"Song, and early Ming Period, cuirasses and plates (mingguangjia) were also used, with more elaborate versions for officers in war. The Chinese, during that time used partial plates for ""important"" body parts instead of covering their whole body since too much plate armour hinders their martial arts movement. The other body parts were covered in cloth, leather, lamellar, or Mountain pattern. In pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armour was made out of various animals, with more exotic ones such as the rhinoceros. Mail, sometimes called ""chainmail"", made of interlocking iron rings is believed to have first appeared some time after 300"
"Ring armour Ring armour (ring mail) is an assumed type of personal armour constructed as series of metallic rings sewn to a fabric or leather foundation. No actual examples of this type of armour are known from collections or archaeological excavations in Europe. It is sometimes called ringmail or ring mail. In the Victorian era the term ""mail"" was used fancifully for any form of metallic body armour. Modern historians reserve the term ""mail"" for armour formed of an interlinked mesh of metal rings. The Bayeux Tapestry has been misinterpreted as depicting several different types of armour. It is generally"
"Craft"" By Charles John Ffoulkes brings into doubt whether the eyelet doublet was related to ring armour at all. Ring armour seems to have been used in Asia but was rare (see External Image). Ring armour Ring armour (ring mail) is an assumed type of personal armour constructed as series of metallic rings sewn to a fabric or leather foundation. No actual examples of this type of armour are known from collections or archaeological excavations in Europe. It is sometimes called ringmail or ring mail. In the Victorian era the term ""mail"" was used fancifully for any form of metallic"
"Armill An armill or armilla (from the Latin: ""armillae"" remains the plural of armilla) is a type of medieval bracelet, or armlet, normally in metal and worn in pairs, one for each arm. They were usually worn as part of royal regalia, for example at a coronation, or perhaps as part of especially grand liturgical vestments. They may have been worn outside ceremonies. Armillae presumably descend from the Ancient Roman armilla, which was a form of military decoration. These in turn seem to have developed from the armlets worn by some ""barbarian"" nations, including the ancient Celts and Scots. The"
"but this is thought to be a confusion as to the meaning of the word. Armill An armill or armilla (from the Latin: ""armillae"" remains the plural of armilla) is a type of medieval bracelet, or armlet, normally in metal and worn in pairs, one for each arm. They were usually worn as part of royal regalia, for example at a coronation, or perhaps as part of especially grand liturgical vestments. They may have been worn outside ceremonies. Armillae presumably descend from the Ancient Roman armilla, which was a form of military decoration. These in turn seem to have developed"
"Splint armour Splint armour, also referred to as splinted armour, first appears in a Scythian grave from the 4th century BC. Limb armor consisting of strips of metal (""splints"") are attached to a fabric (cloth or leather) backing (""foundation""). The splints are narrow metal strips arranged longitudinally, pierced for riveting or sewing to the foundation. Splint armour is most commonly found as greaves or vambraces. It appears in the Swedish Migration Era and again in the 14th century as part of transitional armour, where it was also used to form cuisses and rerebraces. While a few complete suits of armour"
"Arm ring An arm ring, also known as an armlet or an armband, is a band of metal, usually a precious metal, worn as jewelry or an ornament around the biceps of the upper arm. The arm ring is similar to a bracelet or bangle, though it must be shaped and sized to fit snugly to the upper arm. Historically, the arm ring was commonly worn by men, and often a ""ring"" in bronze age heroic literature would refer to an arm ring, rather than a finger ring. In Indonesia, an arm ring is called ""kelat bahu""; it is commonly"
"Lamellar armour Lamellar armour is a type of body armour, made from small rectangular plates (scales or ""lamellae"") of iron, leather (rawhide), or bronze laced into horizontal rows. Lamellar armor was used over a wide range of time periods in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and throughout central and eastern Asia, especially China, Japan, Mongolia, and Tibet. The earliest evidence points to the Assyrians as the people responsible for the early development and spread of this form of armour. In the numerous battle scenes depicted in the reliefs from Niniveh and Nimrud, commemorating the victories of Ashurnasirpal and Ashurbanipal, dating"
