Brigandine

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Brigandine

A brigandine, a form of body armour

Armour

Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat....
, is a cloth garment, generally canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain weave cloth used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other functions where sturdiness is required....
or leather

Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted

Rivet

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before it is installed it consists of a smooth cylinder shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail....
to the fabric. The form of the brigandine is essentially the same as the civilian doublet

Doublet (clothing)

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Brigandine, Italian, C1470, Royal Armoury, Leeds (internal View)

A brigandine, a form of body armour

Armour

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain weave cloth used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other functions where sturdiness is required....
or leather

Leather

Rivet

Doublet (clothing)

A doublet is a man's snug-fitting buttoned jacket that was worn in Western Europe from the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century. The term also refers to a formal jacket worn with highland dress, a variation of which is called an Argyll jacket or Prince Charlie jacket ....
, though it is commonly sleeveless. However, depictions of brigandine armour with sleeves are known. Many brigandines appear to have had larger, somewhat 'L-shaped' plates over the lungs. The rivets, or nails, attaching the plates to the fabric are often decorated, being gilt

Gilt

A gilt is any of the following:* A thin covering of gold. See gilding.* A government bond issued in the United Kingdom for HM Treasury by the UK Debt Management Office ....
or of latten

Latten

The term Latten refers loosely to copper alloys, much like brass, employed in the Middle Ages and through to the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, for items such as decorative effect on borders, rivets or other details of metalwork and for funerary effigies....
and often embossed with a design.

Brigandines were essentially a refinement of the earlier coat of plates

Coat of plates

A coat of plates is a form of torso armour consisting of metal plates sewn or riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates makes a fairly brief appearance in the history of European armour during the era of transitional armour, during a portion of the 14th century....
, which developed in the late 12th century and typically were of simpler construction and used larger plates. Brigandines first appeared towards the end of the 14th century, but survived beyond this transitional period between mail and plate, and came into wide use in the 15th century, remaining in use well into the 16th. 15th century brigandines are generally front-opening garments with the nails arranged in triangular groups of three, while 16th century brigandines generally have smaller plates with the rivets arranged in rows.

It was commonly worn over a gambeson

Gambeson

A gambeson is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with Mail or plate armour. Gambeson were produced with a sewing technique called quilting....
and mail shirt

Chainmail

Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.The word chainmail is of relatively recent coinage, having been in use only since the 1700s; prior to this it was referred to simply as mail....
and it was not long before this form of protection was commonly used by soldiers ranging in rank from archers

Archery

Archery is the art, practice or skill of shooting with Bow and arrow. Archery has historically been used in hunting and combat and has become a precision sport....
to knight

Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
s. It was most commonly used by Men-at-arms. These wore brigandine, along with plate arm and leg protection, as well as a helmet. However, even with the gambeson and the mail shirt, a wearer was not as protected as when wearing plate, which was typically more expensive. The brigandine filled this gap very well. Brigandine was simple enough in design for a soldier to make and repair his own armor without needing the high skill of an armorer

Armorer

An 'armorer' or 'armourer' can refer to two roles, traditionally it has referred to a Smith who specialized in manufacturing and repairing metal armor....
. A common myth is that brigandines were so-named because they were a popular choice of protection for bandits and outlaws. This is untrue. Originally the term "brigand" referred to a foot soldier. A brigandine was simply a type of armour worn by a foot soldier. It had nothing to do with its alleged ability to be concealed by bandits. In fact, brigandines were highly fashionable and were ostentatiously displayed by wealthy aristocrats both in European and in Asian courts.

The brigandine has been confused with the haubergeon, a similar form of body armour, as well as the brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.Originally the brigantine was a small ship carrying both oars and sails....
, a swift small sea vessel.

Brigandine

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