Gambeson

Quilted padded defensive garment

The gambeson is a padded defensive garment made from 10-30 layers of quilted linen or cotton. Worn either as standalone armor or as a shock-absorbing layer beneath chainmail or plate armor, it was surprisingly effective against arrows and cuts. As the cheapest and easiest armor to produce, it served as the universal base layer for every medieval soldier from peasant levies to wealthy knights.