"chain mail and soft leather backing"" and as ""many thin sheets of metal are hammered or riveted together"". The last description more closely fits splinted armor, which consists of long metal splints connected by mail/leather used for arm and leg protection. The final description of metal plates riveted to a sub-strate describe a coat of plates or brigandine, all of which consist of metal plates riveted to a leather or cloth fronting. Finally, armor constructed of rows of plates or platelets sewn or laced together, without backing/fronting, would be considered ""laminar"". The current term for small metal plates joined together"
"have been found made from splints of wood, leather, or bone, the Victorian neologism ""splinted mail"" usually refers to the limb protections of crusader knights. Depictions typically show it on the limbs of a person wearing mail, scale armour, a coat of plates or other plate harness. Knights in effigy are depicted with leg protection of a matrix of disks with a diameter equal to the splints. This style appears to depict sabatons and splints on greaves, or may represent padded armour underneath splints, or the rivets on brigandine. Splint armour Splint armour, also referred to as splinted armour, first"
"mirror armour, which practically is a square or rectangular metal or wooden plate fastened to the warrior's chest. This type of armour could provide minimal protection against slashing and glancing blows. For limbs protection, there are bronze vambraces and greaves, sometimes shaped like multiple rings coiled around the wearer's forearms and legs although they were cast as single pieces. Most vambraces and greaves have small tintinnabulums attached to them. This is a feature seen also in later eras' armours. Less common is lamellar armour, consists of small metal scales fastened together to provide protection and flexibility at the same time."
"armour"" is a type of partial plate armour which was developed initially from round metal mirrors (a kind of rondel) worn over other armour (usually over mail) as enforcement. Metal mirrors in this armour were considered as protection from not only cold steel and arrows, but also supernatural influence. It was believed that mirrors could reflect the evil eye, so they were polished and worn over other armour. Early mirror armour consisted of a round mirror attached to the body with a few leather laces (similar to the Roman phaelerae). In Europe, they were known as ""kardiophylax"" (Greek) or ""apezak"""
"constructed from narrow or small scales/lamellae, and """", which were constructed from wider scales/lamellae . Lamellar armour Lamellar armour is a type of body armour, made from small rectangular plates (scales or ""lamellae"") of iron, leather (rawhide), or bronze laced into horizontal rows. Lamellar armor was used over a wide range of time periods in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and throughout central and eastern Asia, especially China, Japan, Mongolia, and Tibet. The earliest evidence points to the Assyrians as the people responsible for the early development and spread of this form of armour. In the numerous battle scenes depicted"
"Banded mail Banded mail is a neologism, coined in the 19th century, describing a type of composite armor formed by combining the concepts behind the Roman ""lorica segmentata"" with splint mail. Its historicity is doubtful. It has become entrenched in the popular consciousness as a result of its inclusion in the armor list for ""Dungeons & Dragons"". Confusion arises because of the wide variety of terms by which similar armors are known. Banded mail has been described as ""a form of mail reinforced with bands of leather"", as ""overlapping horizontal strips of laminated metal sewn over a backing of normal"
"Archery"" refers to rings as being usually made of leather. A ""thumb tip"" or ""thumb ring"" which is called ""kustubān"" by the Persian and ""khayta‘ah"" by the Arabs, consists of a ring or leather or some other material. It is worn over the right thumb, leaving the nail and knuckle exposed, and is use for the protection of the thumb against injuries which are usually caused by the string when it is drawn and released."" Possibly, most ordinary archers historically used tabs of leather, much cheaper and easier to make, but such rings are not likely to survive. Metal thumb"
"Manica (armguard) A manica (, ""sleeve"") was a type of iron or bronze arm guard, with curved and overlapping metal segments or plates, fastened to leather straps, worn by Roman gladiators called crupellarii, and later by soldiers. As early as Achaemenid times, there were references to ""cheires"" which consisted of hoops of metal that would be worn on the rein arm of a cavalryman. Hooped armour became extremely popular in the Saka, Parthian, and Kushan kingdoms and was used on both arms and legs. They can be seen at Khalchayan and on many pieces of Parthian artwork. In addition, two"
"acknowledged today that virtually all the armour on the tapestry is standard mail armour and not ""ring mail"", ""trellised mail"" or ""mascled mail"" or any other Victorian misinterpretation. Ring armour was believed to be a leather or textile item of clothing (a jacket, or trousers) with a large number of metal rings sewn or tied directly into the foundation garment. Unlike mail armour, the rings are not physically interlocked with each other. It has been claimed that the garment called eyelet doublet is not a form of ring armour, but an undergarment intended to be used under actual armour. The"
