Mail (armour)

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Riveted mail and plate coat zirah bagtar. Armour of this type was introduced into India under the Mughals. Eastern riveted armor.JPG
Riveted mail and plate coat zirah bagtar. Armour of this type was introduced into India under the Mughals.

Mail or maille (also chain mail(le) [1] or chainmail(le)) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. A coat of this armour is often referred to as a hauberk, and sometimes a byrnie.

Armour or armor is a protective covering that is used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or vehicle by direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or activity. Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals. Vehicle armour is used on warships and armoured fighting vehicles.

Hauberk long shirt of mail

A hauberk is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon generally refers to a smaller version of the hauberk, but the terms are often used interchangeably.

Contents

History

The Vacheres warrior, 1st century BC, a statue depicting a Romanized Gaulish warrior wearing chainmail and a Celtic torc around his neck, wielding a Celtic-style shield. Gaul warrior Vacheres 2.jpg
The Vachères warrior, 1st century BC, a statue depicting a Romanized Gaulish warrior wearing chainmail and a Celtic torc around his neck, wielding a Celtic-style shield.
Fresco of an ancient Macedonian soldier ( thorakitai ) wearing chainmail armor and bearing a thureos shield Thueros affresco.jpg
Fresco of an ancient Macedonian soldier ( thorakitai ) wearing chainmail armor and bearing a thureos shield

The earliest example of surviving mail was found in a chieftain's burial located in Ciumești, Romania. [3] Its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, [4] but there are examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BC. [5] [6] [7] Mail may have been inspired by the much earlier scale armour. [8] [9] Mail spread to North Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Tibet, South East Asia, and Japan.

Ciumești Commune in Satu Mare County, Romania

Ciumești is a commune located in Satu Mare County, Romania.

Romania Sovereign state in Europe

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi), Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, and Brașov.

Celts ethnolinguistic group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Medieval Europe

The Celts are an Indo-European ethnolinguistic group of Europe identified by their use of Celtic languages and cultural similarities. The history of pre-Celtic Europe and the exact relationship between ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors in the Celtic world remains uncertain and controversial. The exact geographic spread of the ancient Celts is disputed; in particular, the ways in which the Iron Age inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland should be regarded as Celts have become a subject of controversy. According to one theory, the common root of the Celtic languages, the Proto-Celtic language, arose in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of Central Europe, which flourished from around 1200 BC.

Herodotus wrote that the ancient Persians wore scale armor, but mail is also distinctly mentioned in the Avesta, the ancient holy scripture of the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism that was founded by the prophet Zoroaster in the 5th century BC. [10]

Avesta Zoroastrianist scripture

The Avesta is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the otherwise unrecorded Avestan language.

Zoroastrianism Iranian religion founded by Zoroaster

Zoroastrianism, or Mazdayasna, is one of the world's oldest religions that remains active. It is a monotheistic faith, centered in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate destruction of evil. Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster, it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its Supreme Being. Major features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

Zoroaster Persian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism

Zoroaster, also known as Zarathustra, Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra, was an ancient Iranian prophet, spiritual leader and ethical philosopher who taught a spiritual philosophy of self-realization and realization of the Divine. His teachings challenged the existing traditions of the Indo-Iranian religion and later developed into the religion of Mazdayasna or Zoroastrianism. He inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Ancient Iran. He was a native speaker of Old Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau, but his exact birthplace is uncertain.

Mail continues to be used in the 21st century as a component of stab-resistant body armour, cut-resistant gloves for butchers and woodworkers, shark-resistant wetsuits for defense against shark bites, and a number of other applications.

Wetsuit Garment for water activities, providing thermal insulation but not designed to prevent water entering

A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activities in or on water, primarily providing thermal insulation, but also buoyancy and protection from abrasion, ultraviolet exposure and stings from marine organisms. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material, which reduce its ability to conduct heat. The bubbles also give the wetsuit a low density, providing buoyancy in water.

Etymology

The origins of the word mail are not fully known. One theory is that it originally derives from the Latin word, macula, meaning spot or opacity (as in macula of retina). [11] Another theory relates the word to the old French, maillier, meaning to hammer (related to the modern English word, malleable). [11] In modern French, maille refers to a loop or stitch. [12] The Arabic words "burnus", برنوس, a burnoose; a hooded cloak, also a chasuble (worn by Coptic priests) and "barnaza", برنز, to bronze, suggest an Arabic influence for the Carolingian armour known as "byrnie" (see below).

