Heavy Plate Armor

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The development of plate armor ran parallel to the development of increasingly effective weaponry on the battlefield, with armorers seeking to create better protection without sacrificing mobility. By the late 13th century, knees were capped, and two circular discs called besagews were fitted to protect the underarms. The coat of plates was developed, an armor made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat. Early plate in Italy, and elsewhere in the 13th to 15th centuries were made of iron. Iron armor could be carburized or case hardened to give a surface of harder steel. Plate armor became cheaper than mail by the 15th century as it required much less labor and labor had become much more expensive after the Black Death. Mail continued to be used to protect those joints which could not be adequately protected by plate, such as the armpit, crook of the elbow and groin. Another advantage of plate was that a lance rest could be fitted to the breast plate.

In Their Own Story

Probably the most recognized style of armor in the world became the plate armor associated with the knights of the European Late Middle Ages, but continuing to the early 17th-century Age of Enlightenment in all European countries. By about 1400, the full harness of plate armor had been developed in armories of Lombardy. Heavy cavalry dominated the battlefield for centuries in part because of their armor. In the early 15th century, small 'hand cannon' first began to be used, in the Hussite Wars, in combination with Wagenburg tactics, allowing infantry to defeat armored knights on the battlefield. At the same time crossbows were made more powerful to pierce armor, and the development of the Swiss Pike square formation also created substantial problems for heavy cavalry. Rather than dooming the use of body armor, the threat of small firearms intensified the use and further refinement of plate armor. There was a 150-year period in which better and more metallurgically advanced steel armor was being used, precisely because of the danger posed by the gun. Hence, guns and cavalry in plate armor were 'threat and remedy' together on the battlefield for almost 400 years. By the 15th-century, Italian armor plates were almost always made of steel. In Southern Germany armorers began to harden their steel armor only in the late 15th century. They would continue to harden their steel for the next century because they quenched and tempered their product which allowed for the fire-gilding to be combined with tempering. The quality of the metal used in armor deteriorated as armies became bigger and armor was made thicker, necessitating breeding of larger cavalry horses. If during the 14th and 15th centuries armor seldom weighed more than 15 kg (33 lb), then by the late 16th century it weighed 25 kg (55 lb). The increasing weight and thickness of late 16th-century armor therefore gave substantial resistance. In the early years of pistols and arquebuses, black powder muzzleloading firearms were fired at a relatively low velocity (usually below 600 m/s (2,000 ft/s)). The full suits of plate armor, or only breast plates could actually stop bullets fired from a modest distance. The front breast plates were, in fact, commonly shot as a test. The impact point would often be encircled with engraving to point it out. This was called the 'proof'. Armor often also bore an insignia of the maker, especially if it was of good quality. Crossbow bolts or quarrels, if still used, would seldom penetrate good plate, nor would any bullet unless fired from close range. In effect, rather than making plate armor obsolete, the use of firearms stimulated the development of plate armor into its later stages. For most of that period, it allowed horsemen to fight while being the targets of defending arquebusiers without being easily killed. Full suits of armor were actually worn by generals and princely commanders until the 1710s.

Reader's Guide

The horse was afforded protection from cavalry and infantry weapons by steel plate barding. This gave the horse protection and enhanced the visual impression of a mounted knight. Late in the era, elaborate barding was used as parade armor. As gunpowder weapons greatly improved from the 16th century onward, it became cheaper and more effective to have groups of unarmored infantry with early guns than to have expensive knights mounted on horseback, which was the primary cause for armor to be largely discarded. Most light cavalry units discarded their armor, though some heavy cavalry units continued to use it, such as German reiters, Polish hussars, and French cuirassiers. Metal armor remained in limited use long after its general obsolescence. Soldiers in the American Civil War (1861–1865) bought iron and steel vests from peddlers (both sides had considered but rejected it for standard issue). The effectiveness of the vests varied widely—some successfully deflected bullets and saved lives but others were poorly made and resulted in tragedy for the soldiers. In any case the vests were abandoned by many soldiers due to their weight on long marches as well as the stigma they got for being cowards from their fellow troops. At the start of World War I in 1914, thousands of the French cuirassiers rode out to engage the German cavalry who likewise used helmets and armor. By that period, the shiny armor plate was covered in dark paint and a canvas wrap covered their elaborate Napoleonic-style helmets. Their armor was meant to protect only against sabers and lances. The cavalry had to avoid rifle and machine gun fire, unlike infantry soldiers who had trenches for protection. Some Arditi assault troops of the Italian army wore body armor in 1916 and 1917. By the end of the war the Germans had made some 400,000 Sappenpanzer suits. Too heavy and restrictive for infantry, most were worn by spotters, sentries, machine gunners.

Did You Know?

• Full plate armor first appeared in medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper.
• By the late 16th century, plate armor weighed 25 kg (55 lb), up from seldom more than 15 kg (33 lb) in the 14th and 15th centuries.
• The front breast plates of armor were commonly shot as a test, with the impact point often encircled with engraving—this was called the 'proof'.
• Full suits of armor were actually worn by generals and princely commanders until the 1710s.
• By the end of World War I, the Germans had made some 400,000 Sappenpanzer suits, though most were worn by spotters, sentries, and machine gunners due to being too heavy and restrictive for infantry.