbote
A high bevor of Spanish design, with falling lames, with eye slits for
vision.
Barbute
Known also as: barbut, barbuta, celata. An Italian helm, fitting closely
to the head, characterized by a rounded skull, a T-shaped opening for
the face, sometimes expanded into a fully open face and severely flared
tail and cheek pieces.
Bard
Known also as: Barding. Defensive covering for the horse, referring
to either the plate armour or the padded trimmings which displayed the
heraldic markings of the knight who owned the horse.
Bascinet
Alternate spelling: Basinet. An open-faced helm that evolved out of
the cervellaire, (a small, archer's "skull cap" worn under
the great helm), by raising the back of the crown and extending the
lower edges to covers the sides and back of the head. Typically worn
in combination with an aventail and a visor.
Bellows Visor
A helm visor with deep, transverse (horizontal) grooves.
Besagew
A Small round defensive plate that was laced to the mail at the shoulder
to defend the armpit. Developed as augmentation to mail in the late
13th century, it's use declined during the early 14th century and was
no longer in use at all by the mid-14th.
Bevor
Known also as: bavier or buffe. A cupped defense for the chin attached
to a gorget. Commonly used with a sallet done in the German style, they
were also used with Italian armours.
Birnie
Known also as: byrnie, byrne, brene, broigne, and bruny. A mail, relatively
short in length, coming down only to the waist, with half-sleevs.
Bishop's Mantle
A collar of mail protecting the neck, shoulders and upper chest.
Bracer
Known also as: Archer's Guard. Protective armour for the wrist forearm,
as well as specifically protecting the forearm of an from the recoil
of his bowstring
Breast Plate
A form-fitted piece of plate armour, enclosing and protecting the half
of the upper body.
Breaths
Holes or slits used for ventilation placed in the front of a helm.
Brigandine
Known also as: Brigandyron, Brigantayle. Armour made of plates of iron
or steel overlapping upwards, riveted to a cloth or leather garment.
The plates were "tinned" to prevent rusting, and were located
on the inside of the armour, with the rivet heads showing through on
the outer surface..
Buckler
A small round shield, in use from the 13th through 16th centuries, carried
by infantry or used for sword-sparing practice as a target shield.
Burgonet
Known also as a Burginot. Introduced in the 16th century of Burgundian
origin, it is an open helm, with an umbril (brim) projecting over the
eyes, a comb on the crown with ear-flaps hinged to the sides.
Cabacete
A 15th century Spanish helm with a turned-down brim and an almond shaped
Skull ending with a protrusion shaped like a small shaft.
Cabasset
An open helm worn by foot soldiers during the late 16th century and
17th century. It has a narrow brim and a small point protruding from
the crown.
Camail
Introduced in the 14th century, a piece of mail armour for the neck
and shoulders. It is attached to a bascinet, and has a strap attached
to the upper edge with holes which fit over vervelles (staples) located
around the opening in the front of the headpiece. Lacing passed through
the vervelles to hold it in place. It covered the sides of the head,
neck and shoulders and commonly had a left forehead of the helm in order
to provide facial protection.
Cannon
Tubular plate armor wrapping around the upper and lower arm. Related:
vambrace and rerebrace.
Casque
Known also as: Casquetal. Similar to a Burgonet, an open-faced helm
in use from the 9th through the 13 centuries. It was a snug-fitting
rounded or pointed steel bowl, with a nasal, typically worn over a mail
coif and an arming cap.
Casquetel
An Open-faced helm with an umbril (a brim) and a laminated neck guard.
Celata
Open-faced Italian sallet, common in the fifteenth century.
Cervelliere
The small steel skull cap worn under the great helm during the last
part of the 13th century and into
Chainmail
Known also as Chainmaille. Related: Maille.
Chamfron
The plate armour covering a horse's face. 14th century examples are
very rare, showing crude construction, using globular pierced defenses
for the eyes. The chamfron became well developed in the 15th century,
when the horse was more fully armoured in plate steel. The crinet, another
portion of horse barding, covered the horse's neck.
Chapel de Fer
Known also as: a kettle hat. A simple open-faced helm with a wide brim.
Charnel
The hinged staple or bolt that secured the fourteenth century helm or
great basinet to the breast and backplate.
Chausses
Mail protection for the legs, either in the form of mail hose or strips
of mail laced round the front of the leg.
Close-helm
A Helm which, with a full visor and bevor, completely encloses the head
and face; modern use of the term tends to refer not to helms with hinged
cheek-pieces opening at the front (the armet) but visored helms pivoting
open on bolts or rivets each side of the skull.
Coat of plates
Known also as: a pair of plates or simply plates. A cloth garment with
a number of large plates riveted inside, worn in the fourteenth century.
Cod-piece
Fabric covering for the groin, latterly padded. Its counter part in
armour could be either mail or, more usually, plate.
