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Armour: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Armour
The first record of body armor in history was found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, located in what is now south Iraq, marking the dawn of a technological race that would span millennia. This early evidence of protection predates written history, yet it set the stage for a continuous evolution of materials and design. From the leather and fabric coverings of the earliest civilizations to the bronze and iron scales of the New Kingdom of Egypt and the Zhou dynasty of China, the drive to survive the battlefield forced humanity to innovate. The ancient Sumerians did not just want to survive; they wanted to dominate, and their armor was the first step in a long journey toward the steel plate that would define the medieval knight. The Stele of Vultures, with its carved figures in scale mail, serves as a silent testament to the ingenuity of a people who understood that the difference between life and death often lay in the thickness of the material covering their skin.
The Celtic Ring
Mail, sometimes called chainmail, is believed to have first appeared some time after 300 BC, and its invention is credited to the Celts, a people whose history is often overshadowed by the Roman Empire they fought. The Romans, masters of engineering and conquest, adopted the Celtic design, integrating the interlocking iron rings into their own military machine. This was not merely a change in fashion but a revolution in defense, allowing soldiers to move with a fluidity that rigid plates could not offer. The Celts had discovered that flexibility was the key to survival, and their mail hauberk became a staple of early medieval warfare. As the centuries passed, small additional plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas, creating a hybrid system that balanced protection with mobility. The coat of plates, an armor made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat, emerged as a testament to this ongoing struggle to find the perfect balance between the unyielding nature of steel and the need for human movement.
The Black Death and the Plate
Plate armor became cheaper than mail by the 15th century, a shift driven by the economic devastation of the Black Death which made labor much more expensive. This demographic catastrophe forced armorers to rethink their methods, leading to the development of water-powered trip hammers that made the forming of plates faster and cheaper. The result was a new era of protection, where the full harness of plate armor, developed in the armories of Lombardy by 1400, became the standard for European knights. The small skull cap evolved into a bigger true helmet, the bascinet, as it was lengthened downward to protect the back of the neck and the sides of the head. By the late 16th century, armor weighed 25 kg, a significant increase from the 15 kg of the 14th and 15th centuries, yet it provided substantial resistance against the weapons of the time. The increasing weight and thickness of late 16th century armor were a direct response to the need for protection against the evolving threats of the battlefield, creating a suit that was both a symbol of status and a machine of war.
Common questions
Where was the first record of body armor found?
The first record of body armor in history was found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, located in what is now south Iraq. This early evidence of protection predates written history and marks the dawn of a technological race that would span millennia.
Who invented mail armor and when did it appear?
Mail, sometimes called chainmail, is believed to have first appeared some time after 300 BC and its invention is credited to the Celts. The Romans later adopted the Celtic design, integrating the interlocking iron rings into their own military machine.
When did plate armor become cheaper than mail armor?
Plate armor became cheaper than mail by the 15th century, a shift driven by the economic devastation of the Black Death which made labor much more expensive. This demographic catastrophe forced armorers to rethink their methods, leading to the development of water-powered trip hammers that made the forming of plates faster and cheaper.
Until what decade were full suits of armor worn by generals and commanders?
Full suits of armor were actually worn by generals and princely commanders right up to the second decade of the 18th century. This was the only way they could be mounted and survey the overall battlefield with safety from distant musket fire.
When was the last major fighting in which armor was used in Japan?
In Japan, armor continued to be used until the late 19th century, with the last major fighting in which armor was used occurring in 1868. Samurai armor had one last short lived use in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion, a final stand of a warrior class that had once dominated the landscape of feudal Japan.
When was the first ironclad battleship launched by the French Navy?
The first ironclad battleship, with iron armor over a wooden hull, was launched by the French Navy in 1859. The following year they launched, which was twice the size and had iron armor over an iron hull, marking the beginning of a new era in naval warfare.
