Splint armour, also referred to as splinted armour. Splint armour first appears in a Scythia

Scythia

In antiquity, Scythian or Scyths were terms used by the Greeks to refer to certain Iranian groups of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who dwelt on the Pontic-Caspian steppe...

n grave from the 4th century BCE..

Splint Armor

Limb armor consisting of strips of metal, or splints, which are attached to a fabric or leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 backing or covering. The splints are narrow metal strips arranged longitudinally. The splints are pierced for riveting or sewing to a backing of straps, a foundation or a covering. Though no backing or covering survives, contemporary sources suggest they were made of either leather or sturdy fabric. The most common form of splint armour is for making greave

Greave

A greave is a piece of armour that protects the leg.-Description:...

s or vambraces. It appears in the Early Medieval era and again in the 14th century as part of transitional armour

Transitional armour

Transitional armour describes the armour used in Europe around the 14th century, as body armour moved from simple maille hauberks to full plate....

. During the era of transitional armour splinted armour was used for the thighs (cuisses

Cuisses

Cuisses are a form of medieval armor worn to protect the thigh. The word is the plural of the French word cuisse meaning 'thigh'. While the skirt of a maille shirt or tassets of a cuirass could protect the upper legs from above, a thrust from below could avoid these defenses. Thus, cuisses were...

) and upper arms (rerebrace

Rerebrace

A rerebrace is a piece of armour designed to protect the upper arms . Splint rerebraces were a feature of Byzantine armour in the Early Medieval period...

) as well.

Splint Mail/Splinted Mail

While their are limited examples of whole suits of armor from splints of wood/leather/bone, the common usage refers to the limb protections of crusader

Crusader

- Military :* Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades* Crusader states, states set up by the Europeans in the Middle East during The Crusades* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II* HMS Crusader, three British naval ships...

 knights, under the Victorian neologism "Splinted Mail". Depictions typically show it on the limbs of a person wearing mail

Chainmail

Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....

, scale armour

Scale armour

Scale armour is an early form of armour sometimes erroneously called scale mail consisting of many individual small armour scales of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well...

, a coat of plates

Coat of plates

A coat of plates is a form of torso armour consisting of metal plates sewn or riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates makes a fairly brief appearance in the history of European armour during the era of transitional armour, during a portion of the 14th century...

 or other plate

Plate armour

Plate armour is a historical type of personal armour made from iron or steel plates.While there are early predecessors such the Roman-era lorica segmentata, full plate armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of...

 harness.

In rare cases, knights in effigy are depicted as having leg protection depicted as a matrix of disks with a diameter equal to the splints. This method appears on effigies for sabaton

Sabaton

A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's armour that covers the foot. Fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot...

s and alternated with splints on greaves. It may represent padded armor underneath the splints, or the rivets on 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....

.

Related Armor terms

• Pair of plates or coat of plates
  Coat of plates
  A coat of plates is a form of torso armour consisting of metal plates sewn or riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates makes a fairly brief appearance in the history of European armour during the era of transitional armour, during a portion of the 14th century...
  
  
• Four Mirrors
• Mirror Armor
• Scale Armor
• Splint armour is related to scale armour
  Scale armour
  Scale armour is an early form of armour sometimes erroneously called scale mail consisting of many individual small armour scales of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well...
  
   but distinguished by long, narrow strips of metal.
• splinted mail