Macula of retina

The macula or macula lutea is an oval-shaped pigmented area near the center of the retina of the human eye and some other animalian eyes. The macula in humans has a diameter of around 5.5 mm (0.22 in) and is subdivided into the umbo, foveola, foveal avascular zone, fovea, parafovea, and perifovea areas.

The first attestations of the word mail are in Old French and Anglo-Norman: maille, maile, or male or other variants, which became mailye, maille, maile, male, or meile in Middle English. [13]

In the early medieval Europe 'byrn(ie)' was the equivalent of a 'coat of mail' Beowulf - byrnu.jpg
In the early medieval Europe 'byrn(ie)' was the equivalent of a 'coat of mail'

The modern usage of terms for mail armour is highly contested in popular and, to a lesser degree, academic culture. Medieval sources referred to armour of this type simply as mail, however chain-mail has become a commonly used, if incorrect, neologism first attested in Sir Walter Scott's 1822 novel The Fortunes of Nigel . [14] Since then the word mail has been commonly, if incorrectly, applied to other types of armour, such as in plate-mail (first attested in 1835). [15] The more correct term is plate armour .

Civilizations that used mail invented specific terms for each garment made from it. The standard terms for European mail armour derive from French: leggings are called chausses, a hood is a mail coif, and mittens, mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is a camail or aventail. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk if knee-length and a haubergeon if mid-thigh length. A layer (or layers) of mail sandwiched between layers of fabric is called a jazerant.

A waist-length coat in medieval Europe was called a byrnie, although the exact construction of a byrnie is unclear, including whether it was constructed of mail or other armour-types. Noting that the byrnie was the "most highly valued piece of armour" to the Carolingian soldier, Bennet, Bradbury, DeVries, Dickie, and Jestice [16] indicate that:

There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie. Relying... only on artistic and some literary sources because of the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it. It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail. Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue.

In Europe

Mail armour and equipment of Polish medium cavalryman, from the second half of the 17th century MWP Pancerni 2 polowa 17 wieku.jpg
Mail armour and equipment of Polish medium cavalryman, from the second half of the 17th century

The use of mail as battlefield armour was common during the Iron Age and the Middle Ages, becoming less common over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is believed that the Roman Republic first came into contact with mail fighting the Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul, now Northern Italy, [17] but a different pattern of mail was already in use among the Etruscans.[ citation needed ] The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period.

Panel from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Norman and Anglo-Saxon soldiers in mail armour. Note the scene of stripping a mail hauberk from the dead at the bottom. Harold dead bayeux tapestry.png
Panel from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Norman and Anglo-Saxon soldiers in mail armour. Note the scene of stripping a mail hauberk from the dead at the bottom.

After the fall of the Western Empire, much of the infrastructure needed to create plate armour diminished. Eventually the word "mail" came to be synonymous with armour. [18] [19] [20] [21] It was typically an extremely prized commodity, as it was expensive and time-consuming to produce and could mean the difference between life and death in a battle. Mail from dead combatants was frequently looted and was used by the new owner or sold for a lucrative price. As time went on and infrastructure improved, it came to be used by more soldiers. Eventually with the rise of the lanced cavalry charge, impact warfare, and high-powered crossbows, mail came to be used as a secondary armour to plate for the mounted nobility.[ citation needed ]

By the 14th century, plate armour was commonly used to supplement mail. Eventually mail was supplanted by plate for the most part, as it provided greater protection against windlass crossbows, bludgeoning weapons, and lance charges. However, mail was still widely used by many soldiers as well as brigandines and padded jacks. These three types of armour made up the bulk of the equipment used by soldiers, with mail being the most expensive. It was sometimes more expensive than plate armour. [22] Mail typically persisted longer in less technologically advanced areas such as Eastern Europe but was in use everywhere into the 16th century.[ citation needed ]

