Mail (also
maille, often given as
chain mail or
chain maille or
chainmaille) is a type of
armourArmour 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...
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.
The word itself refers to the armour material, not the garment made from it. A shirt made from mail is a
hauberkA hauberk is a shirt of mail armour. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon generally refers to a shorter variant with partial sleeves, but the terms are often used interchangeably. Slits to accommodate horseback-riding are...
if knee-length,
haubergeon if mid-thigh length, and
byrnie if waist-length. Mail leggings are called
chaussesChausses are armour for the legs, usually made from mail. They could extend to the knee or cover the entire leg. Chausses were the standard type of metal leg armour during most of the European Middle Ages. Chausses offered flexible protection that was effective against slashing weapons...
, mail hoods
coifA coif is a close fitting cap that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.Coifs were worn by all classes in England and Scotland from the Middle Ages to the early seventeenth century .Tudor and earlier coifs are usually made of unadorned white linen and tie under the chin...
and mail mittens
mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is
camail or
aventailAn aventail or camail is a flexible curtain of chainmail on a helmet, that extends to cover the neck and shoulders. The mail could be attached to the helm by threading a leather cord through brass rings at the edge of the helm. Aventails were most commonly seen on bascinets in the 14th century and...
. A mail collar worn strapped around the neck was called a
pixane or
standard.
Mail is now often used for decorative use and in jewellery.
History
The earliest finds of mail are from a 4th century BC (Rusu, M., “Das Keltische Fürstengrab von Ciumeşti in Rumänien”, Germania 50, 1969, pp.267-269)
CeltCelts is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language...
ic chieftain's burial located in Ciumeşti, Romania. It is believed that the
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
first came into contact with mail fighting the Gauls in
Cisalpine GaulCisalpine Gaul was the Roman name for a geographical area , in the territory of modern-day northern Italy , inhabited by the Celts.Sometimes referred to...
, now
Northern ItalyNorthern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative worth, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian nation...
. The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the
lorica hamataThe lorica hamata is a type of mail armour used by the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. During the 1st century it was starting to be supplemented by lorica segmentata, but had been reintroduced as sole standard-issue armor by the 4th century. It was issued for both primary Legionary and...
which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period.
The use of mail was prominent throughout the
Dark AgesThe Dark Ages is a term in historiography referring to a perceived period of cultural decline or societal collapse that took place in Western Europe between the fall of Rome and the eventual recovery of learning. Increased understanding of the accomplishments of the Middle Ages in the 19th century...
,
High Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
and
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
, and reached its apex in Europe, in terms of coverage, during the 13th century, when mail covered the whole body.
In the 8th century, the Arabic alchemist
Jabir ibn HayyanGeber is the Latinized form of "Jabir", with the full name of Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān al azdi , a prominent polymath: a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, geologist, philosopher, physicist, and pharmacist and physician...
(Geber) provided the earliest description of
plated mailPlated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors. A Japanese version of this armour is known as Tatami Dô.In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
, for use in
armourArmour 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...
s (
jawasin),
helmetA helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries, a variation of the hat. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from sword blows and arrows...
s (
bid) and
shieldA shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or by glancing a blow to the side of the shield-user. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large shilds that protect the user's entire body to small shields that are mostly for use in...
s (
daraq), in his book
Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna (
The Book of the Hidden Pearl). The earliest plated mail known to be used in combat were the cuisses, which first appeared in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and were then imported by the
Golden HordeThe Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus...
.
By the 14th century,
plate armourPlate armour or plate armor is personal armour made from large metal plates, worn on the chest and sometimes the entire body.- History :...
was commonly used to supplement mail. Eventually mail was supplanted by plate for the most part. However, mail was still widely used by many soldiers as well as
brigandineA brigandine, a form of body armour, is a cloth garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric....
s and padded jacks. These three types of armour made up the bulk of the equipment used by soldiers with mail being the most expensive. It was quite often more expensive than plate armour. A mail shirt interwoven between two layers of fabric is called
jazzeraint, and can be worn as protective clothing.
Extant mail is common, but it is not proportionately represented in museum collections.
The Japanese used mail (
kusari) in a limited fashion in armour beginning during the Nambokucho period (1336-1392). Two primary weave methods were used: a square 4-in-1 pattern (so gusari) and a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana gusari). Kusari was typically made with rings that were much smaller than their European counterparts, and on a much smaller scale - rather than creating full garments of mail, small sections were used to link together plates and to drape over vulnerable areas such as the underarm. The rings were not welded nor riveted shut, though some pieces were constructed of rings that consisted of two or more turns, similar to the modern split ring commonly used on keychains. The rings were lacquered to prevent rusting, and was always stitched onto a backing of cloth or leather. The kusari was sometimes concealed entirely between layers of cloth or leather.
Chain mail is also mentioned in the Quran as knowledge of which was given by God to King David.
