Full plate armour
Armadura de placas completa
- Date
- c. 1400 · confidence medium
- Place
- Milan, Italy
- Credited to
- Milanese armourers (the Missaglia family)
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
An articulated harness of hardened steel plates covering the whole body, deflecting arrows and blows. The culmination of medieval metallurgy and articulated engineering.
What it led to
- the armour industries of Milan and Augsburg as export manufactures
- a spur to portable firearms capable of piercing steel
- the aesthetic of late chivalry and Renaissance tournaments
Built on
- Mail armour (chainmail)c. 300 BCE
- Stirrup in Europec. 700
- Couched lance and heavy cavalry chargec. century XI
- Water-powered trip hammer (forge)c. 1100
- Windlass crossbowc. 1200
- Water-powered trip hammer (forge)
- Windlass crossbow