Coif
Pronunciation: "qwoff". A Mail defense for the head in the
form of a hood, often worn under a helm. The mail coif was worn over
a padded cap, called an arming cap, and provided protection against
shock and penetration. By the twelfth century it occasionally incorporated
a Ventail which could be pulled across the lower part of the face.
Collar
Related: gorget.
Comb Morion
The keel-shaped ridge, often very pronounced, that passes from front
to back of a helm over the skull, conferring extra strength and rigidity
and contributing to its glancing surfaces. In the mid-sixteenth century,
the combs of morion helms were raised and enlarged to an excessive height
for reasons of fashion.
Corslet
Alternate spelling: corselet. A light half-armour popular in the 16th
century for general military use (for example, town guards). It consisted
of a gorget, breast, back and tassets, full arms and gauntlets. The
term can also be applied to the cuirass only.
Cote Armour
Known also as Jupon. A quilted garment worn over a breastplate or coat
of plates or as the sole body defense during the 14th century. Widely
used in England, they required virtually no technical skill to produce
and were light and easy to transport. Used extensively by soldiers,
they were often worn with the Chapel de Fer for head protection.
Couter
Alternate spelling: cowter. Armour plate defense for the elbow.
Crinet
Plate armour defense for a horse's neck. Related: bard, crupper, flanchard,
peytral and shaffron.
Crupper
Defense for a horse's rump. Related: bard, crinet, flanchard, peytral
and shaffron.
Crest
A heraldic recognition device fixed to the top of the great helm, introduced
in the second half of the thirteenth and in wide use by the fourteenth
century.
Cuirass
Known also as: pair of curates. A backplate and breastplate designed
to be worn together.
Cuirboille
Alternate spellings: courboille, cuir bouilli. A material used for
armour to add rigidity. It was made by boiling or coating heavy leather
with beeswax, often enhanced with other ingredients, then wrapped around
a form and allowed to dry.
Cuirie
A 13th Century torso defense, originally made of leather.
Cuisses
Alternate spelling: Cuishes. Armour for the thighs.
Culet
A defense for the rump, comprised of overlapping lames.
Elbow Cop
Related: Couter.
Elbow Gauntlet
A gauntlet whose cuff reaches the elbow, obviating both vambrace and
couter.
Enarmes
The hand grip and arm-straps on the back of a medieval shield.
Epaule de Mouton
A plate steel armour for the entire arm. First introduced in the 15th
century, it was used only for jousts. The epaule consisted of a single
piece formed to cover the whole arm, made of cuirboille, iron or steel.
Espalier
Related: Spaulder.
Etching
A metalworking process applied for decorative purposes to the surface
of armour plates. Often used in conjunction with blueing, gilding, etc.
Exchange Pieces
Supplementary armour pieces which could be added to, or exchanged with,
those comprising a harness in order to customize said harness for particular
applications, i.e.. jousting, fighting at the barrier, etc.
Falling Buffe
16th Century armour for the throat and lower face. It evolved from the
bevor and was comprised of several lames, retained in place by spring
catches, which could be lowered for better ventilation and vision.
Fan Plate
Projection from an elbow or knee cop designed to prevent a blow from
wrapping around and landing in the joint.
Fauld
Armour, usually composed of horizontal lames, attached to the bottom
edge of a breastplate to protect the abdomen.
Finger gauntlets
Gauntlets with each finger protected by its own separate set of lames.
Flanchard
A plate attaching to the base of a saddle, protecting the flanks of
a horse. This closed the gap between the crupper and the peytral. Related:
bard, crinet, crupper, peytral and shaffron.
Frog-mouthed helm
Fourteenth-century and later helm, usually attached to the breastplate
and backplate, where the lower edge of the sight projects well beyond
the upper edge.
Gadlings
Protruding studs, sometimes of zoomorphic form, on the finger and knuckle
joints of a gauntlet. Particularly popular late in the 14th Century
on fingered gauntlets.
Gambeson
A quilted doublet of cloth, stuffed with tow, wool, or other materials.
They appear to have been worn over maille armours, under them, and instead
of them at times. There is confusion and ongoing debate over the exact
meanings of this word and the related term aketon.
Gamboised Cuisses
Padded, quilted thigh defenses of the late 13th and early 14th Centuries.
Gardbrace
Reinforcing plate shaped to fit over and augment the pauldron on Italian
15th Century armours. These were attached to the pauldron by means of
a staple and pin.
Gard-cuish
Related: Tilting socket
Gard-cuisse
Related: Tilting socket
Gard-rein
Armor for the buttocks
Garniture
A complete plate armour that also features many exchange pieces; 16th
Century.
Gauntlet
Armour for the hand and wrist, initially made of maille, in later periods
made of plate armour.
