How to Identify Each Part of a Knight's Armor

How to Identify Each Part of a Knight's Armor

• 1

  Found underneath the Knight's armor were padded "coats." Named "Gambeson" or "Akerton," it helped minimize the weight and chafing of maille. Quilted, it was fashioned from linen or wool and stuffed with scraps of linen, horsehair or grass. Its popularity slightly declined in the 15th century with the advent of iron. Sabatons were armor for the feet, consisting of articulated lames (narrow strips of iron plates) ending in pointed toecaps. Toecaps extended past the knight's actual toes.

• 2

  Protecting the shins were greaves, plate iron for the lower calf, extending up to the knee. Initially, this plate only covered the front side. Ultimately, two hinged plates encircled the lower leg in a cylinder-shape. Rounded and smooth, the design deflected an opponent's weapon. Poleyn was plate iron to improve the defense of the knee. Side wings extended outward, protecting the outside of the knight's knee, whether bent or straight, from sword cuts.

• 3

  Guarding the thighs were cuisses that permanently attached to the poleyn. With exterior hinges and interior fasteners, they were made of articulated lames for greater flexibility. Protecting the upper leg, tassets hung from the breastplate. They covered any gaps between the breastplate and the cuisses. Faulds were horizontal lames or hoops of steel attached to the lower edge of the breastplate, forming a type of skirt. They protected hips, lower abdomen and lower back.

• 4

  Safeguarding the arms were upper (rerebrace) and lower vambraces. Made of solid metal, they were either guttural in form or fabricated with articulated lames. Attached by rivets to the couter (elbow armor), they protected the forearm, often the target in sword fights. At first, the couter was curved metal. Later, articulated plates were formed. The lance rest is a support built into the breastplate to help steady the couched lance when heading toward the enemy.

• 5

  Shielding the lower rib and stomach was the plackart, an extra hinged-plate reinforcement for the lower part of the breastplate. It was often the thickest piece of armor. A ridged rim went down the middle. Safeguarding the front was the breastplate or cuirass, often hinged to the upper back plate along one side. This combination armor protected both the chest and the back from the neck to the waist.

• 6

  Adaptable, gardbraces were reinforcing plates held in place with staple and pin with the capability of immediate removal if necessary. Closely fitted to the pauldron, they provided additional protection during a joust. Pauldrons were shoulder armor, large, winged pieces, covering tops of shoulders going downward to the middle of the arm. They attached directly to the upper breast and back plate with spring-loaded tabs. Pauldrons were later fitted with grooves to ensure full coverage.

• 7

  Preventing the point of a weapon from sliding into an opening, a small bar called a stop rib was riveted to plate armor. Below the neck was the stop plate, a welded V-shaped plate iron made of solid strips of metal. It guided the point of a weapon away from the throat and other weakly armored areas. Helmet armor varied through the centuries. Helmets were fitted with grilles for tournaments or vision slits for protection with greater visibility.

• 8

  Covering top, back and sides of the head was the skull. A helm was an enclosure covering the entire face and head. Protecting the hands were gauntlets, armored gloves or mittens. The last piece of armor to don, it had small, metal plates attached to leather or cloth with rivets. Fingers of iron were adorned with scaled defenses or gatlings. By the 15th century, a three-piece "mitten" protected the hand and wrist, replacing the finger gauntlet.