In the early years of low velocity firearms, full suits of armor, or breast plates, actually stopped bullets fired from a modest distance, creating a paradox where the invention of the gun did not immediately render armor obsolete. Crossbow bolts, if still in use, would seldom penetrate good plate, nor would any bullet unless fired from close range. 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 right up to the second decade of the 18th century, the only way they could be mounted and survey the overall battlefield with safety from distant musket fire. The horse was afforded protection from lances and infantry weapons by steel plate barding, which gave the horse protection and enhanced the visual impression of a mounted knight. It was not until the mid-16th century that one plate element after another was discarded to save weight for foot soldiers, marking the beginning of the end for the full plate harness.
The Last Knight
At the start of World War I, thousands of the French Cuirassiers rode out to engage the German Cavalry, their shiny metallic cuirass covered in dark paint and a canvas wrap to mitigate the sunlight being reflected off the surfaces. Their armor was only meant for protection against edged weapons such as bayonets, sabres, and lances, a relic of a bygone era in the face of repeating rifles, machine guns, and artillery. In Japan, armor continued to be used until the late 19th century, with the last major fighting in which armor was used occurring in 1868. Samurai armor had one last short lived use in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion, a final stand of a warrior class that had once dominated the landscape of feudal Japan. The age of the knight was over, yet armor continued to be used in many capacities, from the iron and steel vests bought by soldiers in the American Civil War to the modern ballistic vests that protect police officers and security guards today.
The Ironclad Dawn
The first ironclad battleship, with iron armor over a wooden hull, was launched by the French Navy in 1859, prompting the British Royal Navy to build a counter the following year. The following year they launched, which was twice the size and had iron armor over an iron hull, marking the beginning of a new era in naval warfare. After the first battle between two ironclads took place in 1862 during the American Civil War, it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the unarmored line-of-battle ship as the most powerful warship afloat. Ironclads were designed for several roles, including as high seas battleships, coastal defense ships, and long-range cruisers. The rapid evolution of warship design in the late 19th century transformed the ironclad from a wooden-hulled vessel which carried sails to supplement its steam engines into the steel-built, turreted battleships and cruisers familiar in the 20th century. This change was pushed forward by the development of heavier naval guns, more sophisticated steam engines, and advances in metallurgy which made steel shipbuilding possible.
The Tank and the Trench
During the First World War, the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front spurred the development of the tank, envisioned as an armored machine that could advance under fire from enemy rifles and machine guns. It used caterpillar tracks to cross ground broken up by shellfire and trenches, a revolutionary design that would change the nature of warfare forever. The first modern armored fighting vehicles were armored cars, developed as ordinary wheeled motor-cars protected by iron shields, typically mounting a machine gun. The armored personnel carrier was devised during the First World War, allowing the safe and rapid movement of infantry in a combat zone, minimizing casualties and maximizing mobility. APCs are fundamentally different from the previously used armored half-tracks in that they offer a higher level of protection from artillery burst fragments, and greater mobility in more terrain types. The basic APC design was substantially expanded to an infantry fighting vehicle when properties of an APC and a light tank were combined in one vehicle, creating a new class of warfare that would dominate the 20th century.
The Modern Shield
Today, ballistic vests, also known as flak jackets, made of ballistic cloth such as Kevlar, Dyneema, Twaron, and Spectra, and ceramic or metal plates are common among police officers, security guards, corrections officers, and some branches of the military. The US Army has adopted Interceptor body armor, which uses Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts in the chest, sides, and back of the armor, each plate rated to stop a range of ammunition including 3 hits from a 7.62×51 NATO AP round at a range of 100 meters. The British Armed Forces also have their own armor, known as Osprey, rated to the same general equivalent standard as the US counterpart, the Improved Outer Tactical Vest, and now the Soldier Plate Carrier System and Modular Tactical Vest. The Russian Armed Forces also have armor, known as the 6B43, all the way to 6B45, depending on variant, running on the GOST system, which, due to regional conditions, has resulted in a technically higher protective level overall. The evolution of armor continues, from the ancient Sumerians to the modern soldier, a testament to the enduring human desire to survive the chaos of war.