During the late 19th and early 20th century, mail was used as a material for bulletproof vests, most notably by the Wilkinson Sword Company. [23] [24] Results were unsatisfactory; Wilkinson mail worn by the Khedive of Egypt's regiment of "Iron Men" [25] was manufactured from split rings which proved to be too brittle, and the rings would fragment when struck by bullets and aggravate the injury. [26] The riveted mail armour worn by the opposing Sudanese Madhists did not have the same problem but also proved to be relatively useless against the firearms of British forces at the battle of Omdurman. [27] During World War I, Wilkinson Sword transitioned from mail to a lamellar design which was the precursor to the flak jacket.[ citation needed ]

Also during World War I, a mail fringe, designed by Captain Cruise of the British Infantry, was added to helmets to protect the face. This proved unpopular with soldiers, in spite of being proven to defend against a three-ounce (100 g) shrapnel round fired at a distance of one hundred yards (91 m).[ citation needed ]

In Asia

Tibetan warrior in mail reinforced by additional mirror plate Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-14-13-33, Tibetexpedition, Neujahrsparade, Rta pa.jpg
Tibetan warrior in mail reinforced by additional mirror plate

Mail armour was introduced to the Middle East and Asia through the Romans and was adopted by the Sassanid Persians starting in the 3rd century AD, where it was supplemental to the scale and lamellar armour already used. Mail was commonly also used as horse armour for cataphracts and heavy cavalry as well as armour for the soldiers themselves. Asian mail could be just as heavy as the European variety and sometimes had prayer symbols stamped on the rings as a sign of their craftsmanship as well as for divine protection. [28] Indeed, mail armour is mentioned in the Quran as being a gift revealed by Allah to David:

21:80 It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful? (Yusuf Ali's translation)

From the Middle East, mail was quickly adopted in Central Asia by the Sogdians and by India in the South. Mail armour was introduced by the turks in late 12th century and commonly used by Turk and the Mughal armies where it eventually became the armour of choice in India. Indian mail was constructed with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links and it was often integrated with plate protection (mail and plate armour). Mail and plate armour was commonly used in India until the Battle of Plassey and the subsequent British conquest of the sub-continent.

The Ottoman Empire used mail armour as well as mail and plate armour, and it was used in their armies until the 18th century by heavy cavalry and elite units such as the Janissaries. They spread its use into North Africa where it was adopted by Mamluk Egyptians and the Sudanese who produced it until the early 20th century. Ottoman mail was constructed with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links. The Persians used mail armour as well as mail and plate armour. Persian mail and Ottoman mail were often quite similar in appearance.

Mail was introduced to China when its allies in Central Asia paid tribute to the Tang Emperor in 718 by giving him a coat of "link armour" assumed to be mail. China first encountered the armour in 384 when its allies in the nation of Kuchi arrived wearing "armour similar to chains". Once in China, mail was imported but was not produced widely. Due to its flexibility, comfort, and rarity, it was typically the armour of high-ranking guards and those who could afford the exotic import (to show off their social status) rather than the armor of the rank and file, who used more common brigandine, scale, and lamellar types. However, it was one of the only military products that China imported from foreigners. Mail spread to Korea slightly later where it was imported as the armour of imperial guards and generals.[ citation needed ]

Japanese mail armour

Edo period Japanese (samurai) chain armour or kusari gusoku Japanese kusari armor.JPG
Edo period Japanese (samurai) chain armour or kusari gusoku

In Japan mail is called kusari which means chain. When the word kusari is used in conjunction with an armoured item it usually means that mail makes up the majority of the armour composition. [29] An example of this would be kusari gusoku which means chain armour. Kusari jackets , hoods , gloves , vests , shin , shoulder, thigh guards , and other armoured clothing were produced, even kusari tabi socks.

Kusari was used in samurai armour at least from the time of the Mongol invasion (1270s) but particularly from the Nambokucho period (1336–1392). [30] The Japanese used many different weave methods including a square 4-in-1 pattern (so gusari), a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana gusari) and a European 4-in-1 (nanban gusari). [31] The rings of Japanese mail were much smaller than their European counterparts; they would be used in patches to link together plates and to drape over vulnerable areas such as the armpits.

Riveted kusari was known and used in Japan. On page 58 of the book Japanese Arms & Armor: Introduction by H. Russell Robinson, there is a picture of Japanese riveted kusari, [32] and this quote from the translated reference of Sakakibara Kozan's  (ja ) 1800 book, The Manufacture of Armour and Helmets in Sixteenth-Century Japan, shows that the Japanese not only knew of and used riveted kusari but that they manufactured it as well.

