According to the historic accounts, Chain Mail was originally developed by the Celts. It was soon embraced by the Romans after they realized its full potential. Several materials are used in the construction of these objects primarily including brass and iron. Well, steel remains the most popular of all. An average soldier used to wear Chain Mail as the most efficient form of defense and they remained popular between the 15th-16th centuries.
The European mail was typically mass-produced through a detailed process of drawing and winding iron into several links that were compressed into a mesh-like fabric. In the 12th century, English knights employed the use of chain mail as an essential armor piece known as hauberk comprising a shirt of mid-thigh length. Over time, it was slowly and gradually transformed into something covering more of the body that commonly includes chainmail leggings, sleeves, chausses, etc.
Did Vikings Wear Chainmail?
Considering the military tactics, the Vikings always knew the significance of armor during battle especially the chain mail. Thousands of rings were used to create a basic article requiring extensive labor. Chain mail was commonly worn by the kings of Vikings and their special fighting forces. One of the renowned Kings, the King Harald Hardrada of Norway trusted his all-time favorite coat of mail that he even used to call Emma. Here are a few facts about chainmail.
- The origin of medieval chain mail date back to the 4th century.
- Interchanging columns and rows is an all-time favorite way of creating chain mail.
- The combination of English and French words “chain” and maille” respectively were used to create the term chain mail.
- The meaning of maille is the net of mesh.
While the chain mail was referred to as metallic body armor, ring mail was more of a special medieval chain mail using non-interlocking metal rings. These rings were connected in different ways featuring the common 4-to-1 pattern. The ringmail was particularly more popular in North-East Asia in medieval times.
Medieval chainmail was frequently known as chain armor. It had many other alternative names as well such as mail or ring armor. The armor was quite popular among knights, especially in the medieval era. Initially, it was used to cover the body, however, soon we could see the creation of a hood for the head. Have you heard about medieval ring armor? Well, this is primarily a foundation garment made of leather.
During this era, the blacksmiths used to create chain mails and the primary task was to connect the iron and steel rings. The finishing of these links was fused for extra robustness. Chainmail was used even after the medieval era, though the forms were dramatically modified. Looking for some unique armor? Head over to swordsswords.com.
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