Chainmail

Origin

Mail is thought to have been first made by the Celts of the La Tene culture around the 4th century BC, though where the idea arose is not clear. Rome saw the worth of this armor and adopted it widely in the legions under the name lorica hamata (hooked or ringed armor), spreading mail across the Mediterranean and Europe. It survived the fall of Rome and was worn throughout the Middle Ages as the standard armor of the knight and warrior for more than a thousand years. The name 'chainmail' is a later coinage; in history this armor was called simply 'mail'.

Features

• Net-like structure of tens of thousands of linked metal rings
• Strongest when each ring is pierced and riveted shut
• Common 4-in-1 pattern, each ring through four others
• Roughly 10 to 15 kg, lighter than plate armor
• Flexible as a net, hardly hindering movement
• Excellent protection against cutting blows

Stories

Mail was the standard armor of the medieval warrior, worn over a padded garment (the gambeson) into battle. The long form reaching to the knees (the hauberk) had sleeves and covered the torso and arms, while a mail hood (the coif) over the head and mail leggings on the legs wrapped the whole body in a net. Thanks to its net-like flexibility it turned slashing and cutting blades very well while still letting the limbs move freely. But mail alone could not stop the shock of a blunt weapon, so it was the rule always to wear a padded garment beneath it to absorb the impact.

Weakness

The weaknesses of mail are the thrust and the shock of a blunt weapon. The net of woven rings turns a slashing edge well, but a narrow point, or an arrow from a powerful bow or crossbow, could force its way between the rings or burst them and drive through. Mail also cannot disperse impact, so a blunt blow could leave the rings intact yet pass its full shock to the body and break bone. For this it had always to be worn with a padded garment, and when narrow thrusting weapons and bludgeons later developed, mail gave way to the harder plate armor.

Cultural Significance

Mail is one of the longest-lived of all armors, guarding the bodies of European warriors for more than a thousand years from antiquity into the Middle Ages. As in the Norman knights pictured on the Bayeux Tapestry, the warrior clad in mail became the classic image of the medieval knight. It was costly armor, taking enormous labor to link tens of thousands of rings and rivet each one, yet its flexibility and protection against cuts were hard to match. Even after plate armor took the leading role around the 15th century, mail continued to fill the gaps that plate could not cover, such as the armpits and neck, and in the East, in India and Persia, it remained in active service far longer.

In Popular Culture

Mail appears as the basic armor of knights and soldiers in nearly every film, drama, and game about the Middle Ages. In works about the Crusades or the Norman Conquest the long hooded hauberk is often drawn, and in games it has settled in as a mid-tier armor between leather and plate. In fiction, however, it is usually called by the later name 'chainmail', and its real limits, weakness to blunt shock and the fact that it had always to be worn with a padded garment, are often not made clear.

Trivia

• The term 'chain mail' in common use today is a later coinage; in history this armor was called simply 'mail'.
• Mail is thought to have been made by the Celts around the 4th century BC, and after Rome adopted it as the lorica hamata and spread it across Europe it was worn for more than a thousand years.
• Mail is strong against cuts but cannot stop blunt shock, so even with the rings intact the impact passed to the body, which is why it always had to be worn over a padded garment.