A Look Into Medieval Knight Suit of Armor

Most people connect chainmail armor to the medieval times or the Crusades where honorable knights answered the Church's call to retake the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Crusades were a series of holy wars sanctioned by the Holy Catholic Church that started back in 1096 and ended in 1272. Knights or Templars wore a suit of armor that includes a complex series of clothing such as metal rings and padded fabric. Today, they are just used for costumes to ensure authenticity in reenactment of medieval scenes.

The fascination of the English to the Medieval Knight clothing such as chainmail armor, helmets, and swords can be compared to the cult like interest of Americans to the Civil War memorabilia such as the civil war rifles, handguns and anything related to this war. The idea of English knights has inspired many people. This is probably the reason why many Hollywood films about it were major hits at the box-office around the world.

The never-ending fascination about them can be attributed to the famous British legend of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. People are drawn to the concept that knights are sworn to uphold principles and values such as honor, loyalty, and courage. Their motto is to protect the weak and defenseless. With this kind of chivalry code, it is not surprising that people regard them as perfect example of what is good. The Medieval suit of armor that they wore during a battle even makes the whole image incredibly inspiring. It consists of chainmail armor, metal armor, and padded garment, along with a helmet, sword, and shield.

Chainmail and Metal Armor

When a knight goes into a battle, they have an assistant with them to help them wear his battle gear. Before putting the metal plate armor, a knight will put on the chainmail armor. This is some sort of shirt with coif consisting of thousands of interlocking metal rings.

Sword and Shield

The standard fighting weapon of a knight is the sword along with the shield. Medieval swords are mostly double-edged with a cross guard hilt. Some swords are engraved with the owner's name or prayer and gems. Shields are made from tough wood that are covered with leather.

Helmets

In the early part of the medieval times, the helmets are designed simply with the only purpose of protecting the user with only holes enough for seeing and breathing. Due to the ever-evolving technology, you will find helmets with intricate design such as movable visors in the later part of the middle ages.

Most of these Medieval clothing especially the metal plates and helmets are only used during ceremonies. They have long discovered that they are quite inefficient in the battlefield. They are just great to look at but the heavy material makes it impossible for people to move freely. The horses during those times probably suffered the most. You can still find authentic pieces around. Just like those civil war rifles, replicas are abundant online. If you want to start your own collection, you can easily order to have them delivered to you.