Parts of a Suit of Armor
Nor have I seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken, he is truly noble. This is no mere hanger-on in a hero's armour. -From Beowulf (244-251)
We've all seen a suit of armor before, whether it be real or fictitious, in person or somewhere in the media. The tarnished metal and grit or the silver shine certainly offer a lot to look at, no one can deny that a suit of armor isn't a cool sight to see, but what goes into one? What would a knight or man-at-arms wear, and what's each part called? Well, there's a lot that goes into a complete suit of armor, its not just the plated bits, and there's even a lot to those alone! Below I've got a wonderful chart from the Wallace Collection over in London that points out each part of armor and what it's called. I've also used reference from the armor exhibits within the collection with some of the definitions. On the picture, each part is labeled, and you'll find definitions for each part including parts you don't see from the outside below the image!
Helmet
This part is rather obvious, it's the helmet, or helm. This piece protected the head, it's designed with curved sides and edges to deflect blows, relying on the hard material of the helm to stop a direct blow. Helms actually weighed a bit more than your usual chunk of armor, many weighing in at around 8 pounds on average! Such a hefty weight would make sense, as the head is quite vital, typically one of those things you want to keep attached. This particular model is a Sallet, which only covers the top of the head down to the chin, requiting a second part know as a Bevor.
Bevor
The bevor is designed to cover the lower part of the head and face, which in the case of many sallets, the helm itself did not. The term bevor is actually derived from the French verb baaver, which meant to dribble, slobber, drool, etc. Confused? Understandable! When wearing a bevor, the user breathing or sweating would condense various types of liquids in the chin piece, it being so close to the face. This would leak out from the bottom of the bevor where it connected to the chest armor, leaving a stream of mysterious watery fluids down the breastplate. So, to put it bluntly, the man-at-arms looked as if he was drooling all over himself!
Gorget
Also known simply as a collar, a gorget is a type of neck armor. The gorget, not unlike the bevor, is worn independently from the helm, and is a more effective method protecting the neck then a simple leather or chain mail coif, as it's actually plate armor, and it's certainly not as comfortable. The gorget covers only the neck, potentially down to the collarbones, while the bevor can cover the same as well as much as the nose.
Pauldron (and Spaulders)
A pauldron, not to be confused with a spaulder though baring striking similarities, is a type of heavy shoulder armor, the lighter, smaller variant being a spaulder. The pauldron typically covered significanly more space, it covered not just the shoulder, but much of the arm, chest, back, and it extended farther over the shoulder and towards the neck, as displayed in the picture. Whereas the spaulders were much smaller, covering only most of the shoulders and bits of the upper arm.
Upper Cannon / Rerebrace
Sometimes considered part of the vambrace, (see vambrace section) the rerebrace or upper cannon is a type of armor that covers the lower part of the upper arm, extending from between the elbow to the shoulder, lengths and forms varying.
Breastplate
The breastplate (sometimes referred to as the chestplate or chestpiece) is the piece of armor covering the chest. Sizes can vary, breastplates can be as small as to only covering the pectorals to as large as the entire chest and abdominal area. Some breastplates attached to backplates and plackarts (see respective sections) for added protection. This was a very important and common piece of armor, as it protects many of one vitals. If you were wearing any armor, chances are you had some kind of breastplate!
Backplate
The backplate is a type of armor that covers the back (never would've guess that, would ya?) There isn't a backplate in the chart, and it's really a rather trivial item to dedicate a section to, but its worth noting because the breastplate technically doesn't include a backplate, it's its own separate part. The two pieces were connected with what's known as a cuirass!
Plackart
The plackart, known also as a placard, is the lower portion of the breastplate. Though not every breastplate had a plackart, most plackarts were attached to breastplates or some sort of upper body armor. This separation of plates allowed for better flexibility, making a large joint for the upper body to bend at. It also offered more protection than breast and backplates alone, covering the lower core effectively.
Cowter
The cowter is a piece of armor that covers the entirety of the elbow and respective joint. It's sometimes a separate piece to the vambrace and rerebrace, sometimes its build into either, and in some cases it's barely there at all!
Fauld
The fault is a part of waist, hip and abdomen armor. It's made up of horizontal lames attached to the curiass (See backplate), the front of the armor being the fauld, while the back is known as the cutlass. The size and shape of this armor can vary from being tapered to the waist to flaring out for ease of use on horseback.
Lower Cannon / Vambrace
The vambrace can really mean two things: vambrace as in forearm armor (also refered to as the lower cannon, or vambrace as in an arm guard (from shoulder to wrist, excluding gauntlets and pauldrons / spaulders) in its entirety. The latter would encompass both the upper and lower cannons to make a complete vambrace, along with the cowter.
