Greek Armor
A full set of Greek armor usually included armor for the chest, arms, legs, and head. The chest, arm, and leg armor were usually made of hard leather or light metal depending upon the type of soldier. The armor was designed for mobility and speed. Although the body armor was fairly consistent throughout Greece, the helmets varied significantly.
Most helmets were made of metal. The helmet on the left is a simple helmet for Greek light infantry soldiers. It provided basic protection but left the area around the eyes unprotected because the helmet was designed to be light and easy to use for the soldiers.
The helmet on the right is a more complex helmet for heavy infantry soldiers. It provided higher protection than the previous helmet as a result of it protected a lot of the face. However, it still does not obstruct the vision of the soldier.
Japanese Armor
Japanese armor was generally heavier than Greek armor. While Greek armor sacrificed protection for mobility, most Japanese armors sacrificed mobility for protection. Japanese armor was usually made using a combination of various metals and hard leather. Full armor sets were worn only by the samurai, noble class swordsmen; the shogun, the most skilled soldiers; and the emperor. Lower class Japanese soldiers still wore relatively heavy armor, but it did not provide as much protection as the full armor sets.
A full Japanese armor set usually covered the entire body. The armor was very strong and usually was made using metal and heavy leather. The chest armor was constructed from small scales of metal or leather tied together into plates, like medieval chain mail. Metal chest armor was put on top of the plating to provide greater protection. The arm protection was usually made of hard leather with metal for the shoulders, upper arm, and hands.
Japanese face armor generally conformed to soldiers’ faces. This meant that Japanese armor was very lifelike. The shoguns and samurai usually had a decorated helmet for use in ceremonies
Chain Mail
One of the first types of metal armor worn in medieval Europe was chain mail, a flexible armor made by connecting many small metal rings. It was widely used because it was relatively cheap, easy to repair, and effective at blocking swords and other bladed weapons. It was a common form of armor for most of the Middle Ages.
Chain mail rings could be connected in many patterns; the most common was 4 in 1, meaning that every ring intersected 4 others (see the picture on the right). Such patterns could be used to make chain mail to cover various parts of the body. Each piece had a different name, such as the hauberk, a shirt that went down to the knees.
Suit of Armor
Chain mail was eventually replaced by plate armor. For a knight to be fully protected, he needed armor to cover his entire body. This wasn’t possible with one piece of armor, so a suit of plate armor had many pieces, and chain mail was worn underneath. Each piece covered a different part of the body and had a different purpose. Here’s an overview of the different pieces.
Head Protection
The head and neck are very vulnerable parts of the human body. If either one is seriously injured, the soldier could die. Humans have always been trying to find ways to protect these areas. During the Middle Ages, there were many different types of helmets for different types of soldiers -- some wealthy, some not.
Simple helmets were easy to make, which meant that they were cheaper, and more soldiers could have them. This is an example of a very simple helmet. People who had more money could buy very fancy, decorated helmets.
Chest Protection
The chest is also an important part of the body to protect. It is where all the vital organs are, such as the heart, lungs, and stomach, and a wound to the chest was often deadly. Even if the wound didn’t kill the soldier, very often infection did because there weren’t hospitals or doctor’s offices back then.
The chest was protected by a breastplate, which protected the front, and a backplate, which protected the back. The breastplate on the left and the backplate on right are from two different sets of armor.
There were separate pieces of armor designed to protect the shoulders and neck. A pauldron is a piece of armor that protects the shoulder, and a gorget is a piece of armor that protects the neck
Legs and Arms
While the vital organs were in the chest, the legs and arms were important because they allowed a soldier to walk and fight. A soldier with a leg or arm cut off wasn’t very useful in battle. The muscles in the arm gave the power to use the weapon, and the muscles in the legs moved the soldier on the battlefield. If the muscles were cut, then soldiers couldn’t move and fight.
The arm was protected by several pieces of armor. The arm was covered by the vambrace. This was hinged at the elbow, which was protected by the counter. The knight’s hand and wrist were protected by a metal glove called a gauntlet. All the pieces were connected by leather straps and attached to the pauldron.
The leg was protected by three separate pieces as well. The cuisse covered the thigh, and the greave covered the lower leg. The two were connected at the poleyn, which covered the knee and acted as a hinge. The knight’s foot was protected by a separate piece, called the sabaton.
Mobility
For a knight to fight effectively, he needed to be able to move so that he could attack and defend. One of the most important parts of being able to move was flexible joints. If the armor were all one piece, the knight wouldn’t be able to move, so armor was made in many pieces.
There were many ways to make a joint in armor. One of the most common was to have a small piece of armor over the joint and to use that as a hinge connecting two larger pieces of armor (see the pictures on the left). Another way was to have many small pieces of armor overlapping each other (see the picture on the right). The pieces could be connected in different ways, often with leather straps or metal pegs.
It was particularly important for the knight to be able to use his hands and feet, so gauntlets and sabatons were made of numerous, small, overlapping pieces. Although this took longer to make, it was very flexible.
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