"a specific narrative or chronicle, or ""general"", with the aim of an encyclopedic collection. A roll of arms arranged systematically by design, with coats featuring the same principal elements (geometrical ordinaries and charges) grouped together as a tool to aid identification, is known as an ordinary of arms (or simply as an ordinary). Roll of arms A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid 13th century,"
"Armband An armband is a piece of material worn around the arm over the sleeve or other clothing if present. They may be worn for pure ornamentation to mark the wearer as belonging to group, having a certain rank or role, or being in a particular state or condition. Sprung armbands, known as sleeve garters, have been used by men to keep overlong sleeves from dropping over the hands and thereby interfering with their use. Armbands may also refer to inflatable armbands used to assist flotation for swimmers or for use with sphygmomanometers, in which case they are generally referred"
"Brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role or rank badges or other insignia are carried on it instead of being stitched into the actual clothing. The brassard, when spread out, may be roughly rectangular in shape, where it is worn merely around the arm; it may also be a roughly triangular shape, in which case the brassard is also attached to a shoulder"
"Lorica segmentata The lorica segmentata (segmented cuirass) is a type of personal armour used by soldiers of the Roman Empire, consisting of metal strips (""girth hoops"" fashioned into circular bands), fastened to internal leather straps. The Latin name was first used in the 16th century; the ancient form is unknown. The plates of ""lorica segmentata"" armour were soft iron inside and (some at least) were mild steel on the outside, making the plates hardened against damage without becoming brittle. This case hardening was done deliberately by packing organic matter tightly around them and heating them in a forge, transferring carbon"
"Laminar armour Laminar armour (from - layer) is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows or bands of solid armour plates, as opposed to lamellar armour, which is made from individual armor scales laced together to form a solid-looking strip of armor. Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata and certain versions of samurai armour. Less known examples were present in Asia from Iran to Mongolia, including Central Asia. Laminar armor from animal skins has also been traditionally made and worn in the Arctic areas of what are now Siberia, Alaska and Canada. In the 16th century laminar and"
"Almain rivet An Almain rivet is a type of flexible plate armour created in Germany in about 1500. It was designed to be manufactured easily whilst still affording considerable protection to the wearer. It consisted of a breastplate and backplate with laminated thigh-guards called tassets. Almain rivets were generally of fairly low quality, but they were cheap: a royal proclamation issued by Henry VIII in 1542 designated them at 7s 6d, which equated to one sixth of the cost of a suit of demi-lance armor. Almain rivets were frequently purchased ""en masse"" as munitions-grade armour to equip royal armies or"
"comparatively ""short"" and instead of being laminar constructed from a few wooden planks it instead used only one big plank, and the rest of the hand was protected by splinted or lamellar vambrace. Besides optional vambraces an armour could optionally have a lamellar helm, and splinted or lamellar greaves. Laminar armour Laminar armour (from - layer) is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows or bands of solid armour plates, as opposed to lamellar armour, which is made from individual armor scales laced together to form a solid-looking strip of armor. Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata and"
"Rondel (armour) A rondel (ˈrɒndl) is a circular piece of metal used for protection, as part of a harness of plate armour, or attached to a helmet, breastplate, couter or on a gauntlet. Rondels most commonly hang off breastplates and cover the armpit, which is a vulnerable point.They may have been used to steady the jousting lance. In this instance they are commonly known as besagews. They also appear on the back of a type of late medieval helmet known as the armet. Their purpose for this is unknown, though it has been surmised that they may protect strapping, or"
"Impalement (heraldry) In heraldry, impalement is a form of heraldic combination or marshalling of two coats of arms side by side in one divided heraldic shield or escutcheon to denote a union, most often that of a husband and wife, but also for unions of ecclesiastical, academic/civic and mystical natures. An impaled shield is bisected ""in pale"", that is by a vertical line. The husband's arms are shown in the ""dexter"" half (on the right hand of someone standing behind the shield, to the viewer's left), being the place of honour, with the wife's paternal arms in the ""sinister"" half."
