Editing Plate armour (section)

== Renaissance ==
{{Further|Maximilian armour|Gendarme (historical)}}

German so-called [[Maximilian armour]] of the early 16th century is a style using heavy fluting and some decorative etching, as opposed to the plainer finish on 15th-century [[white armour]]. The shapes include influence from Italian styles. This era also saw the use of closed helms, as opposed to the 15th-century-style [[sallet]]s and [[barbute]]s.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} During the early 16th century, the helmet and neckguard design was reformed to produce the so-called [[Nuremberg|Nürnberg]] armour, many of them masterpieces of workmanship and design.<ref>{{cite web|title=Middle Ages: Armor|url=http://www.themiddleages.net/armor.html|publisher=MiddleAges.Net|access-date=8 May 2011}}</ref>

As firearms became better and more common on the battlefield, the utility of full armour gradually declined, and full suits became restricted to those made for [[jousting]] which continued to develop. The decoration of fine armour greatly increased in the period, using a range of techniques, and further greatly increasing the cost. Elaborately decorated plate armour for royalty and the very wealthy was being produced. Highly decorated armour is often called '''parade armour''', a somewhat misleading term as such armour might well be worn on active military service. Steel plate armour for [[Henry II of France]], made in 1555, is covered with meticulous embossing, which has been subjected to blueing, silvering and gilding.<ref>{{cite web|title=Heilbrunn Timeline of History: The Decoration of European Armor|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/deca/hd_deca.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=November 26, 2011}}</ref>

Such work required armourers to either collaborate with artists or have artistic skill of their own; another alternative was to take designs from [[ornament print]]s and other prints, as was often done. [[Daniel Hopfer]] was an etcher of armour by training, who developed [[etching]] as a form of [[printmaking]]. Other artists such as [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] produced designs for armour. The [[Milan]]ese armourer [[Filippo Negroli]], from a leading dynasty of armourers, was the most famous modeller of figurative [[relief]] decoration on armour.

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File:KHM Wien A 3 - Armor of Roberto da Sanseverino (d. 1487).jpg|Suit of armour of the Italian ''[[condottiero]]'' [[Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona]]
File:Emperor charles v.png|Painting of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] by [[Juan Pantoja de la Cruz]] (c. 1605), after an original by [[Titian]], depicting an elaborate Renaissance-era suit of armour.
File:Erik XIVs rustning från 1562 - Livrustkammaren - 73817.tif|Parade armour from 1562, belonged to [[Erik XIV of Sweden]]. Made by Eliseus Libaerts and [[Etienne Delaune]].
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=== Infantry ===
{{Further|Munition armour|Almain rivet}}

Reduced plate armour, typically consisting of a [[breastplate]], a [[burgonet]], [[Morion (helmet)|morion]] or [[cabasset]] and [[Gauntlet (gloves)|gauntlets]], however, also became popular among 16th-century [[mercenary|mercenaries]], and there are many references to so-called [[munition armour]] being ordered for infantrymen at a fraction of the cost of full plate armour. This mass-produced armour was often heavier and made of lower quality metal than fine armour for commanders.<ref>{{cite book | last = Wise | first = Terence | title = The Wars of the Roses | publisher = [[Osprey Publishing]] | year = 1983 | isbn = 0-85045-520-0}}</ref>

=== Jousting ===
[[File:KHM Wien S XVI - Jousting armour of John the Constant, c. 1497-1505, front.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Stechzeug'' of [[John the Constant]] (c. 1500)]]

Specialised [[jousting]] armour produced in the late 15th to 16th century was heavier, and could weigh as much as {{convert|50|kg|abbr=on}}, as it was not intended for free combat, it did not need to permit free movement, the only limiting factor being the maximum weight that could be carried by a [[warhorse]] of the period.

The medieval [[joust]] has its origins in the military tactics of [[heavy cavalry]] during the [[High Middle Ages]]. Since the 15th century, jousting had become a [[sport]] (''[[hastilude]]'') with less direct relevance to warfare, for example using separate specialized armour and equipment.

During the 1490s, emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] invested a great deal of effort in perfecting the sport, for which he received his nickname of "The Last Knight".
''Rennen'' and ''Stechen'' were two sportive forms of the joust developed during the 15th century and practiced throughout the 16th century. The armours used for these two respective styles of the joust were known as ''Rennzeug'' and ''Stechzeug'', respectively. The ''Stechzeug'' in particular developed into extremely heavy armour which completely inhibited the movement of the rider, in its latest forms resembling an armour-shaped cabin integrated into the [[horse armour]] more than a functional suit of armour. Such forms of sportive equipment during the final phase of the joust in [[16th-century Germany]] gave rise to modern misconceptions about the heaviness or clumsiness of "medieval armour", as notably popularised by [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ellis | first = John | title = Cavalry: The History of Mounted Warfare | publisher = [[Putnam, Connecticut|Putnam]] | year = 1978 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Woosnam-Savage | first = Robert C. | author2 = Anthony Hall | title = Brassey's Book of Body Armor | publisher = Potomac Books, Incorporated | year = 2002 | url = https://archive.org/details/brasseysbookofbo0000woos_w8o2 | isbn = 1-57488-465-4 | url-access = registration }}</ref>

The extremely heavy helmets of the ''Stechzeug'' are explained by the fact that the aim was to detach the [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]] of the opponent's helmet, resulting in frequent full impact of the lance to the helmet.

By contrast, the ''Rennen'' was a type of joust with lighter contact. Here, the aim was to hit the opponent's shield. The specialised ''Rennzeug'' was developed on the request of Maximilian, who desired a return to a more agile form of joust compared to the heavily armoured "full contact" ''Stechen''. In the ''Rennzeug'', the shield was attached to the armour with a mechanism of springs and would detach itself upon contact.

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File:Stechzeug of Maximilian I by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg| ''Stechzeug''; note that the parts protecting the lower body and the legs were incorporated as part of the [[horse armour]] (not shown).
File:Rennzeug by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg| ''Rennzeug''
File:HJRK B 75, A 79 - Kolbenturnierhelm, 1480-85, and arms, 1486.jpg| Armour designed for the ''[[Kolbenturnier]]'', dated to the 1480s. The ''Kolbenturnier'' was a late form of the [[Tournament (medieval)|tournament]], unlike the joust played with two [[team sport|teams]] using wooden clubs (''Kolben'') to hit opponents' helmet crests.
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