Plate Armour Research Articles

Simulation of Multi-Layered Ballistic-Resistant Armour with Enhanced Energy Absorption Properties

This research focuses on the simulation of ballistic impact on multi-layered ballistic resistant armour. The efficiency of spring-loaded backing plate armour was compared with armour that has solid end plate with a view to introducing a more elastic surface that enhances energy absorption properties. The design consists of three major layers of different materials: fibre cement as the first layer; Kevlar as the second; and a spring-loaded backing plate made of steel as the third layer. SolidWorks was used to model the multi-layered armour and ANSYS Workbench Explicit Dynamics and AUTODYN 3D solver were used to simulate the ballistic impact. The simulation involved testing different configurations of the multi-layered structure. Analysis of the effect of the spring wire diameter on the armour's energy-absorbing characteristics was carried out while keeping the overall weight within the acceptable range. The simulation results for the different configurations were compared and the ballistic-resistant armour designed with a spring-loaded backing plate of 0.40 mm spring wire diameter gave the least deformation. The research suggested an enhanced armour performance using embedded elastic material.

The Arms and Armour of the Bishopric of Winchester in the Thirteenth Century

This article examines the inventories of arms and armour stored at the castles of Taunton and Farnham that are recorded in the pipe rolls of the bishopric of Winchester in the thirteenth century. Relatively few inventories for this period survive, which means that these rolls provide unique insights into changes in military equipment in England. This includes providing information about the types of armaments used by footmen, crossbowmen, and knights, as well as technological developments such as the adoption of plate armour.

가야 금속상감 기법의 원류와 전개

The metal inlaying technique is a method of metal craft where a differing metal is inserted into a carved shape or text of the base metal. The application of this technique, which began in the Three-Kingdom Period with the decoration of swords, expanded to horse harnesses by the 6th century. Microscopes and X-rays were used when analysing the manufacturing method of the inlay grooves and lines, due to the inlays being about 0.3mm in width. Based on the analysis, various detailed research such as identifying the relations between the workshop and the manufacturer is being conducted. However, there are disagreements among the researchers regarding the carving method, and the location manufacturing facility for the inlaid sword. The author proposes the use of X-ray CT data as the conclusive data source to solve the above-mentioned problems. This paper analyses recently reported inlays in the Gaya region, such as the Hamyang Dohang-ri tomb No.5, the Busan Bokcheon-dong tomb No.47, and the Hamyang Baekcheon-ri tomb No.3-1. Analysis was conducted using CT data, and the manufacturing method was identified. Comparisons of the inlaid sword from the Baekje and Silla regions were also made with the results. The chasing method identified in the inlaid sword was the same as those used in the Gijang Ga-dong Tomb No. II-43 vertical plate armour, the plate armours of Busan Bokcheon-dong tomb No.56 and 69. The technique was inherent in the local workshop and has been used since the 4th century for decorating steel armours.

Of knights, cranes, hoists and winches…; the myth of how knights mounted horses

It is sometimes erroneously claimed that medieval knights, weighed down in their plate armour, could only mount horses with the aid of some mechanical device. This myth is found not only in some popular accounts of the Middle Ages but is also in the works of modern academics. It has been repeatedly claimed that it originated in the work of Mark Twain. However, even this is nothing but another myth in itself. A further re-examination of written and other sources demonstrates the idea can be traced back to earlier satirical reports of the mid-19th century. Although these are the earliest known references to an armoured figure being ‘hoisted’ so far discovered it would appear that later publications, as well as plays and films, using the idea, allowed it to blossom into an, apparently, accepted ‘historical fact’. This article attempts to trace the history and development of this myth.