Effectiveness
Mail armour provided an effective defence against slashing blows by an
edged weaponA blade is the flat part of a tool, weapon, or machine that normally has a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a flaking stone, such as flint, or metal, most recently steel...
and penetration by thrusting and piercing weapons; in fact The
Royal ArmouryThe Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising of the UK's National Collection of Arms and...
at Leeds concluded that,
"...it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon..." A good sword blow, arriving in exactly perpendicular angle to surface,
could cut through the links; when the mail was not riveted a well placed thrust from a spear or thin sword could penetrate, and a poleaxe or
halberdA halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte . The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft...
blow could break through the armour, but generally mail provided excellent protection to the soldier. According to a study of skeletons found in
VisbyVisby is a locality and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County, Sweden with 22,236 inhabitants in 2005. It is the only one with city status on the island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
, Sweden, a majority of the skeletons showed wounds on less well protected legs.
The flexibility of mail meant that a blow would often injure the wearer, potentially causing serious bruising or fractures, and it was a poor defence against head trauma. Mail-clad warriors typically wore separate rigid,
helmalign="right"| |-|align=right| |}Helm may refer to:* a ship's steering mechanism; see tiller and steering wheel. Derived meanings:** The verb meaning to steer, as in "to helm a yacht".** A gender-neutral term for helmsman...
s over their mail coifs for head protection. Likewise, blunt weapons such as
maceA mace is a simple weapon or ceremonial club or virge that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows. A development of the club, a mace differs from a hammer in that the head of a mace is radially symmetric so that a blow can be delivered equally effectively with any side...
s and
warhammerWarhammer can refer to:*War hammer, a weapon.*One of two wargaming franchises by Games Workshop.**Warhammer Fantasy , world where Warhammer fantasy is set.***Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a fantasy wargame....
s could harm the wearer by their impact without penetrating the armour; usually a soft armour, such as
gambesonA 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. Usually constructed of linen or wool, the stuffing varied, and could be for example scrap cloth or horse hair...
, was worn under the hauberk.
Etymology
The word
chainmail is a
pleonasmPleonasm is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, tuna fish, or burning fire. Such redundancy is, by traditional rhetorical criteria, a manifestation of tautology...
and a
neologismA neologism ; from Greek νές is a newly coined word that may be in the process of entering common use, but has not yet been accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event...
: in the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
and
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
, "mail", "mayle" or
chain was the
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
name for it, while
maille was the common
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
name for it. This—and the alternative spellings "maile" and "maille"—derive through the
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
maglia, from the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
macula, meaning "mesh of a net". Spanish corresponding word is
malla and Portuguese
malha. Cymric term
lluric refers to Latin
lorica.
Many modern American armourers prefer the French spelling "Maille" in order to avoid confusion with the term
chain letterA typical chain letter consists of a message that attempts to induce the recipient to make a number of copies of the letter and then pass them on to as many recipients as possible...
for "chainmail" or postal delivery for "mail".
Manufacture
Several patterns of linking the rings together have been known since ancient times, with the most common being the 4-to-1 pattern (where each ring is linked with four others). In
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, the 4-to-1 pattern was completely dominant. Mail was also common in
East AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang,...
, primarily
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, with several more patterns being utilised and an entire nomenclature developing around them.
Historically, in Europe, from the pre-Roman period on, the rings composing a piece of mail would be
rivetA rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before it is installed it consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole. Then the tail is "upset" A rivet is a...
ed closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to a thrusting attack or a hit by an arrow.
Up until the 14th century European mail was made of alternating rows of both riveted rings and solid rings. After that it was almost all made from riveted rings only. Both would have been made using
wrought ironthumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content, in comparison to steel, and has fibrous inclusions, known as slag. This is what gives it a "grain" resembling wood, which is visible when it is etched...
. Some later pieces were made of wrought steel with an appreciable carbon content that allowed the piece to be heat treated. Wire for the riveted rings was formed by either of two methods. One was to hammer out wrought iron into plates and cut or slit the plates. These thin pieces were then pulled through a draw-plate repeatedly until the desired diameter was achieved. Waterwheel powered drawing mills are pictured in several period manuscripts. Another method was to simply forge down an iron billet into a rod and then proceed to draw it out into wire. The solid links would have been made by punching from a sheet. Forge welding was also used to create solid links, but the only known example from Europe is that of the 7th century Coppergate mail drape. Outside of Europe this practice was more common such as the well known "theta" links from India.
Practical uses
Mail is used as protective clothing for butchers against meat-packing equipment. Workers may wear up to 8 lb (4 kg) of mail under their white coats. Butchers also commonly wear a single mail glove to protect themselves from self-inflicted injury while cutting meat.
Woodcarvers sometimes use similar mail gloves to protect their hands from cuts and punctures.
Scuba divers use mail (against shark teeth) as do animal control officers (against animal teeth). Shark expert and underwater filmmaker
Valerie TaylorRon Taylor and Valerie Taylor are prominent Australian shark and underwater experts. Their expertise has been called upon for films such as Jaws, Orca and Sky Pirates....
was among the first to develop and test the mail suit in 1979 while diving with sharks. The British police use mail gloves for dealing with knife-armed aggressors.
