The Evolution Of Knightly Armour - 1066 - 1485

[@razorbackxr]

Funny thing is, your video left off roughly where my knowledge picks up. After the advent of the arquebus, armor began largely retracing it's steps, reverting from full plate to cuirass/shoulders/greaves in the 1500s, then just a cuirass in the 1600s. By the late 1700s, armor had reduced to leather pieces integrated into uniforms, with reinforced boots and gloves. It then all but disappeared aside from helms until the early-mid 1900s with the adoption of heavy leather jackets by aircraft pilots, then flak vests in the 1960s. In the late 1900s, we regressed all the way back to padded cloth, except the fabric being used was Kevlar. This brings us to the 1990s, when we discovered the joys of ceramic, and turned our modern doublets into cuirass again, and then the early 2000s, when the peak of mass-produced armor tech was ablative ceramic scale mail over padded kevlar cloth. If you read this far, like or respond, and I'll do sufficient research to turn it into an actual response video.

[@semagicus693]

So, the next logical step would be a ceramical full plate... Oh, hi there, space marines!

[@kaipreiss8846]

First world war, chain mail and plate armour was used quite extensively, in fact it has never really fallen out of fashion, it was used in cabinet warfare, just as time went on and standing armies got larger the cost of equipping all soldiers with it became too high so these individuals were required to buy their own and if not go without. Modern combat armour is just this medieval tech using modern materials

[@F14thunderhawk]

you need powered Endoskeletons for that and it will skip right from Ceramic Curiass to Gothic Balistic Combat plate

[@KamikazKid]

You're a bit wrong on the flak vest it started being issued in WW2 to stop artillery shrapnel and would be improved in the 1950s before Vietnam to be able to withstand small caliber pistol rounds.

[@PhyreI3ird]

It would be really interesting to see a video on this, especially if you can cover the "Why"'s of the different armoring choices, cuz I seriously have no idea why platemail fell out of fashion in militaries (I have my guesses but I'd rather have facts personally x3), and that's only one of many odd choices that confuse me, so a video that could cover that would be golden by my account!

[@theflutefreak]

0:55 11th century 2:27 12th century 4:57 13th century 9:40 14th century 15:37 15th century

[@kelian9671]

Thanks

[@edgargaming6935]

Tha tha tha tha tha anks anks anks anks anks

[@katarinatibai8396]

Thank you 😘

[@NoName-yw1pt]

No 16th and 17th 😢

[@footrot17]

Why would you skip

[@Sam-dx8vo]

6:20 when you're fighting to the death but your horses were friends back in high school

[@HanSolo__]

6:23 When you are proud Teutonic Order Brother yet with ass beaten by the Poloniae Regis noble.

[@zurgesmiecal]

@@HanSolo__ when you're a polish kid and your inferiority complex dominates your whole life

[@zurgesmiecal]

@Sam never saw a horse fight?

[@jacobb751]

@@zurgesmiecal its a joke😤

[@zurgesmiecal]

@@jacobb751 and I asked a question

[@WarhorseStudios]

Wonderful video Metatron. Nicely done.

[@iraqigamer2407]

Warhorse Studios OMG, HI! :D

[@iraqigamer2407]

***** Umm... Okay?

[@simonbalham8066]

You have steal my nick name... REVENGE...VENDETA...POMSTA!!!

[@simonbalham8066]

?? Nic jen že nick Wahorse, který používám asi od roku 2008 je teď všude zabraný, protože lidi objevili WarhorseStudio a začala se ta přezdívka až moc množit... Ale není třeba nikomu nadávat...

[@metatronyt]

I'm glad to hear that from you :D thanks!

[@neutralfellow9736]

Perhaps the flat top helm design was a result of frontal strikes being more common than overhead strikes, so the protection of the forehead and the brow was seen as more paramount than the risk of getting hit with a downward swing. Also, considering that the majority of flat top depictions show men on horseback, perhaps them being usually mounted meant that overhead strikes on them were a lot more difficult to achieve, so they choose a stronger frontal structure instead.

