The Pieces of Armor and Their Functions

Pictured below are the various pieces of armor I wear.  These are exact replicas of the pieces of armor worn by a knight of the 15th century.  The armor was constructed by Christian Fletcher to custom fit my body and is made of medieval steel or mild steel and brass.  Click on any of the images to get a closeup view of the piece or armor.

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 This helmet is called a sallet helmet because of the ridges on top.  These glancing ridges are made to strengthen the top of the helmet and to deflect or cause weapons to glance off the skull of the knight to avoid the full force of the blow.

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 The front view of the helmet reveals breathing holes.  The holes that are narrower were turned toward the sound of arrows to prevent them from going through the larger breathing holes on the right side of the helmet.
The chain mail is worn around the waist and around the neck and over the shoulders and head.  This gave flexible protection so the knight could turn his head to the left and right and turn at his waist, lift his leg to get on his horse and even run in the armor.

Click on the picture to see a closer image and learn how it is constructed.

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 The sabaton is the steel shoe worn over a thick leather moccassin.

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 The greave is worn over the shin and calf.  It lies here open to show you the two pieces attached by a hinge and pressed together on the other side around the knights leg with a pin going through a receiving hole.

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 This is the quisse which is placed over the knee and thigh of the knight.  The side wing is designed to prevent a foot soldier from stabbing the back of the knight's leg.

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 The breast plate and the backplate behind it are strapped together over the shoulder and then hooked together on either side with a pin and hole arrangement.

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 The paldrons are worn over the knights arms and shoulders.  They are strapped together behind his neck with a thick belt.  The elbows have a special shield to protect the crook in his arm.

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 This medallion like object is called a bezagew.  This is the French word for armpit and it is designed to slip quickly under the knight's arm when he raises his sword in battle because the knight has no other armor under his arm.

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 The gauntlet is worn over the hand.  A deer skin glove has iron and brass attached to it with rivets.

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 This dragon is engraved on the handle of my sword.  The dragon was a symbol of Satan.  The knight's sword was a symbol of the Word of God which is called the Sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6.  Also knights, I believe, did kill dragons back in the early middle ages.  These were dragons left over from the era of the dinosaur.
pommel00001.JPG (37929 bytes) This is the pommel of the sword.  It is hollow.  The nut on the end is removed when the knight receives his sword and into it he places a lock of his lady's hair and a small scroll on which he has written the verse from Ephesians 6 about the armor of God.