Laminar armour
Encyclopedia
Laminar armour sometimes confusingly referred to as "banded mail
", is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows of solid armour plates as opposed to lamellar armour
which is made from individual armor scales laced together to form a solid looking strip of armor.
Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata
and certain versions of samurai armour
. Less known examples were presented in Asia from Iran to Mongolia
, including Central Asia, but in 16th century laminar and lamellar armour was superseded by plated mail
in Middle East and Central Asia, remaining mainly in Mongolia.
Laminar cuirasses were manufactured in Japan as early as the 4th century.Tankō (laminar), worn by foot soldiers and keikō (lamellar), worn by horsemen were both pre-samurai types of early Japanese cuirass constructed from iron plates connected together by leather thongs.
Japanese Laminar armour was a less expensive and easier to construct type of armour which was made to look like simulated lamellar plates, it is know as Kiritsuke iyozane.
Kiritsuke iyozane is a form of laminar armor constructed from long strips of leather and or iron which were perforated, laced, and notched and made to replicate the look of real lamellar plates. These strips of simulated lamellar plates were much more rigid than real lamellar and they were assembled into armor items in the same way that the rows of lamellar armour were.
After about a century of the ceaseless civil war during the Sengoku period simulated lamellar plates and true lamellar plates become less popular as plate armor started to be used more frequently. The laminar cuirass (dou or dō) evolved to become the okegawa dou (dō), constructed of horizontal strips of armour joined not by laces, but by rivets or staples (imitating laces).
and Iran
was lamellar armour
, brigandine
s, and laminar armour. However in Iran since the 15th century lamellar and laminar armour were typical only in the south, while during the same 15th century the typical armour in the north was plated mail
.
Initially (as in Japan) for centuries laminar armour was just a less expensive version of lamellar armour, but unlike Japan laminar it was not intended to visually imitate lamellar armour. Laminar was just made from horizontal strips of armour laced like strips of lamellar plates, but without extra-lacing and notches imitating strips of lamellar armour. And like in lamellar armour these laces could be occasionally cut during battle, the laces also frayed when an armour was worn long time without being mending.
Later at the beginning of the 15th century construction of laminar armour had significantly changed, instead of lacing being used, strips of new laminar armour were riveted to broad straps (like in lorica segmentata
). As a result laminar armour became more reliable than lamellar armour - hidden straps couldn't be cut without the armour being penetrated, and the brad straps did not require continuous mending, and the straps were stiffer and more durable than the thinner lacing that was used previously. Laminar armour began eventually become more popular than lamellar armour, and almost fully replaced lamellar armour by the end of 15th century.
Pure lamellar armour became very rare, however different combinations of laminar and lamellar armour were very popular. This happened because even though laminar armour was much more reliable than lamellar, laminar armour was not flexible enough, while lamellar armours were very flexible. Laminar cuirasses could be worn with lamellar pauldron
s and tassets (worn with separate bracer
s, greave
s and helm). Less common was the opposite combination of lamellar cuirass worn with laminar pauldron
s and tassets. Both could be optionally worn with lamellar or laminar cod-piece and loin-guard, or even with mirror plate reinforcement
.
Ironically in the end of 15th century, when laminar armour became much more popular than lamellar ones, both armour types began to be replaced by plated mail
s. Initially plated mail was made only as cuisses, but soon by the beginning of 16th century plated mail was utilized in both pauldron
s and cuisses, as they could better envelop body and fully replaced laminar and lamellar pauldron and tassets. So a typical laminar armour of that period was just a laminar cuirass which could be worn over brigandine with sleeves supplemented by plated mail cuisses. (Helm, bracer
s and greave
s are not mentioned here as they were conventional for that region). Sleeves of brigandine worked as pauldron, and if a brigandine was long enough its laps could work as tassets. Another option was wearing a laminar cuirass without any brigandine, but with plated mail pauldrons and cuisses. Both variations of laminar armour could be re-enforced by mirror plate
(even though laminar armour would have been enough protection from steel weapons, a metal mirror was worn as protection from the "evil eye
"). Finally by the end of the 16th century laminar and lamellar armour practically disappeared in the Middle East
and Central Asia
regions.