During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, mail was evaluated as a material for bullet proof vests, but results were unsatisfactory as the rings would fragment and further aggravate the damage. A mail fringe, designed by Captain Cruise of the British Infantry, was added to helmets to protect the face but this proved unpopular with soldiers, in spite of being proven to defend against a three-ounce (100 g) shrapnel round fired at a distance of one hundred yards (90 m).
Stab Proof Vests
After an intensive period of study and analysis of
stab vestA stab vest, or stab proof vest is a reinforced piece of body armor, worn under or over other items of clothing, which is designed to resist knife attacks to the chest, back and sides...
s starting in the 1980s revealed that vests capable of providing ballistic protection were insufficient to protect against "ice-picks" or knife thrusts. The highest threat-level of modern stab-proof vests are now being made which incorporate mail armour.
There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that mail is a viable alternative to heavy leather for protecting motorcyclists from injury should they be thrown from their motorcycles.
Historical re-enactment
Many
historical reenactmentHistorical reenactment is a type of roleplay in which participants attempt to recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
groups, especially those whose focus is
AntiquityAncient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history in the Old World until the Early Middle Ages in Europe and the Qin Dynasty in China....
or the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, commonly use mail both as practical armour and for costuming. Mail is especially popular amongst those groups which use steel weapons. A fighter wearing hauberk and chausses can run, lie, stand up, jump, do somersaults (or even cartwheels), and even swim wearing full armour, depending on the fitness of the wearer. A modern hauberk made from 1.5 mm diameter wire with 10 mm inner diameter rings weighs roughly 10 kg and contains 15,000–45,000 rings. Mail can be used under everyday clothes and many reenactors wear a hauberk under their regular clothes to accustom themselves to it.
One of the two real drawbacks of mail is the uneven weight distribution; the stress falls mainly on shoulders. Weight can be better distributed by wearing a belt over the mail, which provides another point of support.
A reenactment of a long-distance march conforming to service conditions in the Imperial Western Roman army
has recently revealed that mail which is worn daily is effectively rustproof and self-polishing; the motion of the rings against each other keeps them scoured.
Decorative uses
Mail remained in use as a decorative and possibly high-status symbol with military overtones long after its practical usefulness had passed. It was frequently used for the
epauletteEpaulette is a French word meaning "little shoulder" . Epaulettes are a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia or rank by the military and other organizations...
s of military uniforms. It is still used in this form by the British Territorial Army, and the Royal Canadian Armour Corps of the Canadian Army.
Mail also has applications in sculpture and jewelry, especially when made out of precious metals or colorful anodized metals. Recent trends in mail artwork include headdresses, Christmas ornaments, chess sets, and all manner of jewelry. For these non-traditional applications
http://rescyou.deviantart.com/gallery/, hundreds of new weaves or patterns have been invented.
http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/index.cgi
In film
In some
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
s, knitted string spray-painted with a metallic paint is used instead of actual mail in order to cut down on cost (a notable example being
Monty Python and the Holy GrailMonty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, which was filmed on a very small budget). Films more dedicated to
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
accuracy often use
ABS plasticAcrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic used to make light, rigid, molded products such as piping , musical instruments , golf...
rings, for the lower cost and weight. Thousands of such ABS mail coats were made for
the Lord of the Rings film trilogyThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three live action fantasy epic films: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King...
, in addition to many metal coats. The metal coats are used rarely because of their weight, except in close-up filming where the appearance of ABS rings is clearly distinguishable.
See also
- Scale armour
Scale armour consists of many small scales attached to a backing material of either leather or cloth. It is similar to lamellar armour but distinguished by the presence of the backing material and being more flexible than lamellar...
- Ring mail
- Banded mail
Banded mail is a composite armor formed by combining the concepts behind the Roman lorica segmentata with splint mail. It may otherwise be described as an 'armor of bands'. It is sometimes described as "a form of mail reinforced with bands of leather."...
- Plated mail
Plated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors. A Japanese version of this armour is known as Tatami Dô.In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
- Mirror armour
Mirror armour , sometimes referred to as disc armour or Chahar-Ainé where "آﻳنه " means mirror and " چهاﺮ" is the number "four"...
(supplementary oriental plates worn with mail)
- Proofing of armour
The proofing of armour refers to the process of testing armour for its defensive ability, most commonly used to historical testing of plate armour and chainmail. In the early Middle Ages, armour would be classified by the blows it could withstand, being certified as proof against swords, axes, and...
- Dragon Skin (body armour)
Dragon Skin is a type of ballistic vest made by Pinnacle Armor. It is currently produced in Fresno, California. Its characteristic two-inch-wide circular discs overlap like scale armor, creating a flexible vest that allows a good range of motion and can allegedly absorb a high number of hits...
External links