Hauberk
From Free net encyclopedia
A hauberk is a shirt of maille armour. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergon generally refers to a shorter variant with partial sleeves, but the terms are often used interchangeably.[1] Slits to accommodate horseback-riding are often incorporated below the waist. Most are put on over the head. Maille is a flexible cloth made of interlocking metal rings. Hauberk can also refer to a similar garment of scale armour.
History
The word hauberk is derived from an old German word Halsberge, which simply means coat of mail. A simple version of the hauberk, of scale construction, consisted of a padded cloth jacket covered in cow horn, bronze or copper scales or other hard, flat material. Later, the shirts began to be constructed of interlinked metal rings, and were used in Europe as early as the 8th century in this form. This design developed into what is ordinarily known as a hauberk near the beginning of the Middle Ages, as chainmail technology became more and more elaborate.
There are mentions of encounters with armor similar to the scale hauberk in Celtic graves in the 3rd century BC. The roman writer Varro also mentions it and attributed the invention to the Celts. Roman armies adopted similar technology after encountering it while invading Gaul. The Bayeux Tapestry, a long embroidered cloth which depicts scenes commemorating the Battle of Hastings (ca. 1080) illustrates Norman soldiers wearing a knee length version of the hauberk with three-quarter length sleeves split from hem to crotch to make riding possible. A hauberk dating from the 12th century stored in the Prague Cathedral is one of the earliest surviving examples in and was supposedly owned by Saint Wenceslaus. Use of chainmail hauberks continued up until the 14th century, when plate armor began to supplant it, and maille armour started to be recycled into other metal objects or used for scouring pads.
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