БРОНЗОВЫЙ ЩИТОК ИЗ ПОГРЕБЕНИЯ СРЕДНЕВЕКОВОГО ЛУЧНИКА В КУЗНЕЦКОЙ КОТЛОВИНЕ

A number of works written by leading Siberian weapons experts are devoted to the classification of this piece of personal armour. Issues of weapons development played a significant role in the lives of the medieval people in the South of Western Siberia. One of the most frequently encountered categories of inventory in the burials of nomads includes ranged weapons: parts of bows, arrows, quivers. Yu.S. Khudyakova [1980, p. 118] and VV. Gorbunova [2006, p. 35-62]. However, bow sets are not limited to bows, arrows and quivers. There are also other parts of archery equipment known from the nomadic antiquities of the Volga region, such as archers’ rings and pavises [Rudenko, 2005, p. 27-35], items that have never been found in the South of Western Siberia until recently. During his exploration of burial ground 3 from mound 3 of Konevo, A.M. Ilyushin [2012, p. 37] found a bronze plate, which he believed belonged to plate armour. However, further study of the objects found in burial ground 3 of mound 3 of Konevo, raised doubts whether this attribution of the excavated bronze plate is justified. Acquaintance with the materials of burial 3 of mound 3 of the Konevo burial ground, raised doubts about such an attribution of the revealed bronze plate. Keywords: medieval nomads, archeology, bow, arrows, protective shield, pavise, gastagna, archer, Kuznetsk Depression

An Armour from a finery?\u2014a late medieval couter from Ogrodzieniec Castle in the Krak\xf3w-Cz\u0119stochowa Jura

The paper deals with a couter of a late fourteenth to early fifteenth century date which was found in Ogrodzieniec Castle, Zawiercie District, Poland (now in the collection of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, MG 7755). The find survived in a vestigial condition, but it was still possible to propose some typological analogies to it. Metallographic examinations demonstrated that the artefact had been manufactured from almost carbon-free iron with a high content of phosphorus. An analysis of slag inclusions in the find suggests that the couter may have been made from refined blast furnace iron. It may thus be an early example of the application of indirect process iron in the manufacture of plate armour.

Renesansowe zbroje płytowe z napierśnikiem bombiastym w dawnym księstwie pomorskim w świetle wybranych zabytków sztuki

The article discussed eleven works of art with images of the most prominent men of the Duchy of Pomerania, shown in suits of armour, which were among the most impressive types of wear of the epoch. All the images are reliefs, ten of them carved in stone (Figures 1–4, 6–11; Catalogue no. 1–4, 6–11) and one in wood (Fig. 5a–5b; Cat. no. 5). Three are foundation plaques (Fig. 1–2, 8; Cat. no. 1–2, 8), seven are tombstones (Fig. 3–4, 6–7, 9–11; Cat. no. 3–4, 6–7, 9–11) and one is an epitaph (Fig. 5a–5b; Cat. no. 5). Three show dukes of Pomerania (Fig. 1–2, 5a–5b; Cat. no. 1–2, 5) and eight — Pomeranian nobles (Fig. 3–4, 6–11; Cat. no. 3–4, 6–11). Eight have survived until today (Fig. 1–3, 7–11; Cat. no. 1–3, 7–11), while the remaining three are known from archival photographs (Fig. 4–6; Cat. no. 4–6). All were intended for places treated as family memorials, such as residences or churches. Of the surviving reliefs five remain in their original locations (Fig. 3, 8–11; Cat. no. 3, 8–11) and three have been transferred (Fig. 1–2, 7; Cat. no. 1–2, 7). The images discussed in this article provide a starting point for research on plate armour in Pomerania in the early decades of the 16th century. All the figures are shown in plate armour with a deep–bellied breastplate, some of them in the most characteristic richly decorated Maximilian suits of armour, which reflected the men’s fashion of the time. Maximilian armour is depicted in four of the cases analysed (Cat. no. 1–3, 6). Another type of armour used at the time had similarly harmonious proportions but was plain (Cat. no. 4, 7–11). The first one of these has a tucked skirt. One of the reliefs shows a costume suit of armour (Cat. no. 5). The analysed iconographic sources bring valuable data on historical armour. The plate armour in the epitaph of Duke Boguslaw X is represented in such detail that it was possible to compare it with a costume suit of armour preserved in Deutsche Historisches Museum in Berlin (inventory no. W 2327) and to conclude that the latter is the armour that used to belong to the Pomeranian Duke and was brought to Berlin in 1731 by King Frederic William I of Prussia.