[@TheCrimsonAtom]

Great points

[@ServantofBaal]

It was fortunate then, that knights weren't expected to play an important role in sieges on the ground, as a flat top helm would suffer horridly against arrows, bolts, and rocks being dropped on you from above

[@neutralfellow9736]

"that knights weren't expected to play an important role in sieges on the ground" - Well, they actually kinda were, there are swarms of sources describing them as being part of siege assaults, which is a good point on your side nonetheless, as a flat top helm would indeed be a bad design for anyone not looking up the entire time lol.

[@edi9892]

AFAIK greathelmets were used against archers. If you closed in, you ditched the helmet, so that you can see and hear your enemies better. It allowed better breathing too. These helmets would NEVER be used by infantery. Thus they didn't need to fear rocks dropped on their flat helmets, not getting hammered there...

[@neutralfellow9736]

Greathelms were definitely used in combat, the protection outweighs limited visibility as you are most likely fighting in formation so you only need to see what is right in front of you. Although, some did definitely ditch them and switch to lighter and more open helms once they engaged in melee.

[@andrewstrongman305]

I love the teachers attitude: "You will learn which armour set belongs to which century." Great work here.

[@TheOneGuy1111]

It's interesting how we tend to think of Knights as having full plate armor, but throughout most of the middle ages that simply wasn't the case.

[@beth7935]

Yeah, depictions of Richard the Lionheart in full plate- like, what?!?

[@erojerisiz1571]

as much as I love full plate armor, the crusade era armor just looks glorious

[@HexenStar]

@@erojerisiz1571 I absolutely concur! To me, when someone mentions middle ages, then i immediately think of 11-12 century, and not anything else.

[@samrukin9885]

i suppose that is why those centuries were referred to as the high middle ages

[@kevcaratacus9428]

I was reading a book originally published in early Victorian times, they beleived knights had to be lifted with hoists onto their horses bc of the weight of the armour. Lol

[@igidj7281]

dark souls music? here, have a like

[@danieldebod2663]

Praise the sun brothers

[@connorjensen9699]

nice, I thought I was imagining that

[@Lmaaaoooo]

@@danieldebod2663 we shall now praise it

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

Where? On "15th Century"?

[@potatounicorn9480]

@@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски 14th and 15 th

[@tornagh9200]

but the real question: could you wear a 14th century greathelm over a 12th century greathelm? And would you call that a Greater helm?

[@DzinkyDzink]

And then cover your throat with a Frogmouth!

[@CountArtha]

Lindybeige, is that you?

[@Ramidemi710]

It's like with wearing multiple condoms, the more the better.

[@Sin526]

🤔

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

It's helm-ception

[@carlosalbin7706]

Metatron, Warhorse Studios, the guys that are making Kingdom Come: Deliverance, have just tweeted this video. They most have loved it to have done that

[@David-ni5hj]

Carlos Albin I hope he sees your commentary, that game is definetely what he and us would be more hyped about.

[@Nerobyrne]

GB: Armour USA: Armor GB: Honour USA: Honor GB: "Hey what's the deal America?" USA: "I'm getting rid of U"

[@LuckyRanger849]

Nerobyrne yo are absolutely on to something.

[@ericodinaire5544]

U is useless anyway so yeah.

[@connorlee6032]

Colour, color

[@connorlee6032]

@Romano Coombs lmao France supported the Norman's because they were frightened of them atleast Britain tried to drive foreigners out to the last man. Rule brittania

[@robertlombardo8437]

Ahahahahahahahahahahaaaa! Did not see that coming.

