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The
primary mail garment used by the knight was a simple shirt, called a
hauberk or birnie. This was often rather long, falling
well past the waist and sometimes as far as the knees. An average
hauberk of medium length might weigh about 20 pounds
On longer hauberks, the portion of the garment hanging below the waist would usually be slit up the back and front to make it possible for the wearer to ride a horse. Sometimes it would only be slit up the back, which would make it look like a skirt or dress when viewed from the front. Hauberks almost always had short, loose sleeves for better mobility, and a knight's forearms might be protected by separate vambraces of mail or leather.
The
knight also wore a mail coif or hood to protect his head and
neck, and very often wore a helm on top of the coif as added
protection for his skull. Early helms were usually simple conical
affairs, sometimes sporting ear-and neck-flaps to protect the
knight's vulnerable throat, and a nasal -- a narrow strip of
metal extending down the middle of the face -- to serve as a nose
guard. Helms would evolve considerably over the years, taking on a
variety of shapes and accoutrements.
There were variations on coifs, as well, including an aventail that could be attached to a helm. It was not only important for the knight to wear something over his neck, but the mail should extend down past his collarbone to cover the neck opening of the hauberk.
Mail coverings were made for virtually every part of the body, and in addition to coifs and hauberks, knights often used leggings, foot-coverings, and even gloves of mail. So flexible and adaptable was mail that when plate began to see widespread use, mail was still utilized to cover all the parts that simple plate pieces did not.
The foremost advantage of mail as armor was its defense against bladed weapons; a sword, no matter how sharp, could not easily slash through the metal links. But mail did not make its wearer invulnerable; the force of the blow from a club, mace or sword could still crush the flesh and bones beneath the armor, and a wise warrior wore padding under his mail to increase his protection.
With proper padding, a hauberk, leggings, vambraces, a coif and a helm, the knight was dressed to kill -- and, more importantly, to survive.
Next Page > A Fading Fashion > Page 1, 2, 3
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