Medieval Weapons

    To protect his head and neck during battle, a medieval knight would don a chainmail coif. These coifs were made of interwoven iron rings. As you can imagine, they could be painful to wear, so knights would wear thick padding beneath the coif.

A chainmail coif is not impenetrable. Sharp objects hurled with enough force can pierce the metal chain. The coif also does not protect against broken bones and concussions. Still, for the medieval knight, it was a much-needed form of protection, even after the advent of plated armor.

The Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman conquest of England, lends great insight to the military dress of the Normans as far back as 1066. From the tapestry we can tell that the kite shaped shield was used universally throughout the Norman cavalry. The large shield stretches from the upper chest down to mid-calf and was meant to protect the rider’s exposed left flank, but more often than not, knights are shown using the shields to protect their horses. On his person, a knight wore a hauberk. Made of chainmail, the hauberk was knee length, split up the front and back for riding with the two sides draping around the rider’s legs when mounted, for additional protection.

Under the chainmail hauberk, a gambeson was worn. A gambeson is typically a padded or quilted garment used to prevent chafing while riding. The garment also added a layer of protection if the knight received a particularly hard blow. Unfortunately, even with padding, chainmail was likely to dig into a knight’s flesh and potentially lead to blood poisoning.

 Our earliest ancestors were the first users of chainmail.  Can you imagine a woman sitting in her cave with a fish needle and thread from the entrails of animals making her mate armour to protect himself?  This is very likely the way the first type of  chainmail developed.  Fishbones, animal bones, and perhaps small rocks were sewn into a hauberk or shirt for the hunter’s protection in his exploration in seeking food and protecting himself and his family.

Very quickly sophisticated chainmail appeared when metals were produced in the earliest societies, such as Persia.  It has often been debated whether the Celts or Persians were the first to sew bronze rings on animal skins.  By the 12th century every knight worth his salt had a hauberk of chainmail.  It became a very sophisticated form of protection.  The Crusading armies wore chainmail and so did their enemy, the Saracens.  There is a surviving hauberk which was constructed by the early Vikings.

Today chainmail is a very popular piece of armor for reenactors, costumers and gamers.  Anyone who has ever explored the types of maille or chainmail available has noted that there are many different types and prices.  There are several metal choices, such as aluminum, high tensilve and mild steel.  It also comes either butted or rivetted with round rings, flat rings with construction of either dome rivetted or wedge rivetted. 

Obviously the most important factor for many of us is the cost of the chainmail.  The butted maille is the most economical and it is the perfect choice for a starter set,  or a knock-out costume.   It is available in aluminum, high tensile steel and mild steel construction.  I have spoken with some reenactors who are involved with swordplay who state that a quality manufacturer, such as GDFB, makes a mild steel butted coif and hauberk that holds up very well.

Rivetted chainmail is the most desirable and historically accurate.  The Dome Rivetted is the most affordable of this type of construction. 

The ultimate and the most historically accurate set of chainmail is the Wedge Rivetted.  It is most like the chainmail of the Crusades.  It naturally is the most durable and will withstand the most stress by weapons. 

Buy whatever you can afford and join the battle.  It is a great hobby and it is great for esteem.

Often there is much speculation amongst historians and combat enthusiasts as to which warriors were most dominant in the world prior to the age of gunpowder. There were warriors in all the societies around the world, but determining the most powerful warriors is a much more difficult task. It’s worth noting that a warrior’s prowess in battle was not always indicative of their weaponry and armor. Though of course, warriors who had access to steel weapons and metal armor would have a significant edge over those that didn’t, but wearing heavy armor and wielding a large sword would cause that warrior to be much slower on the battlefield as well. The best warriors had both speed, power, and defense, which gave certain weapons and armor types an advantage against most others.

In terms of weapons, there’s nothing simpler and more effective than the standard sword and shield. This weapon combination provides superior defense with a balanced offense, and is near impossible to penetrate with the proper technique. Chainmail is also one of the best armors to wear, as it is lightweight, but still places a sheet of metal between the wearer and weapon edge. Chainmail could even be effective as a helm in the form of a chainmail coif.

In medieval times, there were dozens of different kinds of armor that were worn by soldiers, knights, and mercenaries.  With each improvement in armor quality, there was a bit of a tradeoff for maneuverability.  However, a trained soldier could learn to maneuver while wearing heavy armor, making them some of the deadliest foes on the battlefield. Medieval armor starts at leather and moves up to full plate.  Leather armor, the most common armor, was made of hardened pieces of leather, and could protect against slashing weapons in close combat but not much else.  The next step up, studded leather, had metal studs covering the leather, which provided added protection but not a lot.  From studded leather armor moved to ringmail and chainmail.  This armor was made up of several hundred links of chain or rings, and provided the protection of metal with better movement than full plate.  Plate armor is what most knights wore, and is as its name implies, is comprised of hardened plates of metal.  This armor provides maximum protection, and sometimes, knights would also wear a chainmail hauberk underneath plate armor which would make them near indestructible.  In fact, to defeat a knight in full plate armor, one would often have to tire them out or find a way to strip their armor.