Editing Plate armour (section)

{{Short description|Personal body armour made from metal plates}}
{{Distinguish|Armour plate|Armour}}
[[File:Lossy-page1-2122px-Hästrustning - Livrustkammaren - 72697 aaa.jpg|thumb|Full plate armour for man and horse commissioned by [[Sigismund II Augustus]], [[Livrustkammaren]] in [[Stockholm]] [[Sweden]] (1550s).|269x269px]] 
[[File:Rustning, Gustav Vasa - Livrustkammaren - 32921.tif|thumb|Armour for [[Gustav I of Sweden]] by [[Kunz Lochner]], c. 1540 ([[Livrustkammaren]]).|315x315px]]'''Plate armour''' is a historical type of personal [[body armour]] made from [[bronze]], [[iron]], or [[steel]] plates, culminating in the iconic '''suit of armour''' entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the [[Late Middle Ages]], especially in the context of the [[Hundred Years' War]], from the [[coat of plates]] (popular in late 13th and early 14th century) worn over [[mail (armour)|mail]] suits during the 14th century, a century famous for the [[Transitional armour]], in that plate gradually replaced mail.

In [[Europe]], full plate armour reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries. The full suit of armour, also referred to as a [[panoply]], is thus a feature of the very end of the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]] period. Its popular association with the "[[Middle Ages in popular culture|medieval knight]]” is due to the specialised [[jousting]] armour which developed in the 16th century.

Full suits of [[Gothic plate armour]] and Milanese plate armour were worn on the battlefields of the [[Burgundian Wars]], [[Wars of the Roses]], [[Polish–Teutonic Wars]], [[Eighty Years' War]], [[French Wars of Religion]], [[Italian Wars]], [[Hungarian–Ottoman Wars]],
[[Ottoman–Habsburg wars]], [[Polish–Ottoman Wars]], a significant part of the [[Hundred Years' War]], and even the [[Thirty Years' War]]. The most heavily armoured troops of the period were [[heavy cavalry]], such as the [[gendarme (historical)|gendarmes]] and early [[cuirassier]]s, but the infantry troops of the [[Swiss mercenaries]] and the [[Landsknecht]]s also took to wearing lighter suits of "three quarters" [[munition armour]], leaving the lower legs unprotected.<ref>[http://www.lennartviebahn.com/arms_armour/antiques/half_armour.html Example of an armour worn by pikemen] Germany circa 1600, on view at Lennart Viebahn Arms & Armour</ref>

The use of plate armour began to decline in the early 17th century, but it remained common both among the nobility (e.g., the [[Emperor Ferdinand II]], [[Louis XIII]], [[Philip IV of Spain]], [[Maurice of Orange]] and [[Gustavus Adolphus]]) and the cuirassiers throughout the [[European wars of religion]]. After the mid-17th century, plate armour was mostly reduced to the simple [[breastplate]] or [[cuirass]] worn by [[cuirassier]]s, with the exception of the [[Polish Hussars]] that still used considerable amounts of plate. This was due to the development of the [[musket]], which could penetrate armour at a considerable distance.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=September 2016}} For infantry, the breastplate gained renewed importance with the development of [[Shrapnel (fragment)|shrapnel]] in the late [[Napoleonic Wars]]. The use of steel plates sewn into [[flak jacket]]s dates to [[World War II]], and was replaced by more modern materials such as [[fibre-reinforced plastic]], since the mid-20th century.

'''Mail armour''' is a layer of protective clothing worn most commonly from the 9th to the 13th century, though it would continue to be worn under plate armour until the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Armour of an English Medieval Knight |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1244/the-armour-of-an-english-medieval-knight/ |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> [[Chain mail|Mail]] was made from hundreds of small interlinking iron or steel rings held together by [[rivets]]. It was made this way so that it would be able to follow the contour of the wearer's body, maximizing comfort. Mail armour was designed mainly to defend against thrusting and cutting weapons, rather than [[Club (weapon)|bludgeons]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wedel |first=Waldo R. |title=Chain Mail in Plains Archeology |date=1975 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25667265 |journal=Plains Anthropologist |volume=20 |issue=69 |pages=187–196 |doi=10.1080/2052546.1975.11908716 |jstor=25667265 |issn=0032-0447|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Typical clothing articles made of mail at the time would be hooded cloaks, gloves, [[trousers]], and shoes. From the 10th to the 13th century, mail armour was so popular in Europe, that it was known as the age of mail.