Gauntlet

Origin

The gauntlet is seen as having appeared in 14th-century Europe along with the development of plate armor. Past the age when the hand was guarded with mail gloves and leather, the 14th-century 'hourglass gauntlet', covering the back of the hand and the wrist with plate, took its place first. It wrapped the back of the hand and the wrist in a wide plate of a narrow, hourglass shape, the fingers covered with small scales. In the 15th century the mitten gauntlet, wrapping the fingers as one unit, and the fingered gauntlet, wrapping each finger in separate articulated lames, appeared, developing into more intricate and handier forms. The finest gauntlets could be made only by the skilled armorers of Milan or Nuremberg.

Features

• Intricate plate structure in which each finger joint moves independently
• Two types, the hourglass and the fingered gauntlet
• A cuff wrapping the wrist that joins to the vambrace
• The inside of the palm left as leather for grip
• Requiring the most complex craft of the whole armor
• A precise defense needing the skill of the finest armorer

Stories

The gauntlet was the war gear of the knight, used to guard the hand that gripped the sword and spear. The cuff at the wrist overlapped the end of the vambrace, joining the protection of the whole arm smoothly to the hand, and the small plates of the back of the hand and the fingers turned cuts and thrusts. The inside of the palm was left as leather so a weapon could be gripped firmly, and the plates divided at each joint allowed the fingers to bend and close around a haft. Some gauntlets had small knobs (gadlings) at the knuckles, so they could be used as an iron fist to strike the enemy in unarmed grappling.

Weakness

The weaknesses of the gauntlet are its enormous cost, the difficulty of its upkeep, and the gaps on the inside of the hand. Having to join small plates precisely at each finger joint, it was the most troublesome and costly piece of the whole armor to make, and its complex joints easily grew stiff with dirt or damage, demanding constant care. Above all, because the inside of the palm was left as leather so a weapon could be gripped, that soft part and the gaps between the fingers were exposed to a precise thrust. Pursuing intricacy and defense together, even one small part going awry could shake the protection of the whole hand.

Cultural Significance

The gauntlet is a piece that symbolizes medieval chivalric culture and the etiquette of the duel. From the custom by which a knight, challenging another to a duel, threw a gauntlet down before him, and the other taking it up accepted the challenge, came the phrase 'to throw down the gauntlet', which remains to this day an idiom meaning to challenge. At the same time the gauntlet is a piece that shows the summit of the armorer's craft, its precision in wrapping the complex part of the hand seamlessly while letting it move freely testifying to the skill of the masters of Milan and Nuremberg. It is, in a sense, a small masterpiece that holds defense, etiquette, and craft together.

In Popular Culture

The gauntlet appears in nearly every film, drama, and game about the medieval knight and fantasy. In games in particular it has settled in as the standard name for hand-piece armor, everything from a leather glove to a splendid magic glove being called a 'gauntlet'. In fantasy it is often drawn as a weapon-and-defense in one to strike the enemy, or as a magic tool holding a special power, used far more broadly than the narrow sense of a plate piece that guards the hand. The phrase 'to throw down the gauntlet' too is often quoted in challenge scenes within works.

Trivia

• The phrase 'to throw down the gauntlet' comes from the custom by which a knight, challenging another to a duel, threw a glove down before him, and remains to this day an idiom meaning to challenge.
• The gauntlet, having to join small plates precisely at each finger joint, was reckoned the most complex and hardest piece of the whole armor to make.
• Some gauntlets had small knobs (gadlings) at the knuckles, so they could be used as an iron fist to strike the enemy as well as to guard the hand.