... karakuri-namban (riveted namban), with stout links each closed by a rivet. Its invention is credited to Fukushima Dembei Kunitaka, pupil, of Hojo Awa no Kami Ujifusa, but it is also said to be derived directly from foreign models. It is heavy because the links are tinned (biakuro-nagashi) and these are also sharp-edged because they are punched out of iron plate [33]

Butted and or split (twisted) links made up the majority of kusari links used by the Japanese. Links were either butted together meaning that the ends touched each other and were not riveted, or the kusari was constructed with links where the wire was turned or twisted [34] two or more times; these split links are similar to the modern split ring commonly used on keychains. The rings were lacquered black to prevent rusting, and were always stitched onto a backing of cloth or leather. The kusari was sometimes concealed entirely between layers of cloth. [35]

Kusari gusoku or chain armour was commonly used during the Edo period 1603 to 1868 as a stand-alone defense. According to George Cameron Stone

Entire suits of mail kusari gusoku were worn on occasions, sometimes under the ordinary clothing [36]

Ian Bottomley in his book Arms and Armor of the Samurai: The History of Weaponry in Ancient Japan [37] shows a picture of a kusari armour and mentions kusari katabira (chain jackets) with detachable arms being worn by samurai police officials during the Edo period. The end of the samurai era in the 1860s, along with the 1876 ban on wearing swords in public, marked the end of any practical use for mail and other armour in Japan. Japan turned to a conscription army and uniforms replaced armour. [38]

Effectiveness

Mail hauberk from the Museum of Bayeux Bayeux haubert.JPG
Mail hauberk from the Museum of Bayeux

Mail armour provided an effective defense against slashing blows by edged weapons and some forms of penetration by many thrusting and piercing weapons; in fact, a study conducted at the Royal Armouries at Leeds concluded that "it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon". [39] [40] Generally speaking, mail's resistance to weapons is determined by four factors: linkage type (riveted, butted, or welded), material used (iron versus bronze or steel), weave density (a tighter weave needs a thinner weapon to surpass), and ring thickness (generally ranging from 18 to 14 gauge (1.02–1.63 mm diameter) wire in most examples). Mail, if a warrior could afford it, provided a significant advantage when combined with competent fighting techniques.

When the mail was not riveted, a thrust from most sharp weapons could penetrate it. However, when mail was riveted, only a strong well-placed thrust from certain spears, or thin or dedicated mail-piercing swords like the estoc could penetrate, and a pollaxe or halberd blow could break through the armour. Strong projectile weapons such as stronger self bows, recurve bows, and crossbows could also penetrate riveted mail. [41] [42] Some evidence indicates that during armoured combat, the intention was to actually get around the armour rather than through it—according to a study of skeletons found in Visby, Sweden, a majority of the skeletons showed wounds on less well protected legs. [43] Although mail was a formidable protection, due to longswords getting more tapered as time progressed, mail worn under plate armor (and stand-alone mail as well) could be penetrated by the conventional weaponry of another knight.

The flexibility of mail meant that a blow would often injure the wearer, [44] potentially causing serious bruising or fractures, and it was a poor defence against head trauma. Mail-clad warriors typically wore separate rigid helms over their mail coifs for head protection. Likewise, blunt weapons such as maces and warhammers could harm the wearer by their impact without penetrating the armour; usually a soft armour, such as gambeson, was worn under the hauberk. Medieval surgeons were very well capable of setting and caring for bone fractures resulting from blunt weapons. [45] With the poor understanding of hygiene however, cuts that could get infected were much more of a problem. [45] Thus mail armour proved to be sufficient protection in most situations. [46] [47]

Manufacture

A manuscript from 1698 showing the manufacture of mail Fotothek df tg 0008481 Standebuch ^ Handwerk ^ Plattner ^ Rustung ^ Harnisch ^ Kettenhemd.jpg
A manuscript from 1698 showing the manufacture of mail

Several patterns of linking the rings together have been known since ancient times, with the most common being the 4-to-1 pattern (where each ring is linked with four others). In Europe, the 4-to-1 pattern was completely dominant. Mail was also common in East Asia, primarily Japan, with several more patterns being utilised and an entire nomenclature developing around them.

