Chainmail and plate were the most popular armor sets through the Middle Ages. However, a lot of people don’t know the key differences between these armaments.
When comparing these two types, only protection is considered, but there are many more aspects that we must analyze.
This article will settle the myths surrounding plate and chain mail once and for all.
chain mail cannot be pierced by swords and axes. plate armor, on the other hand, protects against all types of common medieval weapons except the arquebus. however, maille was more commonly used because it was cheaper and quicker to produce. the weight and flexibility offered by these types of armor are identical. the choice comes down to wealth and the level of protection required.
comparison of plate and mail armor
This table highlights all the differences and similarities between mail and plate armor.
This table only takes into account the best type of each armor. which is riveted mail and custom-made plate armor forged from hardened steel.
A detailed discussion of each property follows.
chainmail vs plate details
So now that we have a good overview, let’s take a deeper look at the various differences between plate and chain mail.
types
There are three types of mail armor. That is riveted, butted and welded mail. The chosen linkage type makes a tremendous difference in protection.
welded and butted mesh can be penetrated by almost all weapons. on the other hand, riveted chain mail is of much higher quality and offers great protection against sword cuts, ax blows and even some polearms.
Because the other two types of mail are so inferior, from now on we will only talk about riveted mail.
In terms of types of plate armor, I’m not referring to the myriad designs, but the steel used.
For simplicity, we will classify plate armor into soft steel and hardened steel.
soft steel describes metal with a low carbon content that has not been hardened. on the other hand, hardened steel has a higher carbon content and was tempered, so it has a much higher hardness.
ammo quality plate (mass produced) is much worse than its custom made counterpart (the difference is even greater than with mail link types).
Since the differences between plate armor are quite large, I want to clarify that in this post I am referring to custom-made hardened steel plate armour.
impermeability
mail is highly resistant against swords, axes and some polearms. other types of weapons such as spears and bows can penetrate maille.
plate armor offers optimum protection against all types of common medieval weapons, except gunpowder weapons.
swords, spears and bows cannot pierce it. however, matchlock guns can penetrate the plate.
But even if the mail and plate can’t be pierced by some weapons, that doesn’t mean they don’t deal damage!
Next, we’ll discuss the shock absorption capabilities of plate and mail, followed by the effect of selected weapons on this armor.
shock absorption
In terms of shock absorption, plate armor is much better than mail armor. chain mail rings cannot adequately distribute the impact energy of a weapon.
For this reason, one longsword strike can already be enough to incapacitate a mail wearer, as the attack causes severe trauma and bone fractures.
On the other hand, plate armor excels at distributing attack energy across the entire steel plate, thereby greatly reducing impact force and mitigating pain.
But even if plate armor is waterproof and offers good shock resistance, the immense power produced by polearms or bows can still cause fractures and damage internal organs.
Also, the shape of the plate armor makes it easier to deflect incoming attacks to further reduce impact.
This is not the case with chain mail, because it fits perfectly to the body, thus creating flat and uniform surfaces.
specific weapon effects
Before we take a look at the protection level of these armor types I have to mention that the best way to defeat a mail or plate clad opponent is striking at areas that aren’t covered with armor (e.g. head or joints).
In that sense, swords are quite effective when using techniques like the half sword or the mordhau.
An often underrated weapon is the dagger. while it deals no damage to any armor, its accuracy and agility make it effective at stabbing unarmored body parts.
But now let’s compare the effects of the following six medieval weapons on plate and mail armor.
armed sword
This weapon’s slashes do no substantial damage to targets wearing plate or mail armor. as discussed above, the plate is better at distributing the impact.
long sword
Long swords are large, heavy, and wielded with both hands. therefore, the strike accumulates more force.
An enemy soldier dressed only in chain mailwill suffer a lot of pain. however, a longsword slash cannot pierce maille.
A knight covered in plates will feel less pain as it is mitigated by the resistance to blows offered by the type of armor. obviously, a long sword cannot penetrate the plate.
sharply tapered sword
swords with a sharp cone are capable of piercing mesh. the estoc is a sword with a very sharp taper and was invented specifically to pierce mail armor. its tip is so thin that it gets between the mesh rings and splits them inside.