fully replaced laminar and lamellar armour
s when a result of the Mongolian Invasion the public perception of the Islamic World changed the perception of the armour it represented. The laminar and lamellar armours developed a "pagan" or "Mongolian" image, especially when fashioned in a Mongolian style, while mail and plated mail had developed a faithful image. In the Islamic miniatures of that period, it was typical for artists to depict their enemies (whether they were pagan or Muslim) in lamellar and laminar armours, while they depicted allied heroes in mails.
and Eskimo
had very similar construction, the difference was that Chukchi armour usually had only one enormous pauldron extending to the waist, used as a shield
, and looking rather like a wing
than (prominent for its big size) Japanese o-sode (shoulder armour), while Eskimo armour typically had both "wings". Both Chukchi and Eskimo armour could have lamellar or laminar constructions unlike other regions were lamellar and laminar armour typically had different construction and were made from different materials.
Classic lamellar armour was made from hard materials (initially from natural materials like bone
, tusk
, baleen
, and even wood
as arrow-heads initially were from bone or stone) and in the shape of a short cuirass or even consisted only of a breast-plate. While laminar armour was made from hardened seal
s leather and often knee long, or even longer. However late lamellar armour made from metal (iron or steel or even brass) and could be as long as laminar armour. Both lamellar and laminar armour usually were worn with a high collar (protecting neck and head) integral with one or two laminar pauldrons (used rather as shield than ordinary pauldron). This collar and its pauldrons usually were made from leather and wood.
Usually at least one part of an armour (a pauldron) was laminar, but sometimes a pauldron was comparatively "short" and instead of being laminar constructed from a few wooden planks it instead used only one big plank, and the rest of the hand was protected by splinted or lamellar vambrace
. Besides optional vambraces an armour could optionally have a lamellar helm, and splinted or lamellar greave
s.
Banded mail
Banded mail is a neologism coined in the 19th century. It has become entrenched in the popular consciousness as a result of its inclusion in the armor list for the Dungeons and Dragons...
", is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows of solid armour plates as opposed to lamellar armour
Lamellar armour
Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
which is made from individual armor scales laced together to form a solid looking strip of armor.
Prominent examples of such armour are lorica segmentata
Lorica segmentata
The lōrīca segmentāta was a type of segmented armour almost exclusively used in the Roman Empire, but the Latin name was first used in the 16th century...
and certain versions of samurai armour
Japanese armour
Armour in Japan has a history that goes back as far as the 4th century. Japanese armour developed enormously over the centuries since its introduction to the battlefield. It was worn to varying degrees by numerous classes; most notably by the Samurai , and was seen on the battlefield both on...
. Less known examples were presented in Asia from Iran to Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, including Central Asia, but in 16th century laminar and lamellar armour was superseded by plated mail
Plated mail
Plated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors.-Types of plated mail:In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
in Middle East and Central Asia, remaining mainly in Mongolia.
Pre-Samurai armour
Samurai armour
At the beginning of the Sengoku period Japanese armour typically had two versions - expensive and inexpensive. The difference was that expensive versions were made from hundreds or even thousands of individual leather and or iron scales (kozane) laced together into armor strips (lamellar), this was a very time consuming process. The two most common types of scales (kozane) which made up the Japanese lamellar armors were hon kozane which were constructed from narrow or small scales, and hon iyozane which were constructed from wider scales.Japanese Laminar armour was a less expensive and easier to construct type of armour which was made to look like simulated lamellar plates, it is know as Kiritsuke iyozane.
Kiritsuke iyozane is a form of laminar armor constructed from long strips of leather and or iron which were perforated, laced, and notched and made to replicate the look of real lamellar plates. These strips of simulated lamellar plates were much more rigid than real lamellar and they were assembled into armor items in the same way that the rows of lamellar armour were.