"links used by the Japanese. Links were either ""butted"" together meaning that the ends touched each other and were not riveted, or the ""kusari"" was constructed with links where the wire was turned or twisted two or more times. These twisted links are similar to the modern split ring commonly used on key chains. Twisted links always connected to a center butted link. Both butted and twisted links could be used on the same armour item with butted links covering certain areas and twisted links on another. Kusari was commonly used to connect the armour plates on the sangu (three"
"The repertoire of metal body armour included mail (""lōrikion alysidōton""), scale (""lōrikion folidōton"") and lamellar (""klivanion""). Both mail and scale armours were similar to equivalent armours found in Western Europe, a pull-on “shirt” reaching to the mid-thigh or knee with elbow length sleeves. The lamellar ""klivanion"" was a rather different type of garment. Byzantine lamellar, from pictorial evidence, possessed some unique features. It was made up of round-topped metal lamellae riveted, edge to edge, to horizontal leather backing bands; these bands were then laced together, overlapping vertically, by laces passing through holes in the lamellae. Modern reconstructions have shown this"
"coats, vests, gloves, arm and thigh protectors, and helmet neck guards. Kikko armour was worn as a standalone defense or under other types of armour as additional protection. Brigandine A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment, generally heavy cloth, canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric. Protective clothing and armour have been used by armies from earliest recorded history; the King James Version of the Bible [Jeremiah 46:4] translates the Hebrew סריון ""ÇiRYON"" or שריון ""SiRYoN"" ""coat of mail"" as ""brigandine"". Medieval brigandines were essentially"
"Chain mail Mail or maille (also chain mail(le) or chainmail(le)) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. A coat of this armour is often referred to as a hauberk, and sometimes a byrnie. The earliest example of surviving mail was found in a chieftain's burial located in Ciumești, Romania. Its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, but there are examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BCE. Mail may have been inspired by the much earlier scale armour. Mail spread to North"
"Compound armour Compound armour was a type of armour used on warships in the 1880s, developed in response to the emergence of armor-piercing shells and the continual need for reliable protection with the increasing size in naval ordnance. Compound armour was a non-alloyed attempt to combine the benefits of two different metals—the hardness of steel with the toughness of iron—that would stand up to intense and repeated punishment in battle. By the end of the decade it had been rendered obsolete by nickel-steel armour. However, the general principle of compound iron was used for case-hardened armour, which replaced nickel-steel in"
"were usually connected to each other by mail. Munition armour Munition armour (also ""munitions-grade armour"", ""munition quality armour"") refers to any mass-produced armour, historically stockpiled in armouries to equip both foot soldiers and mounted cuirassiers. During the Late Middle Ages, plate armour was expensive and tailor-made for the wearer, and consequently mostly reserved for nobility. Early Modern warfare was characterized by the establishment of standing armies equipped with mass-produced ordnance weapons. Munitions-grade armour was produced in both Europe and Japan beginning in the 15th century to equip the standing armies developed from this period. Munition armour was of a standard"
"was used instead. The rings were linked together, alternating closed washer-like rings with riveted rings. This produced a very flexible, reliable and strong armour. Each ring had an inside diameter of between 5 and 7 mm, and an outside diameter of 7 to 9 mm. The shoulders of the ""lorica hamata"" had flaps that were similar to those of the Greek ""linothorax""; they ran from about mid-back to the front of the torso, and were connected by brass or iron hooks which connected to studs riveted through the ends of the flaps. Several thousand rings would have gone into one"