Quilted garment worn under armour from the early fifteenth century,
equipped with points to attach mail gussets and pieces of armour. See alsoarming points.
A curtain of mail attached by means of vervelles around the
base of a helmet (typically the bascinet), protecting the neck and covering the shoulders. See alsobascinet, vervelles.
Piece of plate armour protecting the back half of the
torso.
Banded Maille
A largely discounted Victorian concept of maille with leather "bands" woven through it. The origin of the term seems to stem from misinterpretations of artistic shortcuts in representing maille armour in illustrations and effigies. See alsomaille.
Barbote
A high bevor with a falling lame containing eyeslits; used in Spain. See alsobevor.
Barbute
Also called barbut, barbuta. An open-faced, usually shoulder-length Italian
helmet, made in one piece, with a T-shaped face opening. Barbuta is the
Italian term. A
An open-faced helmet with a globular
or conical skull enclosing the sides of the face and neck. Usually worn
with and aventail, and occasionally a visor. See alsoaventail, hunskull, visor.
Bellows Visor
A modern term for a visor with horizontal ridges, such as on
'Maximilian' German fluted armours of the early sixteenth century.
Besagew
Defensive circular plate suspended over the wearer's armpit.
Also called bavier or buffe. A chin-shaped defense for the lower face,
incorporating a gorget plate. The buffe was an early sixteenth century
variant, worn strapped to an open-faced helmet such as the burgonet.
A light, open-faced helmet popular in the sixteenth century as an
alternative to the close-helmet for light cavalry. It was usually furnished
with a peak over the brow, a combed skull, and hinged ear pieces. The
face opening could be closed with the addition of a falling buffe.
A type of Spanish war hat (popular thoughout fifteenth century Europe)
with a turned-down brim and an almond-shaped skull ending in a stalk. See
alsomorion.
Individual plate armour defence, of tubular form, for the upper and
lower arm. See alsovambrace and rerebrace.
Case-hardening
A method (described in the twelth century treatise 'De Diversis Atibus'
by Theophilus the Monk) for surface hardening wrought iron(or low carbon
steel) by packing it in charcoal or other organic material and heating
it for hours above 900 degrees Celsius.
Casque, casquetal
A light open helmet; usually late fifteeth to mid-sixteenth century helmets of 'antique' form, such as Italian parade 'casques' of the mid-sixteenth century, embossed with grotesques or fashioned in the classical style. These were often similiar in
shape to the burgonet.
Celata
Open-faced Italian sallet, common in the fifteenth century.
Cervelliere
Steel skull cap, typically worn under a great helm.
Chapel de Fer
Also called a kettle hat. A simple open-faced helmet with a wide brim.
Chainmail
Erroneous Victorian era term for maille armour. See alsoMaille.
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-helmet
Helmet which, with a full visor and bevor, completely encloses the head and face; modern use of the term tends to refer not to helmets with hinged cheek-pieces opening at the front (the armet) but visored helmets pivoting
open on bolts or rivets each side of the skull. Contemporary usage, however, makes no such distinction.
Coat armour
A quilted garment worn over armour in the fourteenth century.
Coat of fence
Also called fence, jack, or brigandine. A doublet or tunic lined with small metal plates or, more rarely, just padded with stuffing of tow. See alsobrigandine and jack.
The keel-shaped ridge, often very pronounced, that passes from front to back of a helmet over the skull, conferring extra strength and rigidity and contributing to its glancing surfaces. In the mid-sixteenth century, the combs of morion helmets were raised and enloarged to an excessive height for 'fashionable' reasons.
Corslet
Also spelled corselet. A light half-armour popular in the sixteenth 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.
A heraldric recognitive 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
Also called pair of curates. A backplate and breastplate designed to be worn together.
Cuir Bouilli
Leather hardened by immersion in boiled water or wax, and then dried over a form. Earlier armours meant to supplement maille defenses were made of such leather and the medium was a popular one for tooling and embossing.
Cuirie
A 13th Century torso defense, originally made of leather.
Cuisses, Cuishes
Armour for the thighs.
Culet
A defense for the rump, comprised of overlapping lames.
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. See alsobard, crinet, crupper, peytral, shaffron.
Protruding studs, sometimes of zoomorphic form, on the finger and knuckle joints of a gauntlet. Particulary 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.
Garniture
A complete plate armour that also features many exchange pieces; 16th Century.
Gauntlet
Armour for the hand, initially of maille, later a plate defense.
An English corruption of the German hundsgugel (dog head), a nickname for a pointed visor found on bascinets of the late 14th and early 15th Centuries.
A padded garment worn over the armour, fitted in the torso, c.1350-1410. Alternately, a tightly fitted and usually sleeveless garment worn over the armour and displaying the wearer's arms.
A modern term describing a type of angular breastplate popular in Germany between 1420 and 1450.
Kettle hat
An open-faced helmet consisting of a bowl and a broad brim, resembling the British 'tin hats' of World War I. Also called 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 helmet and covered only the area unprotected by the aventail.
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.
Latten
Copper alloy of varying formulation. Modern brass and bronze would be considered latten in the Middle Ages. Latten was often used in the decoration of arms and armour.
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 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 during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I (1494-1519) and until the middle of the 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.
Plate defense on early medieval helmets, often riveted to the bottom of the skull to cover the nose and middle of the face.
Niello
A decorative black inlay used to best effect on a surface of silver or gold. A compound of sulphur combined with silver, lead, and a small quantity of copper, it is fixed in place by heat.
A plate reinforcement for the left elbow of armour for the joust.
Pauldron
Piece of armour covering the shoulder. Usually large, covering the
upper 1/3 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.
An erroneous modern term for referring to the visor on a hunskull visored bascinet. See alsohunskull, 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.
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 helmet, often gilded and worn instead of a crest in the 15th Century.
Pot
General term for a simple, common soldier's helmet (usually of morion type, such as the 'pikeman's pot').
Proof
Armour 'of proof' is made sufficiently thick or hard to resist a shot from bow or musket. The term first occurs in the texts of early medieval romances.
'Puffed and slashed' armour
Embossed armour, often etched and gilt, resembling a style of dress popular in early 16th Century Germany; where 'puffs' of colored material were pulled through 'slashes' in the sleeves or body of the garment.
A shaped iron bar bolted to early 16th Century jousting armours to hold down and steady the rear of the lance, enabling it to be levelled and aimed more easily.
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.
Also called 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). See alsobard, crinet, crupper, flanchard, peytral.
Sight
The vision slit in a helmet or visor. Also called occularium.
Skull
The part of a helmet covering the top, back, and sides of the head above the ears. It can also denote a simple metal cap.
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. See alsoAlmain 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.
Stechsack
A thickly padded bumper for the horse's chest, hung round its neck to protect the rider's legs, worn for the German Gestech.
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.
Surcoat
Flowing garment worn over armour form the 12th Century. Sometimes sleeved, sometimes sleeveless, it usually reached to mid-calf. Later, it was shortened and in the 14th Century developed into the jupon.
Short, open-sided garment with short sleeves used to display the wearer's arms. Often worn by heralds.
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. Also called a gard-cuisse.
Tonlet
Also called a base. A deep, hooped skirt of steel worn on foot combat armours in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.
Trapper
An all-enveloping textile cover for a horse, reaching to the fetlocks and leaving only the eyes, ears, and nose uncovered. It often displayed the rider's arms.
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.
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