Gorget
Piece of armour protecting the throat. May be a simple collar or a more
elaborate design composed of several pieces.
Gothic Armour
German armour of the late 15th Century, characterized by a slim angular
line, cusping, fluting, and fan-shaped designs.
Grand Guard
A reinforcing piece of armour, attached to the left side of the breastplate
and covering the left shoulder, upper arm, left side of the breastplate,
and left side of the visor. Designed for use in the tilt.
Great Helm
Related: Helm.
Greave
Known also as: earlier, a jamber or schynbald. A defense for the lower
leg, originally only defending the shin, but later including a hinged
back-plate to defend the calf.
Guige
Strap attached to the back side of a shield by which it could be slung
about the bearer's neck.
Gusset
A 15th Century piece of maille, sewn or pointed to the arming doublet,
used to cover the armpit and portions of the arm left exposed by the
plate armour. Also, a 16th Century laminated defense for the armpit
of a breastplate.
Harness
A suit of armour.
Haubergeon
A short type of hauberk, typically reaching only to just below the hips.
The terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably. Related: Birnie
(Byrnie).
Hauberk
A mail shirt reaching to somewhere between mid-thigh and the knees.
Most often, it included sleeves, either half-length sleeves (reaching
to the elbow) or full-length sleeves, (reaching to the wrist), although
there were versions that were sleeveless. Sometimes , the term refers
to similarly shaped garments made with scale. Related: Birnie (Byrnie)
and haubergeon.
Haute-piece
Upstanding neck guard attached to the pauldron.
Heater shield
A form of knightly shield which appeared in the 13th Century, shaped
like the bottom of a flat iron.
Helm
An all-enveloping armour "hood" which enclosed and protected
the entire head, face and neck, reaching almost to the shoulders.
Hunskull
An English version of the German hundsgugel , meaning "dog head",
a nickname for a pointed visor found on bascinets of the late 14th and
early 15th Centuries.
Jack
A defensive jacket or doublet either of linen stuffed with tow, or lined
with small metal plates.
Jamb
Known also as: jamber, jambart, or jambiere. An early medieval term
for leg armour. Related: greave and schynbald.
Kastenbrust
A modern term describing a type of angular breastplate popular in Germany
between 1420 and 1450.
Kettle hat
An open-faced helm consisting of a bowl and a broad brim, resembling
the British "tin hats" of World War I. Known also as: a "Chapel
de Fer".
Kite-shaped shield
A large, elongated triangular shield with a rounded top used throughout
Europe from the 10th to the 13th Century. It is commonly associated
with the Normans.
Klappvisier
A modern term for a globular visor worn in Germany in the 14th Century
on bascinets. It was hinged at the front of the skull of the helm and
covered only the area unprotected by the aventail.
Lame
A narrow strip or plate of steel, sometimes used in armour to provide
articulation.
Lamellar armour
Armour consisting of small plates laced together to give a rigid defense.
Of Near Eastern origin, it was used throughout the Middle Ages in Eastern
Europe, but was not common in the West.
Lance rest
A support for the lance when couched; it was bolted to the right side
of the breastplate and was often hinged.
Mail
Alternate spelling: Maille. A flexible defense of interlinked and riveted
rings of metal; its origin appears to be Celtic. In most European cases,
each link passes through four others ("4-in-1" weave) and
the garment is shaped through the addition or subtraction of rings in
appropriate places.
Manifer
A plate defense for the lower part of the left arm and hand, usually
constructed in one piece and designed for the joust.
"Maximillian" armour
A modern term applied to a style of early 16th Century armour characterized
by narrow, parallel fluting. It was popular from the reign of Holy Roman
Emperor Maximillian I (1494-1519) to the middle of the 16th century.
Mitten gauntlet
A gauntlet with articulated transverse lames covering the fingers, rather
than the fingers each being separately protected by a series of articulated
plates.
Morion
A 16th Century development of the kettle hat, widely used by infantry
and consisting of a skull with a broad brim, flat or turned down at
the sides, but which sweeps upward into a peak at the front and rear.
There are two main types: (1) The Spanish Morion, or Cabasset, which
has an almond-shaped skull ending with a stalk-like projection derived
from the Cabacete, and (2) The Comb Morion, which has a high central
comb along the apex of the skull.
Muffler
A maille, mitten-like extension to the sleeve of a hauberk with a hole
at the wrist that allowed the wearer to remove his hand.
"Munition armour"
Mass-produced, cheaply made armour for the common soldiery, produced
in very large quantities at the beginning of the 16th Century. Related:
Almain rivet.
Munnions
Articulated lames, often attached to the gorget, protecting the shoulders
and upper arms.
Nasal
A strip of plate steel armour to the front of a helm to protect the
nose.
Occularium
The eye-slits in a helm.
Pasguard
A plate reinforcement for the left elbow of armour for the joust.