Plate armor cannot be pierced by stock. However, the thrust will cause light trauma.
spear
A spear thrust pierces through chain mail, but only bruises the plate wearer. The tip of most spears fits inside the rings of the chain mail, so you can break them. a soldier in plate armor will suffer trauma and get some bruises from the spear hit.
pole weapon/axe
A soldier in chain mail will experience a serious shock after an attack with a Danish axe.
More powerful weapons, such as the glaive or the polish have a chance to break the rings of the riveted chain mail by sheer force (even if it doesn’t). ‘t pierce the defender will feel a lot of pain due to the force of the blow alone).
Plate armor can’t be penetrated by polearms and axes, but hits do a lot of damage regardless. it takes a much more powerful blow to incapacitate a plate carrier than a mail-clad target.
bow/crossbow
While these weapons certainly pack a punch and can pierce mail armor, it takes much more force to pierce plate.
A punch arrow requires 120 j of energy to pierce mail armor. a longbow with a draw weight of 140lbs was able to generate about the required 120j. so the mesh can certainly be penetrated by a strong arc.
Of course, a crossbow is even better. by payne-gallweya’s measurements, a siege crossbow with a draw weight of 1,200 pounds can generate up to 200 jp.
On the other hand, penetrating plate armor with a spike arrow requires 260 J of force (16th century Nürnberg infantry armor, keeled, 2.5mm thick, fired at a 45° angle).
Although the crossbow bolt doesn’t penetrate plate armor, its impact definitely deals internal damage (but isn’t lethal as mail would likely be).
side note: a bullet would require 1250 j to pierce the plate. that can be easily achieved with a normal arquebus.
since this part of the post about shell damage is quite controversial/unknown, here is the source. (The Knight and the Blast Furnace by Alan Williams, pages 919, 943, 946-947)
We now cover one more aspect of this topic and are closer to answering the question of plate vs. chain mail. let’s move on.
weight
Chain mail armor is heavy. a full chainmail weighs between 15 and 25 kg (33-55 pounds). ). >.
The mesh leggings (chausses) have a mass of 5 kg (11 lbs). the cofia (headdress) adds another 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs). a pair of mittens or gloves weighs about 1 kg (2.2 pounds).
It is reasonable to expect a complete set of chain mail to weigh 19 kg (41.9 lb) on average.
plate
A full set of plate armor weighs between 15 and 30 kg (33-66 lbs). the mass of plate armor suits differs greatly from set to set. some armor was extremely light and some quite heavy.
the chest and back weigh about 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) each. the hull (eg burgundy) weighs 3 kg (6.6 lbs).
the tassets (upper thigh covering) have a mass of 1 kg (2.2 lbs). Both the cuisses and knee pads weigh 3 kg (6.6 lbs). to that comes the mass of the two greaves and scarps of 3 kg (6.6 lbs).
protection for arms and hands is another 5 kg (11 lbs). the gorjal (throat protection) weighs approximately 1 kg (2.2 pounds).
comfort
The wear comfort of mail armor is quite low. this is because their weight is unevenly distributed.
When wearing mail armor, most of the mass rests on the shoulders. this causes pain and fatigue if used for a long time.
This effect is mitigated with the use of abdominal girdles. They transfer part of the weight to the waist, thus increasing comfort, but still not completely solving the problem.
Custom-made plate armor is very comfortable because the weight is distributed evenly throughout the body.
ammunition grade plate armor, on the other hand, does not fit the wearer snugly and therefore has little comfort.
flexibility
the mail armor bearer is completely flexible. movements are not hindered. another benefit of mail is that it can cover all parts of the body, due to its small ring size.
plate armor does not reduce movement range. the user remains fully agile and combat abilities are not restricted.
An archer with a full set of plates would definitely have a hard time shooting his bow due to the gauntlets and shoulder pads. (but this is just a theoretical limitation since most archers wore light armor)
thus, mail and plate armor are on equal footing in terms of flexibility.
manufacturing
A medieval craftsman needed between 600 and 1000 hours to complete a chain mail. That means it takes him around 100 days to finish the product.
