A jack of plate is a type of armour made up of small iron plates sewn between layers of felt and canvas. They were commonly referred to simply as a "jack" (although this could also refer to any outer garment). This type of armour was used by common Medieval European soldiers as well as by the rebel peasants known as Jacquerie. [1] The present day equivalent is perhaps a bullet-proof vest. [2]
The jack is similar to the brigandine. The main difference is in the method of construction: a brigandine is riveted whereas a jack is sewn. Jacks of plate were created by stitching as many as 1000 small overlapping squares of iron between two canvases. [3] The garments weighed about 17 pounds (7.7 kg), which made them much more acceptable to the wearer than solid breastplates. They also offered a tactical advantage: they allowed soldiers to rest the butts of weapons firmly against their shoulders, which wasn't feasible with smooth-surfaced plate armours. Unlike plate they made no attempt to be bulletproof. [4] Jacks were often made from recycled pieces of older plate armor, including damaged brigandines and cuirasses cut into small squares. [5]
The jack was particularly favoured in Scotland. After the death of James V of Scotland in December 1542, Cardinal Beaton ordered the keeper of the royal wardrobe John Tennent to give the king's jack of plate to his lawyer Adam Otterburn. [6] In July 1547, James Hamilton, the Regent of Scotland, had a new jack covered with purple taffeta, then changed his mind, choosing purple velvet. [7] During the rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots known as the Chaseabout Raid, it was said in September 1565 that while her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley wore a gilt corslet or breastplate, the rest of the lords "after their country fashion" wore jacks. [8]
Jacks remained in use as late as the 16th century and were often worn by Scottish border reivers along the Anglo-Scottish border. Although they were obsolete in Britain by the time of the English Civil War, many were taken to the New World by settlers like the Pilgrims because they provided excellent protection from the arrows used by Native Americans. One dating back to 1607 was found on Jamestown Island, the first settlement of the Colony of Virginia, in 2005. [3]
Chain mail is a type of Armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and the and 16th century AD in Europe, while continued to be used in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as late as the 17th century. A coat of this Armour is often called a hauberk or sometimes a byrnie.
A gambeson is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting that produced a padded cloth. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be, for example, scrap cloth or horse hair.
A cuirass is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French cuirace and Latin word coriacea. The use of the term "cuirass" generally refers to both the breastplate and the backplate pieces; whereas a breastplate only protects the front, a cuirass protects both the front and the back of the wearer.
A bodkin point is a type of arrowhead. In its simplest form it is an uncomplicated squared metal spike, and was used extensively during the Middle Ages. The typical bodkin was a square-section arrowhead, generally up to 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long and 1 cm (0.39 in) thick at its widest point, tapered down behind this initial "punch" shape. Bodkin arrows complemented traditional broadhead arrows, as bodkin point arrows were designed to defeat mail armor while broadhead point arrows caused more serious wounds and tissue damage.
A flak jacket or flak vest is a form of body armor. A flak jacket is designed to provide protection from case fragments ("frag") from high explosive weaponry, such as anti-aircraft artillery, grenade fragments, some types of pellets used in shotguns, and other lower-velocity projectiles. It is not designed to protect against bullets fired from most small arms such as rifles or handguns. However flak jackets are able to sustain certain gunshots, depending on the angle at which the shot was fired, the caliber of the bullet, the speed of the projectile and the range from which the shot was fired.
A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric, sometimes with a second layer of fabric on the inside.
A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status.
Korean armour is armour that was traditionally used in ancient times by Koreans, those fighting in and on behalf of Korea, or Koreans fighting overseas. Examples of armour from the Korean Peninsula date back to at least the Korean Three Kingdoms period. Depending on the tactical situation, Korean armour also included horse armour and other kinds of early anti-ballistic armour before the 20th century.
Scale armour is an early form of armour consisting of many individual small armour scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well as their horses. The material used to make the scales varied and included bronze, iron, steel, rawhide, leather, cuir bouilli, seeds, horn, or pangolin scales. The variations are primarily the result of material availability.
Chinese armour was predominantly lamellar from the Warring States period onward, prior to which animal parts such as rhinoceros hide, rawhide, and turtle shells were used for protection. Lamellar armour was supplemented by scale armour since the Warring States period or earlier. Partial plate armour was popular from the Eastern and Southern dynasties (420–589), and mail and mountain pattern armour from the Tang dynasty (618–907). Chain mail had been known since the Han dynasty, but did not see widespread production or battlefield use, and may have seen as "exotic foreign armor" used as a display of wealth for wealthier officers and soldiers. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), brigandine began to supplant lamellar armour and was used to a great degree into the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). By the 19th century most Qing armour, which was of the brigandine type, were purely ceremonial, having kept the outer studs for aesthetic purposes, and omitted the protective metal plates.
Auxiliary armour in a set of Japanese armour are optional pieces worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan in addition to the traditional six armour components.
A coat of plates is a form of segmented torso armour consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates is considered part of the era of transitional armour and was normally worn as part of a full knightly harness. The coat saw its introduction in Europe among the warring elite in the 1180s or 1220s and was well established by the 1250s. It was in very common usage by the 1290s. By the 1350s it was universal among infantry militias as well. After about 1340, the plates covering the chest were combined to form an early breastplate, replacing the coat of plates. After 1370, the breastplate covered the entire torso. Different forms of the coat of plates, known as the brigandine and jack of plates, remained in use until the late 16th century.
Mail and plate armour is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, North Africa, Ottoman Empire, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, and Nusantara.
Mirror armour, sometimes referred to as disc armour or as chahār-āyneh or char-aina, was a type of cuirass used mainly in Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe; including India, Persia, Tibet, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. It literally translates to "four mirrors" which is a reflection of how these pieces looked, which resembles four metal discs or rectangular armour plates. Mirror armor was used in some cultures up to the 20th century.
Scholars agree that Japanese armour first appeared in the 4th century, with the discovery of the cuirass and basic helmets in graves. During the Heian period (794-1185), the unique Japanese samurai armour ō-yoroi and dō-maru appeared. 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.
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 is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows or bands of, usually small, solid armour plates called lames, as opposed to lamellar armour, which is made from individual armour scales laced together to form a solid-looking strip of armour. Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata of Ancient Rome and certain versions of samurai armour.
Tatami (畳具足), or tatami 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.
Dō or dou (胴) "breastplate, cuirass" is one of the major components of Japanese armour worn by the samurai and ashigaru or foot soldiers of feudal Japan.
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.
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