Tasset
The tasset(s) is armor for the upper legs / thighs, starting below the fauld/cutlass and ending at the where the cuisse (see respective section) begins. In the later years of armor making towards the end of the 16th century, the concept of tassets of the longer variant had evolved to the point of replacing cuisses, covering the entirety of the leg.
Gauntlets
The gauntlet, meaning "glove" in Old French, is an plate-armored glove for the hand and wrist. Most forms of gauntlets cover the entirety of the hand and wrist, fingers included, but a variant of the gauntlet known as the demigauntlet covers only the wrist and back of the hand, leaving the fingers exposed (or covered by something to the effect of a leather or chain mail glove, depending on the user.) The necessity of articulated finger plates not only depended on the user, but the type of sword he or she uses. For example, it'd be advantageous for someone using something to the effect of a bastard sword (a larger one handed sword designed to also be used with two hands, its hilt in the shape of a "T") to wear full, fingered gauntlets for better protection, as the simple hilt of the sword could allow an opponent's blade to damage one's fingers. However, if the a swordsman or swordswoman in question is wielding a baskethilt sword (a blade with a more detailed hilt, surrounding the hand in a circular, metal basket), a demigauntlet wouldn't be a bad choice, as the hilt of the sword is effective enough to protect the entire hand.
Cuisse
Not to be confused with the tasset, the cuisse is leg armor for the thigh, beginning where the tasset ends and reaching down above the knee. Eventually replaced by more elaborate tassets, this plate armor varied in how much it covered, some cuisse covered the back of the legs while some did not.
Poleyn
This very basic piece of armor simply covers the knee itself, and sits in between the cuisse and greave.
Greaves
Greaves are commonly confused with sabatons or the combination of the two to make armored boots. Greaves actually only the cover this lower leg, not the feet. The level of protections a set of greaves offers can vary, covering the full lower leg, front and back, or simply the front of the shins.
Sabatons
Sabatons are armored foot gear that cover and protect the foot. Not to be confused with greaves, sabatons cover just the foot, almost like an armored shoe, and are usually made in layers, so that the sabaton itself can flex and bend along with the foot.
Mail
Mail is a classic and immensely effective type of armor made from a plethora of small, interlocked, metal rings of varying material and durability. Mail existed and was heavily used even before plate armor, and comes in all shapes and sizes. It was used all throughout Europe and beyond until late until the 17th century, both on its own and under plate armor and various gear, and its still used today in various recreational activities such as scuba diving in hostile environments. Some examples of chain mail gear range from coifs or hoods, aventails that cover the neck and shoulders, and long chain mail coats called hauberks.
This part is rather obvious, it's the helmet, or helm. This piece protected the head, it's designed with curved sides and edges to deflect blows, relying on the hard material of the helm to stop a direct blow. Helms actually weighed a bit more than your usual chunk of armor, many weighing in at around 8 pounds on average! Such a hefty weight would make sense, as the head is quite vital, typically one of those things you want to keep attached. This particular model is a Sallet, which only covers the top of the head down to the chin, requiting a second part know as a Bevor.
Bevor
The bevor is designed to cover the lower part of the head and face, which in the case of many sallets, the helm itself did not. The term bevor is actually derived from the French verb baaver, which meant to dribble, slobber, drool, etc. Confused? Understandable! When wearing a bevor, the user breathing or sweating would condense various types of liquids in the chin piece, it being so close to the face. This would leak out from the bottom of the bevor where it connected to the chest armor, leaving a stream of mysterious watery fluids down the breastplate. So, to put it bluntly, the man-at-arms looked as if he was drooling all over himself!
Gorget
Also known simply as a collar, a gorget is a type of neck armor. The gorget, not unlike the bevor, is worn independently from the helm, and is a more effective method protecting the neck then a simple leather or chain mail coif, as it's actually plate armor, and it's certainly not as comfortable. The gorget covers only the neck, potentially down to the collarbones, while the bevor can cover the same as well as much as the nose.
Pauldron (and Spaulders)
A pauldron, not to be confused with a spaulder though baring striking similarities, is a type of heavy shoulder armor, the lighter, smaller variant being a spaulder. The pauldron typically covered significanly more space, it covered not just the shoulder, but much of the arm, chest, back, and it extended farther over the shoulder and towards the neck, as displayed in the picture. Whereas the spaulders were much smaller, covering only most of the shoulders and bits of the upper arm.
