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Hi

I was wondering what kind of armor would be worn during the Middle Ages and how it would stand up to various weapons (Swords, Axes, Pikes, Bows, Crossbows etc.).

How much did it weight. How as it worn. How it was made. I am interested in Erupoean armor in particular. I would appreciate any information you can give me.

Thank you

2007-12-30 07:47:39 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government Military

5 answers

Which type? Leather hauberk? Chainmail? Full plate?

Obviously plate mail provided the best protection, but could be quite heavy and soldiers can't march for miles wearing it. That's why it was more commonly used for ceremonial purposes and guards who didn't have to move very far (palace sentries)

2007-12-30 07:59:36 · answer #1 · answered by Proto 7 · 0 0

Well, a knight in full plate armor would usually be dressed by a servant, starting with padded under-clothing with chain mail to protect the joints and open spots that couldn't be protected by the plate. It was fairly heavy but not anything worse than what modern soldiers carry, and while modern soldiers carry most of their load on their backs, the medieval armor was evenly distributed over the body. The worst part wasn't the weight but the heat.

The plate armor didn't show up until the later stages of the medieval period; in the earlier stages they usually would have worn a full body tunic of chain mail with a solid helmet. The plate armor was expensive so only knights could afford it, but it provided very good protection. One time I saw a tv show where they had a replica iron breastplate, and a guy tried to stab through it with a sword. Basically he had to use both hands and put his entire bodyweight into the thrust just to penetrate a few inches, which shows you how strong it was. However, it would not protect against longbows, crossbows, or guns. This was shown at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, which was a big upset for medieval society because poor English longbowmen were able to completely defeat a force of wealthy upper-class French knights.

2007-12-30 08:58:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

it depends from the age. the armor gave and outstanding protection to the user against all cutting weapons, but all armors were easily harmed by stabbing weapons, like various infantry weapons used by pikemen. light infantry was using warhammers to smash the knight inside the armor - they did not break the armor, but delivered heavy injuries just by enough hard strikes of the hammer. Once the knight got dismounted all the armor was merely a bulk weight.

the development of the armor roughly follows this path : leather vest, scale armor, chain armor plated armor.

various combinations were used for protecting parts of the body, usually best protection given to the torzo, while the weaker and less expensive types were used for protecting the hands and legs.

2007-12-30 09:43:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Plate armour could have consisted of a helmet, a gorget, pauldrons, couters, vambraces, gauntlets, a back and breast plate with a culet, a fauld and tassets, a skirt, cuisses, poleyns, greaves and sabatons. While it looks heavy, a full plate armour could be as light as only 40 pounds if well made, and so well spread over the body that a fit man could run, or jump into his saddle. That it was necessary to lift a fully armed knight onto his horse with the help of pulleys is a myth originating in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and has no historical base. Even knights in enormously heavy jousting armour were not winched onto their horses. This type of "sporting" armour was meant only for ceremonial lancing matches and the design had to be extremely thick to prevent severe accidents, such as the one causing death king Henry II of France.

2007-12-30 07:55:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Armor was on the way out when the cross bow came along that could often penetrate the armor. And a cross bow could be fired by a relatively untrained peasant.

When firearms came out in the 1400s armor was quickly out out of style as any bullet could penetrate it.

2007-12-31 14:25:49 · answer #5 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 0 1

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