The Armory

The Armory
© Violetskye's, 1998, 1999
Glossary of Armor Terms
Ailette
A flat plate of leather or parchment which tied to the point of the shoulder. Worn between 1250-1350 to display the owner's coat of arms.

Aketon
A padded and quilted garment, usually of linen, worn under or instead of plate or mail.

Armet
Fifteenth century helmet of Italian origin consisting a skull, two hinged cheek pieces which lock at the front, and a visor.

Arming doublet
Quilted garment worn under armour from the early fifteenth century, equipped with points to attach mail gussets and pieces of armour.

Arming points
Ties(usually of flax or twine) by which armour was secured in place.

Aventail
A curtain of mail attached by means of staples(vervelles) around the base of a helmet(especially the basinet), and covering the shoulders. Also called camail(a French term).

Back Plate
Piece of plate armour protecting the back half of the torso.

Barbote
A high bevor with a falling lame containing eyeslits; used in Spain.

Barbut
Also called barbute, barbuta. An open-faced shoulder-length Itallian helmet, made in one piece, with a T-shaped face opening. Barbuta is the Itallian term.

Basinet
Also called bascinet, basinet. An open-faced helmet with a globular or conical skull enclosing the sides of the face and neck. Usually worn with and aventail, and occasionally a visor.

Bellows Visor
A modern term for a visor with horizontal ridges, such as on 'Maximilian' German fluted armours of the early sixteenth century.

Besagew
Defensive circular plate suspended over the wearer's armpit.

Bevor
Also called bavier or buffe. A chin-shaped defense for the lower face, incorporating a gorget plate. The buffe was an early sixteenth century variant, worn strapped to an open-faced helmet such as the burgonet.

Birnie
Also called byrnie. A mail shirt. See also hauberk.

Bishop's Mantle
Modern term for the cape of mail worn(largely in Germany) in the early sixteenth century.

Blueing
An oxidized blue surface on plate armour, produced through heat treatment.

Bouche
The notch cut in the top(dexter) corner of a shield, to rest the lance when jousting.

Bracer
Early fourteenth century form of defence for the lower arm; also a term for an archer's arm guard to protect the forearm from the bowstring.

Breast Plate
Piece of armour that protects the front of the torso.

Breaths
Holes or slits in the visor of a helmet or the lames of a falling buff or bevor, for ventilation; also usually permitting a degree of extra vision.

Brigandine
A flexible body defence consisting of a large number of metal plates riveted inside a cloth covering.

Buckler
Small round shield carried by infantry.

Buffe
see bevor and falling buffe.

Burgonet
A light, open-faced helmet popular in the sixteenth century as an alternative to the close-helmet for light cavalry. It was usually furnished with a peak over the brow, a combed skull, and hinged ear pieces. The face opening could be closed with the addition of a falling buffe.

Byrnie
see birnie.

Cabacete
A type of Spanish war hat(popular thoughout fifteenth century Europe) with a turned-down brim and an almond-shaped skull ending in a stalk. See also morion.

Cabasset
see also morion.

Camail
see aventail

Cannon
Individual plate armour defence, of tubular form, for the upper and lower arm. See also vambrace and rerebrace.

Case-hardening
A method(described in the twelth century treatise 'De Diversis Atibus' by Theophilus the Monk) for surface hardening wrought iron(or low carbon steel) by packing it in charcoal or other organic material and heating it for hours above 900 degrees Celsius.

Casque, casquetal
A light open helmet; usually late fifteeth to mid-sixteenth century helmets of 'antique' form, such as Italian parade 'casques' of the mid-sixteenth century, embossed with grotesques or fashioned in the classical style. These were often similiar in shape to the burgonet.

Celata
Open-faced Italian sallet, common in the fifteenth century.

Cervelliere
Steel skull cap.

Chain mail
armor of interlocking iron rings.

Chanfron
see shaffron

Chapel de Fer
Also called a kettle hat. A simple open-faced helmet with a wide brim.

Charnel
The hinged staple or bolt that secured the fourteenth century helm or great basinet to the breast and backplate.

Chausses
Mail protection for the legs, either in the form of mail hose or strips of mail laced round the front of the leg.