Historically, in Europe, from the pre-Roman period on, the rings composing a piece of mail would be riveted closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to a thrusting attack or a hit by an arrow.

Up until the 14th century European mail was made of alternating rows of round riveted rings and solid rings. Sometime during the 14th century European mail makers started to transition from round rivets to wedge shaped rivets but continued using alternating rows of solid rings. Eventually European mail makers stopped using solid rings and almost all European mail was made from wedge riveted rings only with no solid rings. [48] Both were commonly made of wrought iron, but some later pieces were made of heat-treated steel. Wire for the riveted rings was formed by either of two methods. One was to hammer out wrought iron into plates and cut or slit the plates. These thin pieces were then pulled through a draw plate repeatedly until the desired diameter was achieved. Waterwheel powered drawing mills are pictured in several period manuscripts. Another method was to simply forge down an iron billet into a rod and then proceed to draw it out into wire. The solid links would have been made by punching from a sheet. Guild marks were often stamped on the rings to show their origin and craftsmanship. Forge welding was also used to create solid links, but there are few possible examples known; the only well documented example from Europe is that of the camail (mail neck-defence) of the 7th century Coppergate helmet. [49] Outside of Europe this practice was more common such as "theta" links from India. Very few examples of historic butted mail have been found and it is generally accepted that butted mail was never in wide use historically except in Japan where mail (kusari) was commonly made from butted links. [34] Butted link mail was also used by the Moros of the Philippines in their mail and plate armors.

Modern uses

Practical uses

Neptunic shark suit Neptunic shark suit 1.jpg
Neptunic shark suit

Mail is used as protective clothing for butchers against meat-packing equipment. Workers may wear up to 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of mail under their white coats. [50] Butchers also commonly wear a single mail glove to protect themselves from self-inflicted injury while cutting meat.

Woodcarvers sometimes use similar mail gloves to protect their hands from cuts and punctures.

Scuba divers use mail to protect them from sharkbite, as do animal control officers for protection against the animals they handle. Shark expert and underwater filmmaker Valerie Taylor was among the first to develop and test shark suits in 1979 while diving with sharks.

Mail is widely used in industrial settings as shrapnel guards and splash guards in metal working operations.

Electrical applications for mail include RF leakage testing and being worn as a faraday cage suit by tesla coil enthusiasts and high voltage electrical workers. [51] [52]

Stab-proof vests

Conventional textile-based ballistic vests are designed to stop soft-nosed bullets but offer little defense from knife attacks. Knife-resistant armour are designed to defend against knife attacks; some of these use layers of metal plates, mail and metallic wires. [53]

Historical re-enactment

Roman soldier 175 A.D. from a northern province (re-enactment). Roman soldier 175 aC in northern province.jpg
Roman soldier 175 A.D. from a northern province (re-enactment).

Many historical reenactment groups, especially those whose focus is Antiquity or the Middle Ages, commonly use mail both as practical armour and for costuming. Mail is especially popular amongst those groups which use steel weapons. A modern hauberk made from 1.5 mm diameter wire with 10 mm inner diameter rings weighs roughly 10 kg (22 lb) and contains 15,000–45,000 rings.[ citation needed ]

One of the drawbacks of mail is the uneven weight distribution; the stress falls mainly on shoulders. Weight can be better distributed by wearing a belt over the mail, which provides another point of support.[ citation needed ]

Mail worn today for re-enactment and recreational use can be made in a variety of styles and materials. Most recreational mail today is made of butted links which are galvanized or stainless steel. This is historically inaccurate but is much less expensive to procure and especially to maintain than historically accurate reproductions. Mail can also be made of titanium, aluminium, bronze, or copper. Riveted mail offers significantly better protection ability as well as historical accuracy than mail constructed with butted links. Riveted mail can be more labour-intensive and expensive to manufacture.[ citation needed ] Japanese mail (kusari) is one of the few historically correct examples of mail being constructed with such butted links. [34]

Decorative uses

Major's shoulder chains Major's shoulder chains.JPG
Major's shoulder chains
A modern example of the use of mail, a bracelet using the roundmaille weave. ChainMaille Dragon's Back Bracelet or Roundmaille Weave.jpg
A modern example of the use of mail, a bracelet using the roundmaille weave.