Non-parallel divergence across freshwater and marine three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus populations.

This work investigated whether multiple freshwater populations of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus in different freshwater catchments in the Jutland Peninsula, Denmark, derived from the same marine populations show repeated adaptive responses. A total of 327 G. aculeatus collected at 13 sampling locations were screened for genetic variation using a combination of 70 genes putatively under selection and 26 neutral genes along with a marker linked to the ectodysplasin gene (eda), which is strongly correlated with plate armour morphs in the species. A highly significant genetic differentiation was found that was higher among different freshwater samples than between marine-freshwater samples. Tests for selection between marine and freshwater populations showed a very low degree of parallelism and no single nucleotide polymorphism was detected as outlier in all freshwater-marine pairwise comparisons, including the eda. This suggests that G. aculeatus is not necessarily the prime example of parallel local adaptation suggested in much of the literature and that important exceptions exist (i.e. the Jutland Peninsula). While marine populations in the results described here showed a high phenotype-genotype correlation at eda, a low association was found for most of the freshwater populations. The most extreme case was found in the freshwater Lake Hald where all low-plated phenotypes were either homozygotes for the allele supposed to be associated with completely plated morphs or heterozygotes, but none were homozygotes for the putative low-plated allele. Re-examination of data from seven G. aculeatus studies agrees in showing a high but partial association between phenotype-genotype at eda in G. aculeatus freshwater populations and that mismatches occur everywhere in the European regions studied (higher in some areas, i.e. Denmark). This is independent of the eda marker used.

The Introduction and Development of Plate Armour in Medieval Western Europe c. 1250-1350

European underwent a period of rapid development and experimentation in the century after c. 1250. Whilst very little physical material has survived from this time, artistic depictions, wills, inventories and contemporary accounts attest to the use of metal plate defences much earlier than has commonly been assumed. By the turn of the 14th century, all the major elements of plate armour had been developed; with the subsequent half century seeing an increase in the quantity of plate worn on the battlefield. However, the development of plate armour was extremely erratic, and did not follow a simple linear progression. The stimuli for its development is still not fully understood. However, improvements to crossbow technology may have had a significant impact.

Shape- Optimized Bubbled- Armour Forms for High Resistance to Ballistic Penetration

In this study, bubbled- armour forms are assessed for ballistic penetration resistance. A key component is optimization of the bubble shape to maximize its fundamental modal frequency. A ‘large- plastic- regime’ automotive steel alloy is adopted for the bubble and the penetration process simulated by LS- DYNA for a ‘rigid’ projectile. Three forms: - a flat-, spherical and the shape- optimized one, of identical planform dimensions and mass, are studied for their penetration resistance characteristics under a common impact speed. The optimum form is found to be the most superior, causing a momentum loss of as much as 140%, implying a total reversal of the projectile, post- impact. This is more than the 111% for the spherical form and far above the 30% for the flat form. Modal response also correlates well with impact- induced bubble- response acceleration in wavelet decomposition. We conclude that with the fundamental modal frequency maximized, shape- optimized bubbled- armour forms can have much higher penetration resistance than a traditional plate armour's.