Upper Cannon / Rerebrace
Sometimes considered part of the vambrace, (see vambrace section) the rerebrace or upper cannon is a type of armor that covers the lower part of the upper arm, extending from between the elbow to the shoulder, lengths and forms varying.
Breastplate
The breastplate (sometimes referred to as the chestplate or chestpiece) is the piece of armor covering the chest. Sizes can vary, breastplates can be as small as to only covering the pectorals to as large as the entire chest and abdominal area. Some breastplates attached to backplates and plackarts (see respective sections) for added protection. This was a very important and common piece of armor, as it protects many of one vitals. If you were wearing any armor, chances are you had some kind of breastplate!
Backplate
The backplate is a type of armor that covers the back (never would've guess that, would ya?) There isn't a backplate in the chart, and it's really a rather trivial item to dedicate a section to, but its worth noting because the breastplate technically doesn't include a backplate, it's its own separate part. The two pieces were connected with what's known as a cuirass!
Plackart
The plackart, known also as a placard, is the lower portion of the breastplate. Though not every breastplate had a plackart, most plackarts were attached to breastplates or some sort of upper body armor. This separation of plates allowed for better flexibility, making a large joint for the upper body to bend at. It also offered more protection than breast and backplates alone, covering the lower core effectively.
Cowter
The cowter is a piece of armor that covers the entirety of the elbow and respective joint. It's sometimes a separate piece to the vambrace and rerebrace, sometimes its build into either, and in some cases it's barely there at all!
Fauld
The fault is a part of waist, hip and abdomen armor. It's made up of horizontal lames attached to the curiass (See backplate), the front of the armor being the fauld, while the back is known as the cutlass. The size and shape of this armor can vary from being tapered to the waist to flaring out for ease of use on horseback.
Lower Cannon / Vambrace
The vambrace can really mean two things: vambrace as in forearm armor (also refered to as the lower cannon, or vambrace as in an arm guard (from shoulder to wrist, excluding gauntlets and pauldrons / spaulders) in its entirety. The latter would encompass both the upper and lower cannons to make a complete vambrace, along with the cowter.
Tasset
The tasset(s) is armor for the upper legs / thighs, starting below the fauld/cutlass and ending at the where the cuisse (see respective section) begins. In the later years of armor making towards the end of the 16th century, the concept of tassets of the longer variant had evolved to the point of replacing cuisses, covering the entirety of the leg.
Gauntlets
The gauntlet, meaning "glove" in Old French, is an plate-armored glove for the hand and wrist. Most forms of gauntlets cover the entirety of the hand and wrist, fingers included, but a variant of the gauntlet known as the demigauntlet covers only the wrist and back of the hand, leaving the fingers exposed (or covered by something to the effect of a leather or chain mail glove, depending on the user.) The necessity of articulated finger plates not only depended on the user, but the type of sword he or she uses. For example, it'd be advantageous for someone using something to the effect of a bastard sword (a larger one handed sword designed to also be used with two hands, its hilt in the shape of a "T") to wear full, fingered gauntlets for better protection, as the simple hilt of the sword could allow an opponent's blade to damage one's fingers. However, if the a swordsman or swordswoman in question is wielding a baskethilt sword (a blade with a more detailed hilt, surrounding the hand in a circular, metal basket), a demigauntlet wouldn't be a bad choice, as the hilt of the sword is effective enough to protect the entire hand.
Cuisse
Not to be confused with the tasset, the cuisse is leg armor for the thigh, beginning where the tasset ends and reaching down above the knee. Eventually replaced by more elaborate tassets, this plate armor varied in how much it covered, some cuisse covered the back of the legs while some did not.
Poleyn
This very basic piece of armor simply covers the knee itself, and sits in between the cuisse and greave.
Greaves
Greaves are commonly confused with sabatons or the combination of the two to make armored boots. Greaves actually only the cover this lower leg, not the feet. The level of protections a set of greaves offers can vary, covering the full lower leg, front and back, or simply the front of the shins.
Sabatons
Sabatons are armored foot gear that cover and protect the foot. Not to be confused with greaves, sabatons cover just the foot, almost like an armored shoe, and are usually made in layers, so that the sabaton itself can flex and bend along with the foot.
Mail is a classic and immensely effective type of armor made from a plethora of small, interlocked, metal rings of varying material and durability. Mail existed and was heavily used even before plate armor, and comes in all shapes and sizes. It was used all throughout Europe and beyond until late until the 17th century, both on its own and under plate armor and various gear, and its still used today in various recreational activities such as scuba diving in hostile environments. Some examples of chain mail gear range from coifs or hoods, aventails that cover the neck and shoulders, and long chain mail coats called hauberks.