Plate Armor
Full-body steel armor of the medieval knight
Plate armor is the full-body armor of the European knight, encasing the wearer from head to foot in shaped steel plates and perfected in the 15th century. Steel plates about 1 to 2 mm thick were hammered to the curve of the body and joined with rivets, hinges, and internal leather straps to cover the whole body, the smooth curved surfaces glancing a descending blade aside. The total weight came to some 20 to 30 kg, but spread evenly over the whole body, so that a trained knight could run, mount a horse, and even roll while wearing it. The gaps the plates could not reach, such as the armpits and groin, were filled with mail, and beneath it all a padded garment (the arming doublet) had to be worn to absorb shock, so that the armor was a whole system. The Italian Milanese and the German Gothic were its two great styles, and since each harness was custom-made, a single set took enormous cost and many months to make.
Origin
Plate armor is seen as having appeared in late 14th-century Europe to overcome the limits of mail. Because mail was weak against the thrust, the blunt weapon, and the powerful bow and crossbow, it began as a transitional form that reinforced mail with plates and gradually developed into the complete form that encased the whole body in plate. Its craft reached its height in the 15th century, when Milan in Italy and Nuremberg and Augsburg in Germany rose as the two great centers of manufacture, each refining its own style. The smooth, rounded Italian Milanese and the slender, pointed, fluted German Gothic are the prime examples, and each harness was made to order, fitted to the body of the one who would wear it.
Features
- Whole-body protection of steel plates about 1 to 2 mm thick
- Elaborate assembly joining the plates with rivets and hinges
- Total weight of 20 to 25 kg spread over the body, keeping mobility
- Two main styles, the Milanese and the German Gothic
- Precise joints at the limbs securing range of movement
- Custom-made by default, taking months to complete
Stories
Plate armor was the standard war gear of the late-medieval knight, used both in the mounted joust and in real battle. The smooth curved surfaces glanced cuts, many thrusts, and arrows at range aside, guarding the wearer almost without a gap. So in facing a knight clad in plate one fought by gripping the blade short and thrusting at the gaps (half-swording), or by striking with the poleaxe and war hammer to concuss and to wrench him off his feet at the joints. To don it, one wore an arming doublet beneath and filled the gaps with mail, then, with a squire's help, buckled on the pieces in turn, from the legs to the torso, arms, and head.
Weakness
The weaknesses of plate armor are the gaps, firearms, and cost. However well made, gaps remained where the plates could not reach, such as the armpits, groin, inner elbow, and the sight slit of the helmet, and a narrow point thrust home precisely could work its way between them. Above all, as gunpowder weapons developed, plate first answered by being made thick enough to stop a bullet, 'proofed' armor, but as guns grew stronger it could no longer hold out. Its poor ventilation, which tired the wearer quickly in heat, and the enormous cost of a single set, which only the upper class could bear, were limits as well.
Cultural Significance
Plate armor is the most iconic image of the medieval knight and the summit reached by the armorer's craft. The polished, gleaming 'white armour' was a symbol that showed at a glance a knight's prestige, wealth, and the honor of his house. It is often said that 'a knight in armor was too heavy and had to be craned onto his horse', but this is a later misconception: a knight in a fitted harness, its weight spread over the whole body, was agile enough to run and roll. After the 16th century, the development of firearms and the shift to mass infantry tactics drove full armor from the battlefield, yet the breastplate, the cuirass, survived and was worn far longer.
In Popular Culture
Plate armor appears as the iconic armor of the knight in nearly every film, drama, and game about the Middle Ages and fantasy. The knight clad in gleaming full plate is drawn as an imposing hero or a mighty foe, and in games it usually settles in as the highest grade of armor. In fiction, however, the armor is often depicted as far too heavy and clumsy, or the padded garment worn beneath and the mail that filled the gaps are left out, simplifying the real system of how it was worn.
Trivia
- The story that 'a knight in armor had to be craned onto his horse' is a later misconception; a knight in a fitted harness, its weight spread over the whole body, was agile enough to run and roll.
- The Italian Milanese style is marked by smooth, rounded large plates, the German Gothic by a slender, pointed, fluted shape, the two city regions being the great centers of manufacture.
- As gunpowder weapons grew stronger, armor at one time answered by being made thick enough to stop a bullet, 'proofed', but in the end full armor withdrew and only the cuirass guarding the chest survived long.