Plated mail
Encyclopedia
Mail (armour)
Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....
with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, Greater Iran
Greater Iran
Greater Iran refers to the regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence. It roughly corresponds to the territory on the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains, stretching from Iraq, the Caucasus, and Turkey in the west to the Indus River in the east...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, and by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
.
Types of plated mail
In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour. These were adopted from Persia, initially as Persian exports, and have Persian names.- Behterets , from Persian behter —- small horizontal plates arranged in vertical rows without gaps, joined by rings, and embedded in chainmail
- Yushman , from Persian jawshan —- long horizontal plates embedded in chainmail and resembling laminar armourLaminar armourLaminar armour , sometimes confusingly referred to as "banded mail", is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows 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...
(e.g. Roman lorica segmentataLorica segmentataThe lōrīca segmentāta was a type of segmented armour almost exclusively used in the Roman Empire, but the Latin name was first used in the 16th century...
) - Kalantar —- square plates embedded in chainmail, very similar to the Japanese karuta tatami-doTatami-dōA Tatami dou , is one part of a Tatami dou gusoku ,which is a full suit of lightweight portable folding Japanese armour worn during the feudal era of Japan by the samurai class and their foot soldiers ashigaru...
. The major difference is that kalantar are not sewn to a cloth backing as Karuta tatami-do are.
According to Bobrov the first plated mail appeared as cuisses in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, and were imported by the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
. Iranian miniatures of the first half of 15th Century show different combinations of plated mail with lamellar armor and brigandines sometimes worn with a single round mirror plate
Mirror armour
Mirror armour , sometimes referred to as disc armour or Chahar-Ainé , was a type of armour used in Asia and...
as breast re-enforcement. The first representation of plated mail as body protection is shown in Iranian miniatures, which show plated mail composed of relatively big plates, worn with laminar
Laminar armour
Laminar armour , sometimes confusingly referred to as "banded mail", is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows 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...
pauldrons and skirt (formed from long, horizontal plates), re-enforced by a big round mirror plate
Mirror armour
Mirror armour , sometimes referred to as disc armour or Chahar-Ainé , was a type of armour used in Asia and...
. The first representation of classic plated mail (without lamellar elements) can be seen in Baghdad's miniature which dates from 1465. From the end of the 15th Century plate mail began to fully replace lamellar armour
Lamellar armour
Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
s. The main difference between eastern European (Russian and Polish) and Oriental plate mail is that eastern European versions usually do not have sleeves, while Oriental versions have sleeves (the forearms were protected by vambraces). In a heavy version these sleeves have embedded plates, and a light version (more widely used) has sleeves entirely made from mail
Mail (armour)
Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....
.
In Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna (The Book of the Hidden Pearl) Geber
Geber
Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān, often known simply as Geber, was a prominent polymath: a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, geologist, philosopher, physicist, and pharmacist and physician. Born and educated in Tus, he later traveled to Kufa...
describes plated mail for use in armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
s (jawasin), helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
s (bid) and shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
s (daraq).
In Japan plated mail is called "Karuta", small square or rectangular plates with the gaps between them filled with mail.
Korean version of this armour is known as Gyeongbeongap (경번갑/鏡幡甲). The most famous general who used this type of armor was General Chonji.
See also
- koteKotëKotë is a municipality in the Vlorë District, Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Kotë, Gumeicë, Hysoverdhë, Lapardha, Mavrovë, Mazhar, Vajzë, Vodicë, Shkallë Mavrovë and Drashovicë....
- Japanese bracers which are often were made from plated mail sewn to cloth backing - :pl:Bechter poznański
- :pl:Bechter moskiewski - Russian type of plated mail
- Tatami-doTatami-dōA Tatami dou , is one part of a Tatami dou gusoku ,which is a full suit of lightweight portable folding Japanese armour worn during the feudal era of Japan by the samurai class and their foot soldiers ashigaru...
- Japanese type of plated mail - :de:Moro-Rüstung - Philippine type of plated mail
- ChainmailChainmailMail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....
- Splinted armour
- Lamellar armourLamellar armourLamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
External links
- The Silk Road Designs Armoury (Maile and Plates) (same site at the internet archive)
- Russian medieval arms and armor
- about Korean plated mail (lang. Korean)