Pauldron
Piece of armour covering the shoulder. Usually large, covering the upper
third of the torso.
Pavise
Large, usually rectangular shield carried by infantrymen and frequently
used in siege work to protect archers and crossbowmen. The largest were
equipped with a prop to support them.
Peytral
Horse armour designed to protect the horse"s chest. Related: bard,
crinet, crupper, flanchard and shaffron.
Pigface
An modern term referring to the visor on a hunskull visored bascinet.
Related: hunskull and bascinet.
Plackart
A plate reinforcement attached to the breastplate, which at first covered
the lower half but latterly, especially on Italian armours, covered
nearly the entire breastplate.
Plate armour
Armour made of rigid iron or steel plates.
Platemail
An erroneous Victorian era term for referring to plate armour or plate
and maille hybrids. Related: plate armour and maille.
Poldermitton
Reinforcement for the right arm on jousting armour.
Poleyn
A cup-shaped plate defense for the knee, usually equipped with a side
wing of heart shape.
Pomme
A spherical decoration for a helm, often gilded and worn instead of
a crest in the 15th Century.
Pot
General term for a simple, common soldier's helm (usually of morion
type, such as the "pikeman's pot").
Rennhut
A heavy, one-piece sallet designed for the Rennen, a type of German
joust fought with sharp lances.
Renntartsche
A large shield of wood and leather reinforced with metal, covering the
whole of the wearer's body and bevor. It screwed to the breastplate
and bevor. Designed for the German Rennen.
Rerebrace
Piece of armour covering the upper arm from the elbow to the shoulder.
Rennzeug
Armour designed for the Rennen.
Rump guard
An oblong plate hung from the lower edge of the culet on 15th Century
armours.
Sabaton
Known also as: Solleret. A Piece of armour covering the foot.
Sallet
A light helm either fitted with a visor or open-faced, varying in form,
having a tail to protect the neck. Known in England as a salade.
Scale armour
Armour made of small, overlapping scales or plates sewn or laced to
a cloth garment.
Scalemail
An erroneous Victorian era term for scale armour. Related: scale armour.
Schynbalds
A plate defense for the lower leg which protected only the shin and
was strapped over the chausses. Related: Greave.
Shaffron
Known also as: a chaffron, chanfron. Defense for a horse's head. Forms
covering only the upper part of the head became popular in the mid-16th
Century (demi-shaffron). Related: bard, crinet, crupper, flanchard
and peytral.
Sight
Known also as: occularium. The vision slit in a helm or visor.
Skull
The part of a helm covering the top, back, and sides of the head above
the ears. It can also denote a simple metal cap.
Spangenhelm
A modern term for conical helms constructed of a number of segments
riveted together; descended from Late Roman prototypes.
Spaudler
Piece of armour covering the shoulder joint. Not as large as a pauldron.
Splint
Light arm defenses used in the 15th and 16th Centuries, gutter-shaped
and intended to protect only the outside of the arm, they were often
found on cheap armours intended for infantry use and on certain types
of German armour. Related: Almain rivet.
Standard
A maille collar common in the 15th Century.
Stechhelm
A "frog-mouthed" form of great helm, worn for the Gestech
(a type of German tournament), bolted to the breastplate.
Stechtartsche
A small rectangular wooden shield for the Gestech, suspended by cords
from the breastplate.
Stechzeug
Armour designed for the Gestech.
Stop rib
Small metal bar riveted to plate armour to stop the point of a weapon
sliding into a joint or opening.
Target
A small circular shield.
Tasset
A defense for the top of the thigh, hung from the fauld by straps to
cover the gap between cuisses and breastplate. They first appear in
the 15th Century.
Tilting socket
Large plate reinforcing cuisses which provided protection for the thighs
and knees and hung from either side of the saddle. Known also as: a
gard-cuisse.
Tonlet
Known also as: a base. A deep, hooped skirt of steel worn on foot combat
armours in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.
Turning-joint
An enclosed circular joint above the elbow, enabling the arm to twist.
A flange on the rim of the upper cannon of the vambrace rotates inside
an embossed groove along the lower edge of the rerebrace.
Umbo
A shield boss, usually in the center of a shield, covering and protecting
the hand as it holds the grip.
Vambrace
Piece of armour covering the lower arm from the wrist to the elbow.
Ventail
An integral flap of maille attached to the coif in the 13th Century;
it could be drawn across the mouth to protect the lower face.
Vervelles
Staples attached to the base of a bascinet for the attachment of an
aventail. Related: bascinet and aventail.
Visor
Protection for the eyes and face; a plate defense pivoted to a helm's
skull.
White armour
A modern term for a plate armour of plain, polished steel.
Wrapper
A reinforcing piece for an armet or other helm which was strapped about
the helm and protected the lower half of the face.
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