If we consider that a knee-length mesh shirt contains 25,000 to 50,000 individual links, this time period makes a bit more sense.
The main crafting benefits of mail are that it can be produced easily and does not require a skilled blacksmith. therefore, chain mail can be forged by apprentice armorers.
plate
When forging plate armor, precision is of the utmost importance. therefore, a skilled blacksmith had to forge such armaments. however, the production time was generally very short. in the middle ages it took about 14 days to forge a complete plate armor.
Proper smithing and high quality metal were vital when forging plate armour. otherwise, weak spots would be created due to areas with thinner metal or regions with a higher proportion of slag.
Also, setting up a plate armor smithy is very capital intensive as large furnaces are needed.
price
Throughout the Middle Ages chainmail was cheaper than plate armor. Only at the end of this period the balance started to shift in favor of plate.
This change was caused by the emergence of better manufacturing methods that speeded up the process for forging plate armor.
It is really difficult to compare the prices of these types of armor, because there are very few sources and their quality was subject to large fluctuations.
The Ghent archives state that the price of a short mail tunic in the 14th century (1304) was about 15 Flemish pounds > (in the city of witches).
At that time, a soldier earned an average of three shillings a day. So, to buy a mail gown, you would need to set aside 100 days’ salary.
That’s a lot considering that the business year was approximately 240 days long. (verbruggen’s art of war, page 171)
plate
The English soldier Sir John Cressy paid £6 for a complete Milanese armor that he bought for his squires in 1441.
My primary source assumes a daily salary of 1s, so that’s 120 days’ salary. however, my research found that the daily wage for a master craftsman or soldier was around 0.5 s (6 d).
That would mean that a person needs to set aside 240 days of salary in order to purchase high-quality full armor. (Wages and Prices in England in the Late Middle Ages by Schreiner, page 63 – The Knight and the Blast Furnace by William, pages 904, 907).
Plate and maille prices in iserlohn (Westphalia) offer a completely different perspective. in 1437, plate armor cost 4.3 rheinische gulden each.
50 years earlier, the price of mesh shirts was 4.6 guilders a piece in the same city. during that time the salary of a craftsman was around 18 d.
so 57 and 61 days’ wages were required to pay for the respective armor. (the knight and the blast furnace by alan williams, page 910 – löhne und preise von 1300 bis 2000 feet, page 18)
here is a website that also contains prices for other products
this website helps you convert coins from the middle ages
durability and maintenance
Chain mail has a very long lifespan compared to all other types of historical armor. In addition, it was very easy to maintain and clean.
Another benefit is that broken rings can be replaced easily. it was even possible to do this in the field if you had some rings, rivets and a hammer already drilled. no oven required to join them.
The durability of plate armor is very good. cleaning it is easy. however, repairing the weaponry is tedious and requires experience. a furnace is also needed to repair perforated plate armor (penetration could occur due to malfunction or production error).
other benefits
With chain mail a person can also choose to hide the armor simply by wearing another garment over it.
mail armor also has the advantage that it is better to march than plate. this is not necessary for the weight, flexibility, or comfort, but for the fact that chainmail offers superior ventilation.
walking around in full plate armor during hot weather will become intolerable pretty quickly. maille is more suitable in that sense (but still far from perfect).
conclusion
There are many ways mail or badge works better. in the end, choosing a soldier comes down to specific situation, preference (and wealth).
many people assume that the main advantage of mail is that it offers greater flexibility and is more convenient. I hope this article will show that this is certainly not the case.
The benefits of mail include lots of little perks most people don’t bother to think about, like ventilation and price.
Furthermore, the impact of the feudal system on soldier equipment should not be overlooked. logically, a nobleman who is forced to provide an army wants to save money and therefore opts for the cheapest possible option.
However, I must admit that plate armor offers much better protection against attacks than mail (and this is the main function of armor).
However, to underestimate the defensive capabilities of chain mail would be foolish.
Mail cannot be pierced by swords and was extremely popular throughout history, so it is definitely one of the better types of (pre-modern) armor, although it is inferior to plate.