After about a century of the ceaseless civil war during the Sengoku period simulated lamellar plates and true lamellar plates become less popular as plate armor started to be used more frequently. The laminar cuirass (dou or dō) evolved to become the okegawa dou (dō), constructed of horizontal strips of armour joined not by laces, but by rivets or staples (imitating laces).
Middle East and Central Asian laminar armour
According to Bobrov, until the end of the 15th century the most popular armour in certain regions including Central AsiaCentral Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
was lamellar armour
Lamellar armour
Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
, brigandine
Brigandine
A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a cloth garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric....
s, and laminar armour. However in Iran since the 15th century lamellar and laminar armour were typical only in the south, while during the same 15th century the typical armour in the north was plated mail
Plated mail
Plated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors.-Types of plated mail:In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
.
Initially (as in Japan) for centuries laminar armour was just a less expensive version of lamellar armour, but unlike Japan laminar it was not intended to visually imitate lamellar armour. Laminar was just made from horizontal strips of armour laced like strips of lamellar plates, but without extra-lacing and notches imitating strips of lamellar armour. And like in lamellar armour these laces could be occasionally cut during battle, the laces also frayed when an armour was worn long time without being mending.
Later at the beginning of the 15th century construction of laminar armour had significantly changed, instead of lacing being used, strips of new laminar armour were riveted to broad straps (like in lorica segmentata
Lorica segmentata
The lōrīca segmentāta was a type of segmented armour almost exclusively used in the Roman Empire, but the Latin name was first used in the 16th century...
). As a result laminar armour became more reliable than lamellar armour - hidden straps couldn't be cut without the armour being penetrated, and the brad straps did not require continuous mending, and the straps were stiffer and more durable than the thinner lacing that was used previously. Laminar armour began eventually become more popular than lamellar armour, and almost fully replaced lamellar armour by the end of 15th century.
Pure lamellar armour became very rare, however different combinations of laminar and lamellar armour were very popular. This happened because even though laminar armour was much more reliable than lamellar, laminar armour was not flexible enough, while lamellar armours were very flexible. Laminar cuirasses could be worn with lamellar pauldron
Pauldron
A pauldron is a component of plate armour, which evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the armpit, and sometimes parts of the back and chest...
s and tassets (worn with separate bracer
Bracer
A bracer is a strap or sheath, commonly made of leather, stone, or plastic that covers the inside of an archer's arm to protect it while shooting. Bracers keep the inside of the archer's forearm from getting hurt by the string of the bow or the fletching of the arrow; they also prevent loose...
s, greave
Greave
A greave is a piece of armour that protects the leg.-Description:...
s and helm). Less common was the opposite combination of lamellar cuirass worn with laminar pauldron
Pauldron
A pauldron is a component of plate armour, which evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the armpit, and sometimes parts of the back and chest...
s and tassets. Both could be optionally worn with lamellar or laminar cod-piece and loin-guard, or even with mirror plate reinforcement
Mirror armour
Mirror armour , sometimes referred to as disc armour or Chahar-Ainé , was a type of armour used in Asia and...
.
Ironically in the end of 15th century, when laminar armour became much more popular than lamellar ones, both armour types began to be replaced by plated mail
Plated mail
Plated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors.-Types of plated mail:In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
s. Initially plated mail was made only as cuisses, but soon by the beginning of 16th century plated mail was utilized in both pauldron
Pauldron
A pauldron is a component of plate armour, which evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the armpit, and sometimes parts of the back and chest...
s and cuisses, as they could better envelop body and fully replaced laminar and lamellar pauldron and tassets. So a typical laminar armour of that period was just a laminar cuirass which could be worn over brigandine with sleeves supplemented by plated mail cuisses. (Helm, bracer
Bracer
A bracer is a strap or sheath, commonly made of leather, stone, or plastic that covers the inside of an archer's arm to protect it while shooting. Bracers keep the inside of the archer's forearm from getting hurt by the string of the bow or the fletching of the arrow; they also prevent loose...
