Editing Plate armour (section)

== Late Middle Ages ==
{{further|Gothic plate armour|Components of medieval armour}}
[[File:Italian - Sallet - Walters 51580.jpg|thumb|Italian suit of armour with [[sallet]], c. 1450|left|254x254px]]

By about 1420, complete suits of plate armour had been developed in Europe. A full suit of plate armour would have consisted of a [[helmet]], a [[gorget]] (or [[bevor]]), [[spaulder]]s, [[pauldron]]s with gardbraces to cover the armpits as was seen in French armour,<ref>David Nicolle, ''French Armies of the Hundred Years War'', Osprey Publishing, series Men-at-Arms #337, 2000.</ref><ref>David Nicolle, ''Fornovo 1495:  France's bloody fighting retreat,'' Osprey Publishing, series Campaign #43, 1996.</ref> or [[besagew]]s (also known as [[Rondel (armour)|rondels]]) which were mostly used in Gothic Armour, [[rerebrace]]s, [[couter]]s, [[vambrace]]s, [[Gauntlet (gloves)|gauntlets]], a [[cuirass]] (breastplate and backplate) with a [[faulds (plate armour)|fauld]], [[tassets]] and a [[culet (armour)|culet]], a [[Mail (armour)|mail]] skirt, [[cuisse]]s, [[poleyn]]s, [[greave]]s, and [[sabaton]]s. The very fullest sets, known as garnitures, more often made for jousting than war, included '''pieces of exchange''', alternate pieces suiting different purposes, so that the suit could be configured for a range of different uses, for example fighting on foot or on horse. By the Late Middle Ages even infantry could afford to wear several pieces of plate armour. Armour production was a profitable and pervasive industry during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.<ref>Curl, Michael. "The Industry of Defence: A Look at the Armour Industry of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century". ''Medieval Warfare'', vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, pp. 38–42. {{JSTOR|48578631}}. Accessed 17 June 2021.</ref>[[File:ArmeriaPalacioRealMadrid.JPG|thumb|300px|[[Royal Armoury of Madrid]], [[Spain]]]]

A complete suit of plate armour made from well-tempered steel would weigh around {{cvt|15|–|25|kg|lb}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=Lawrence |year=2003 |title=Warrior Race: A History of the British at War |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-30737-3 |page=119}}</ref> The wearer remained highly agile and could jump, run and otherwise move freely as the weight of the armour was spread evenly throughout the body. The armour was articulated and covered a man's entire body completely from neck to toe. In the 15th and 16th centuries, plate-armoured soldiers were the nucleus of every army. Large bodies of [[men-at-arms]] numbering thousands, or even more than ten thousand men (approximately 60% to 70% of French armies were men-at-arms and the percentage was also high in other countries), were fighting on foot, wearing full plate next to archers and crossbowmen.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=September 2016}} This was commonly seen in the Western European armies, especially during the [[Hundred Years War]], the [[Wars of the Roses]] or the [[Italian Wars]].{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=September 2016}}

European leaders in armouring techniques were Northern [[Italians]], especially from [[Milan]], and Southern [[Germans]], who had somewhat different styles. But styles were diffused around Europe, often by the movement of armourers; the Renaissance [[Greenwich armour]] was made by a royal workshop near London that had imported Italian, Flemish and (mostly) German craftsmen, though it soon developed its own unique style. Ottoman Turkey also made wide use of plate armour, but incorporated large amounts of mail into their armour, which was widely used by shock troops such as the [[Janissary]] Corps.

=== Effect on weapon development ===
[[File:Cod2823 fol150r.jpg|thumb|upright|15th-century depiction of a [[melee]]. A breast plate is pierced by a sword]]

Plate armour gave the wearer very good protection against [[sword]] cuts, as well against spear thrusts, and provided decent defense against [[Club (weapon)|blunt weapons]].

The evolution of plate armour also triggered developments in the design of offensive weapons. While this armour was effective against cuts or strikes, their weak points could be exploited by thrusting weapons, 
such as [[estoc]]s, [[Pollaxe (Polearm)|poleaxes]], and [[halberd]]s. The effect of [[arrow]]s and [[crossbow bolt|bolt]]s is still a point of contention with regard to plate armour. The evolution of the 14th-century plate armour also triggered the development of various [[polearm]]s. They were designed to deliver a strong impact and concentrate energy on a small area and cause damage through the plate. [[Mace (bludgeon)|Maces]], [[war hammer]]s, and pollaxes (poleaxes) were used to inflict blunt force trauma through armour. Strong blows to the head could result in [[concussion]], even if the armour is not penetrated.

Fluted plate was not only decorative, but also reinforced the plate against bending under striking or blunt impact. This offsets against the tendency for flutes to catch piercing blows. In armoured techniques taught in the [[German school of swordsmanship]], the attacker concentrates on these "weak spots", resulting in a fighting style very different from unarmoured sword-fighting. Because of this weakness, most warriors wore a mail shirt (haubergeon or hauberk) beneath their plate armour (or [[coat-of-plates]]). Later, full mail shirts were replaced with mail patches, called [[gousset|gussets]], which were sewn onto a [[gambeson]] or arming jacket. Further protection for plate armour was the use of small round plates called [[besagew]]s, that covered the armpit area and the addition of [[couter]]s and [[poleyn]]s with "wings" to protect the inside of the joint.