Ringbrynje fra Aarhus

Ring mail from AarhusDuring the almost two millennia which elapsed from the introduction of ring mail into Europe via the Roman army in the 3rd century BC until body armour went out of general use in the course of the 17th century, ring mail has played a surprisingly major role, despite the weakness of its presence in the archaeological record. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century AD, ring mail became the dominant form of armour for almost a millennium. The most commonly occurring piece, the hauberk (fig. 1), appeared with a range of variations from the Roman Empire until long after the general use of armour ceased. The introduction of plate armour in the 14th century led to flexible ring mail developing from general to more specialised use: to protect the parts of the body and joints which non-flexible iron plates were unable to cover and as a supplement to cheap types of armour such as the brigandine (fig. 2). When armour technology had, in general, reached the limit of its usefulness in the 17th century, and in step with a decline in the art of making ring mail apparent through the centuries, this form of armour largely went out of use in Europe. In the Middle East and in Africa it acquired a more ceremonial role, as a status symbol for powerful chieftains, and with no real link to its origin as body armour.Even though the construction of ring mail is easy to explain – four rings are joined together with a fifth and these quintets are then linked together with further rings (fig. 3) – the practical execution of the technique is rather more difficult as, when the rings are correctly assembled, ring mail is only flexible in one direction (fig. 4). As the rings themselves can be made in several different ways – from wire hammered out from ingots or as cut strips of sheet iron or perhaps drawn through a swage or stamped out whole from sheet iron – and they can be assembled in various ways – either riveted, forge-welded or just butted together – this gives many possible permutations for the construction of ring mail. These factors make a useful contribution when determining the type and date of archaeological finds of ring mail.There are five archaeological records of ring mail from Aarhus. The major excavation in Bispetorv yielded two small pieces (fig. 5). These are dated stratigraphically to the 10th century, but they are too small for their original function to be ascertained. The example from 21 Graven (fig. 6) is a long, narrow piece which was probably used to cover an armpit or similar in association with plate armour, but it is not possible to give this a more precise date than the High or Late Middle Ages. Other finds from Aarhus include a brigandine sleeve (fig. 7), dated to the end of the 16th century on the basis of its appearance and construction. The example from 27 Volden (fig. 8) is a well-made ring mail collar, dated to the second half of the 16th century on the basis of European parallels and the quality of its craftsmanship.Ring mail has not, however, completely disappeared. It has enjoyed a veritable renaissance in recent times with butchers, zoo keepers and marine biologists who dive with sharks and other piscine predators. Ring mail’s flexibility and toughness has saved many limbs from bites and cuts in modern times, just as it shielded many limbs from ugly wounds in the past.Lea Hillebrenner PindMoesgård Museum

Armourers’ Tools in England

Little literature on the specialist tools of armourers exists, and the principal account is now over a century old. This paper introduces a new, unpublished account of the equipment of the English royal armour workshop in the fourteenth century which provides detailed information about the craft of the armourer in the early phase of plate armour, and illustrates the continuity in the craft in the succeeding centuries.

Armour in England, 1325–99

A dramatic change in the personal armour of the knightly classes occurred across the whole of Europe in the middle of the fourteenth century: the addition of plate armour on top of the mail defences that had been worn since the time of the Roman empire. This change is documented in England by the series of monumental effigies and brasses, as well as a very few surviving examples. The story is supplemented by documentary records, especially those of the armoury at the Tower of London, which shed new light on the equipment of the English armies of the first half of the Hundred Years War.

Limitations imposed by wearing armour on Medieval soldiers' locomotor performance

In Medieval Europe, soldiers wore steel plate armour for protection during warfare. Armour design reflected a trade-off between protection and mobility it offered the wearer. By the fifteenth century, a typical suit of field armour weighed between 30 and 50 kg and was distributed over the entire body. How much wearing armour affected Medieval soldiers' locomotor energetics and biomechanics is unknown. We investigated the mechanics and the energetic cost of locomotion in armour, and determined the effects on physical performance. We found that the net cost of locomotion (C(met)) during armoured walking and running is much more energetically expensive than unloaded locomotion. C(met) for locomotion in armour was 2.1-2.3 times higher for walking, and 1.9 times higher for running when compared with C(met) for unloaded locomotion at the same speed. An important component of the increased energy use results from the extra force that must be generated to support the additional mass. However, the energetic cost of locomotion in armour was also much higher than equivalent trunk loading. This additional cost is mostly explained by the increased energy required to swing the limbs and impaired breathing. Our findings can predict age-associated decline in Medieval soldiers' physical performance, and have potential implications in understanding the outcomes of past European military battles.

