Mail or maille 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.
A cuirass is a piece of armor, formed of a single or multiple pieces of metal or other rigid material which covers the torso. The use of the term "cuirass" generally refers to both the chest plate and the back piece together. Whereas a chest plate only protects the front and a back plate only protects the back, a cuirass protects both the front and the back.
The sallet was a war helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal.
The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced military helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear and sides to afford protection for the neck. A mail curtain was usually attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A visor was often employed from ca. 1330 to protect the exposed face. Early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called "great bascinet".
Kabuto is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors, and in later periods, they became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.
A gorget, from the French gorge meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the throat, a set of pieces of plate armour,or a single piece of plate armour hanging from the neck and covering the throat and chest. Later, particularly from the 18th century, the gorget became primarily ornamental, serving as a symbolic accessory on military uniforms, a use which has survived in some armies.
The armet is a type of helmet which was developed in the 15th century. It was extensively used in Italy, France, England, the Low Countries and Spain. It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head while being compact and light enough to move with the wearer. Its use was essentially restricted to the fully armoured man-at-arms.
A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment, generally heavy cloth, canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric.
A kettle hat is a type of helmet made of steel in the shape of a brimmed hat. There are many design variations. The only common element is a wide brim that afforded extra protection to the wearer. It gained its common English language name from its resemblance to a metal cooking pot.
The great helm or heaume, also called pot helm, bucket helm and barrel helm, is a helmet of the High Middle Ages which arose in the late twelfth century in the context of the Crusades and remained in use until the fourteenth century. The barreled style was used by knights in most European armies between about 1220 to 1350 AD and evolved into the frog-mouth helm to be primarily used during jousting contests.
A barbute is a visorless war helmet of 15th-century Italian design, often with a distinctive "T" shaped or "Y" shaped opening for the eyes and mouth.
The Spangenhelm was a popular medieval European combat helmet design of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.
Over the course of World War II the Soviet Union employed three main helmet designs; the SSh-36, the SSh-39, and the SSh-40, each being designated with the year in which they were introduced. Standard practice was to stamp the size, location, and year of manufacturing on the interior of the helmet.
This table identifies various pieces of body armour worn from the medieval to Early Modern period in the West, mostly plate but some mail armour, arranged by the part of body that is protected and roughly by date. No attempt has been made to identify fastening components or various appendages such as lancerests or plumeholders or clothing such as tabards or surcoats which were often worn over a harness.
The Shorwell helmet is an Anglo-Saxon helmet from the early to mid-sixth century AD found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was found with other objects such as a pattern-welded sword and hanging bowl. One of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, alongside those from Benty Grange, Sutton Hoo, Coppergate, Wollaston, and Staffordshire, it is the sole example to derive from the continental Frankish style rather than the contemporaneous Northern "crested helmets" used in England and Scandinavia.
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.
A Turban helmet is a variety of Turkish helmet specifically known for its bulbous shape and fluting that imitates the folds of a turban. Turban helmets originated in Ottoman Turkey, primarily used by warriors and some external attics.
Kulah Khuds were used in ancient western Asia for battle and as decorative head pieces.