s and greave
Greave
A greave is a piece of armour that protects the leg.-Description:...
s are not mentioned here as they were conventional for that region). Sleeves of brigandine worked as pauldron, and if a brigandine was long enough its laps could work as tassets. Another option was wearing a laminar cuirass without any brigandine, but with plated mail pauldrons and cuisses. Both variations of laminar armour could be re-enforced by mirror plate
Mirror armour
Mirror armour , sometimes referred to as disc armour or Chahar-Ainé , was a type of armour used in Asia and...
(even though laminar armour would have been enough protection from steel weapons, a metal mirror was worn as protection from the "evil eye
Evil eye
The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike...
"). Finally by the end of the 16th century laminar and lamellar armour practically disappeared in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
regions.
Bobrov's theory
According to Bobrov's theory, plated mailPlated mail
Plated mail is a type of mail with embedded plates. Armour of this type has been used in the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Central Asia, Greater Iran, India, Eastern Europe, and by the Moors.-Types of plated mail:In Russia there are three known varieties of this armour...
fully replaced laminar and lamellar armour
Lamellar armour
Lamellar armour was one of three early body armour types made from armour plates. The other two types are scale armour and laminar armour.-Description:...
s when a result of the Mongolian Invasion the public perception of the Islamic World changed the perception of the armour it represented. The laminar and lamellar armours developed a "pagan" or "Mongolian" image, especially when fashioned in a Mongolian style, while mail and plated mail had developed a faithful image. In the Islamic miniatures of that period, it was typical for artists to depict their enemies (whether they were pagan or Muslim) in lamellar and laminar armours, while they depicted allied heroes in mails.
Laminar armour of native peoples of Alaska and Siberia
Armour of ChukchiChukchi
The term Chukchi may refer to:*Chukchi people*Chukchi language*Chukchi Peninsula*Chukchi Sea...
and Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
had very similar construction, the difference was that Chukchi armour usually had only one enormous pauldron extending to the waist, used as a shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
, and looking rather like a wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
than (prominent for its big size) Japanese o-sode (shoulder armour), while Eskimo armour typically had both "wings". Both Chukchi and Eskimo armour could have lamellar or laminar constructions unlike other regions were lamellar and laminar armour typically had different construction and were made from different materials.
Classic lamellar armour was made from hard materials (initially from natural materials like bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
, tusk
Tusk
Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth, usually but not always in pairs, that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canines, as with warthogs, wild boar, and walruses, or, in the case of elephants and narwhals, elongated incisors...
, baleen
Baleen
Baleen or whalebone is a filter-feeder system inside the mouths of baleen whales. The baleen system works when a whale opens its mouth underwater and then water pours into the whale's mouth. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as food...
, and even wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
as arrow-heads initially were from bone or stone) and in the shape of a short cuirass or even consisted only of a breast-plate. While laminar armour was made from hardened seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
s leather and often knee long, or even longer. However late lamellar armour made from metal (iron or steel or even brass) and could be as long as laminar armour. Both lamellar and laminar armour usually were worn with a high collar (protecting neck and head) integral with one or two laminar pauldrons (used rather as shield than ordinary pauldron). This collar and its pauldrons usually were made from leather and wood.
Usually at least one part of an armour (a pauldron) was laminar, but sometimes a pauldron was comparatively "short" and instead of being laminar constructed from a few wooden planks it instead used only one big plank, and the rest of the hand was protected by splinted or lamellar vambrace
Vambrace
Vambraces or forearm guards are "tubular" or "gutter" defences for the forearm worn as part of a suit of plate armour. Vambraces may be worn with or without separate couters in a full suit of medieval armor. The term originates in the early 14th century...
. Besides optional vambraces an armour could optionally have a lamellar helm, and splinted or lamellar greave
Greave
A greave is a piece of armour that protects the leg.-Description:...
s.