Mail remained in use as a decorative and possibly high-status symbol with military overtones long after its practical usefulness had passed. It was frequently used for the epaulettes of military uniforms. It is still used in this form by the British Territorial Army.

Mail has applications in sculpture and jewellery, especially when made out of precious metals or colourful anodized metals. Mail artwork includes headdresses, decorative wall hangings, ornaments, chess sets, macrame, and jewelry. For these non-traditional applications, hundreds of patterns (commonly referred to as 'weaves') have been invented. [54]

Large-linked mail is occasionally used as a fetish clothing material, with the large links intended to reveal – in part – the body beneath them.

In film

In some films, knitted string spray-painted with a metallic paint is used instead of actual mail in order to cut down on cost (an example being Monty Python and the Holy Grail , which was filmed on a very small budget). Films more dedicated to costume accuracy often use ABS plastic rings, for the lower cost and weight. Such ABS mail coats were made for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, in addition to many metal coats. The metal coats are used rarely because of their weight, except in close-up filming where the appearance of ABS rings is distinguishable. A large scale example of the ABS mail used in the Lord of the Rings can be seen in the entrance to the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds in the form of a large curtain bearing the logo of the museum. It was acquired from the makers of the film's armour, Weta Workshop, when the museum hosted an exhibition of WETA armour from their films. For the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome , Tina Turner is said to have worn actual mail and she complained how heavy this was. Game of Thrones makes use of mail, notably during the "Red Wedding" scene.

See also

Mail-based armour

Armour supplementary to mail

Typically worn under mail armour:

Can be worn over mail armour:

Others:

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Scholars agree that Japanese armour first appeared in the 4th century, with the discovery of the cuirass and basic helmets in graves. It is thought they originated from China via Korea. During the Heian period (794-1185), the Japanese cuirass evolved into the more familiar style of body armour worn by the samurai known as the dou or dō, with the use of leather straps (nerigawa), and lacquer for weatherproofing. Leather and/or iron scales were also used to construct samurai armours, with leather and eventually silk lace used to connect the individual scales (kozane) of these cuirasses. In the 16th century, Japan began trading with Europe, during what would become known as the Nanban trade. Samurai acquired European types of armour, which they modified and combined with domestic armour, as it provided better protection from the newly introduced matchlock muskets. When a united Japan entered the peaceful Edo period, samurai continued to use both plate and lamellar armour as a symbol of their status. Lightweight, portable, and secret hidden armours became popular, since personal protection was still needed against civil unrest.

<i>Kikko</i> (Japanese armour)

Kikko are small iron or hardened leather, hexagon shaped armour plates used in the construction of Japanese armor worn by samurai and ashigaru of feudal Japan.

Laminar armour

Laminar armour is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows or bands of solid armour plates, as opposed to lamellar armour, which is made from individual armor scales laced together to form a solid-looking strip of armor. Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata of Ancient Rome and certain versions of samurai armour.

<i>Tatami</i> (Japanese armour)

Tatami (畳具足), or tatami gusoku and gusoku, was a type of lightweight portable folding Japanese armour worn during the feudal era of Japan by the samurai class and their foot soldiers (ashigaru). The Tatami dō or the tatami katabira were the main components of a full suit of tatami armour.

<i>Dō</i> (armour) Japanese armour for the torso

Dō or dou is one of the major components of Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and foot soldiers (ashigaru) of feudal Japan.

<i>Kusari</i> (Japanese mail armour) Japanese chainmail armor

Kusari gusoku (鎖具足) is the Japanese term for mail armour. Kusari is a type of armour used by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. When the word kusari is used in conjunction with an armoured item it usually means that the kusari makes up the majority of the armour defence.

<i>Karuta</i> (armour) Japanese armour

Karuta was a type of armour worn by samurai warriors and their retainers during the feudal era of Japan. The word karuta comes from the Portuguese word meaning "card", (carta) as the small square or rectangular plates that compose the armour resemble traditional Japanese playing cards.

Mail coif chainmail covering for the head and neck

A mail coif is a type of armour which covered the head. The flexible hood of mail extended to cover the throat, neck and the top part of the shoulders. They were popular with European fighting men of the Middle Ages.

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