Militaire organisatie, bewapening en wapenbezit in het laatmiddeleeuwse Brugge

Peter Stabel, Military Organisation, Armament and Possession of Weapons in Late Medieval Bruges The military organisation of the late medieval cities in the county of Flanders demonstrates how military power was still considered as crucial for their political position. The Bruges city militia was a flexible military instrument because of the coexistence of a guild organised militia, a permanent paramilitary force and, in times of conflict, of an efficient framework of a small group of professionals and specialised units. The readiness of the militia was, moreover, stimulated by the logistics of armament. This was based on a twofold system, as the corporative organisation and the notion of burgher solidarity included a well-established sense of military duty. In this system, burghers were responsible for their own arms (sword, battle axe, etc.) and armour (gauntlets, helmet, mail, plate armour). The typology and quality of this armament depended upon status and financial capability. For the crucial battlefield weapons, it was not the individual, but the city that was responsible (artillery, bows, pikes, shields, etc.). The cities maintained an impressive arsenal of the latter. The combination of potential rapid mobilisation, a flexible relationship between large units of infantry and specialized professional soldiers, as well as between personal and collective armament made the urban militia into a formidable fighting force, which was still able to occasionally counter the rising princely military power.

Thorkild Dahls daggerter

Thorkild Dahls daggerter

Una cuestión a debate: la <i>lorica segmentata</i> en las fronteras orientales del imperio romano

This paper, after a deep revision of the evidences and available sources, proposes a series of arguments that show the inadequacy of Roman plate armour, better known as lorica segmentata , to the theaters of operations of the oriental border of the Empire. To these arguments it can be added the almost total absence (with a single exception) of segmentata finds in these provinces of the Roman East. Although it is not a decisive argument, these absences suppose an important drawback to those theories that defend a massive employment of this armour type along the whole Empire.

Further research into the construction of mail garments

In a previous article the writer described the technique used by the armourers of the past to make mail. Very little is known about the craftsmen who made it. It is not yet possible to date pieces of mail with the same degree of accuracy with which pieces of plate armour can be dated. There are several reasons for this lack of knowledge. In the first place mail is a structure which does not lend itself to the use of armourer's marks, and though pieces are marked in one way and another, experts are so far unable to trace them to their sources. Secondly, a mail garment is not necessarily restricted to one known wearer, but because of its stretching and contracting qualities will fit almost anyone reasonably well. Thirdly, at the time when mail-making was at its height the armourer's craft had not developed to the same extent and had not yet acquired the social and decorative importance which it was to have in later years. Thus the mail-maker was more obscure and his work had no characteristic sculptural quality by which it could be recognized. On the other hand, in the early days of armour, mail garments were few and very valuable with the result that they frequently changed hands, the stretching quality permitting their use by different owners. Lastly, mail suffers from rust because it exposes a vast surface of metal to the air. When it is worn the constant friction between one ring and another wears it out comparatively quickly even if it is never permitted to get rusted. For this reason the rings in mail shirts are often thinner round the hips than on shoulders, chest, or back. Most of the early mail has been destroyed by wear and time and only fragments remain. It is not possible to say with certainty to what type of garment these fragments once belonged.

V.—Notes on the Evolution of Plate Armour in Germany in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century

In two previous contributions I have tried to trace the development of plate armour in Italy and Spain, and in the following pages it is my intention to attempt to do the same for Germany. Under this name are included for the present purpose all the Teutonic countries within the Holy Roman Empire and Scandinavia. These notes, like their predecessors, are designed to supplement the first volume of Sir Guy Laking's Record, in which he passed lightly over the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in order to devote himself to the later periods from which the bulk of existing armour has descended.

XVII.—On Italian Armour from Chalcis in the Ethnological Museum at Athens

For some years past a collection of helmets and portions of plate armour has been exhibited in the Ethnological Museum at Athens which, in spite of the exceptional interest which attaches to it, has up to the present time escaped the serious consideration of writers on the subject of the defensive armour of the Middle Ages. It is especially interesting because, from the time of the discovery of the collection to the present day, there has not been any attempt to restore or alter the condition in which the pieces were found, and when we consider the frequent mistakes made formerly, in other armouries, in this direction, this alone should recommend it to the study of those interested in mediaeval equipment.