Close-helmet
Helmet which, with a full visor and bevor, completely encloses the head and face; modern use of the term tends to refer not to helmets with hinged cheek-pieces opening at the front(the armet) but visored helmets pivoting open on bolts or rivets each side of the skull. Contemporary usage, however, makes no such distinction.

Coat armour
A quilted garment worn over armour in the fourteenth century.

Coat of fence
Also called fence, jack, or brigandine. A doublet or tunic lined with small metal plates or, more rarely, just padded with stuffing of tow. See also brigandine and jack.

Coat of plates
Also called a pair of plates or simply plates. A cloth garment with a number of large plates riveted inside, worn in the fourteenth century.

Cod-piece
Fabirc covering for the groin, latterly padded. Its counter part in armour could be either mail or, more usually, plate.

Coif
A hood, usually of mail, covering the top and back of the head, the cheeks, chin, neck and perhaps some of the shoulders. By the eleventh century the coif was starting to become integrated with the hauberk. Padded arming caps would be worn under the coif and may also have been worn on their own.

Collar
see gorget

Comb
The keel-shaped ridge, often very pronounced, that passes from front to back of a helmet over the skull, conferrig extra strength and rigidity and contributing to its glancing surfaces. In the mid-sixteenth century, the combs of morio helmets were raised and enloarged to an excessive height for 'fashionable' reasons.

Corslet
Also spelt corselet. A light half-armour popular in the sixteennth century for general military use(for example, town guards). It consisted of a gorget, breast, back and tassets, full arms and guantlets; the term can also be applied to the cuirass only.

Couter (cowter)
Plate defence for the elbow, attached to the upper cannon of the vambrace (revebrace), and fit between the upper and lower cannons of the vambrace. The joint of the vambrace leaves the elbow exposed.

Crest
A heraldric recognitive device fixed to the top of the great helm, introduced in the second half of the thirteenth and in wide use by the fourteenth century.

Cuirass
(also corselet or pair of curates). Breastplate and backplate designed to be worn together.

Cuisse
protects the thigh. Each one fits around a leg and is located between the knee and abdomen.

Elbow Cop
Piece of armour covering the elbow.

Fan Plate
Projection from an elbow or knee cop designed to prevent a blow from wrapping around and landing in the joint.

Fauld
protects the abdomen and attached to the lower part of the breastplate.

Gambeson
padded garments worn under mail aromor, made by sewing fleeces, raw wool or layers of woollen cloth between two layers of linen or leather, usually in a similar shape to the mailshirt.

Gauntlet
a mailed glove or a glove constructed of numerous metal plates. They protect the hands from enemy blows that may get past the guard of the sword. Gauntlets could also be used to throw down before an enemy as a challenge. If picked up, it is a sign that the challenge is accepted.

Gorget
(or collar) Piece of armour protecting the neck, throat, extreme upper torso. May be a simple collar or a more elaborate design composed of several pieces.

Greave
Shin guards, protecction for the lower part of the leg, extending from knee to ankle.

Healsbeorg
(Anglo-Saxon/Viking), mail coif.

Helmet
To protect the head from attacks. Many different types of helmets existed for different purposes. The German sallet has an extension over the neck, and a rounded top to prevent blows from taking hold. The Norman style helmet protected only the skull and has a nose guard.

Knee Cop
Piece of armour covering the knee.

Pauldons
large pieces of armor, covering 1/3 of th upper torso, used to protect the shoulders and armpits. They are jointed to allow full movement of the shoulder. Shoulder pads added above serve no real purpose other than decorative.

Poleyn
protection for the knees, with the cuisse and greave meeting at the knee and the poleyn covering the joint. Added side-wings provide protection for the back of the knee.

Rerebrace
Piece of armor covering the upper arm from the elbow to the shoulder.

Saboton
armor for the foot constructed of a number of laminations across the foot, and ending in a toecap.

Scale armor
individual overlapping metal plates.

Spaulder
Piece of armour covering the shoulder joint. Not as large as a pauldron.

Tassets
protection for the lower abdomen, attached at the bottom of the fauld.

Vambrace
(or revebrace). Protection for the lower arms from wrist to elbow, consisting of an upper cannon between the pauldron and cowter, and a lower cannon between the coweter and gauntlet.

Resources & References

The Costume Page-Costuming Resources Online

The Arador Armour Library

Tour of the Knight