[@kinchan4548]

The point at 18 minutes in. I'm so glad that you became that KZbinr who successfully found a way to arm yourself. Your past and has predicted yourself in the future

[@adamkg3215]

this is possibly my favorite Metatron video. It is so informative and just well-delivered

[@metatronyt]

Thank you. In my next video, which should come out between today and tomorrow, There Is a section where I review this Evolution again, but with a lot more iconography. Stay tuned :)

[@tfd7915]

Two points,. 1) The flat topped helmet seems more of a fashion choice to me than practical. When facing indirect arrow fire (IE arrows fired into the air rather than directly at soldiers and therefore meant to deliver a volley of arrows that are falling down on them from above) a conical helmet is much superior when it comes to deflecting arrows, something a flat topped helmet cannot do. I'm not surprised that the flat topped helmet was fairly short lived as a result and that most helmets were conical going forward. 2) I always found it interesting that gunpowder had made it's way to Europe by the late 14th century, just as full plate was being developed. Meaning the reign of the iconic full plated knight lasted less than a century (late 14th through the mid 15th) before being made obsolete by increasingly effective firearms.

[@Liam_The_Great]

I would imagine that the flat topped helms would be easier to make, making them cheaper and so would be the go-to for your average footman. Maybe that's why they were so prevalent when the conical shape is better at deflecting blows.

[@tfd7915]

@@Liam_The_Great That could be. I assumed it was a fashion choice but when it comes to things like this we're all guessing

[@KijiroBugboy]

Footmen generally wouldn't have been wearing greathelms; they would have been expensive to produce in the late 12 and 13th centuries so they would be reserved for nobility/knights. However, I still agree with your general train of thought that flat tops were probably chosen because they were easier to produce. The earliest great helms would have been much more production-intensive than the open nasal helms they developed out of, so they would probably need some way to simplify production to equip even just the crusading nobility with them on a large scale. As for the interaction between gunpowder and plate armor, you must take into consideration that early firearms were much less developed than even the flintlock muskets that we often think of when we imagine early guns. Those muskets come from the late 17th century to the 18th century primarily. Large-scale armies would not have been equipping their firearm troops with flintlocks universally until then. Before then you have matchlocks and fire lances in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, which are more rudimentary firearms with a number of drawbacks, including often times less penetrative power due to less standardization in munitions. Another important thing to note is that gunpowder weapons were not the sole primary weapons of a standing army until the late 17th-18th centuries; before then, you still have a large number of melee troops like pikemen and heavy cavalry supported by firearm troops. Think the Spanish "tercio" scheme. So from the 14th-early 17th centuries, gunpowder weapons were by no means ubiquitous. This means that in the early years of gunpowder in Europe, plate armor actually stood a chance against it and that's why we see such rigorous full plate development starting in the 15th century. You'll hear of "armor of proof" which was rated to protect against initially crossbow bolts, but later also firearm rounds; these armor of proof often sport angled breastplates meant to aid in deflection. This would continue through to the 16th century, where we get the classical chivalric "knight in shining armor" look. So actually, the "heyday" of full plate armor really spans 200 years between about 1420 and 1620, when the cuirassiers decide to dial back to 3/4 plate and swap their heavy lances for long pistols. The thing I find most hilarious is that the romantic "medieval" knight image (which largely comes from the 19th century romantic period) is usually depicting 16th century armor patterns from the *Renaissance*!

[@tfd7915]

@@KijiroBugboy Yes I know all that. Nevertheless within 25 years or so gunpowder arrived and fr4om that moment on the days of the night were numbered. Point is the era didn't las as long as many think. Much like the "wild west" in the USA. it's heyday too was no more than 25 years or so.

[@erroltan1743]

Those Deus Ex themes though. Dark souls themes too "Soon the Fire shall fade and only dark will remain" - Adam Jensen

[@RandomAllen]

Errol Tan Smh... *I never asked for this*

[@Darksky1001able]

Errol Tan Seeing this makes me realize Dark Souls doesn't fuck around.

[@custodianvrael6471]

This video reminded me that I've spent over 500 hours on dark souls 3 (I got GUD)

[@Pedro_Colicigno]

Honestly got a war flashback when Friede's song started playing haha, that boss... it still haunts my dreams... never do Ariandel before the major bosses...

[@In_The_80s]

It was such a battle between the growth of Weaponry vs armor. With every new upgrade in weaponry there has to be an upgrade in armor to counter it. It was an arms race between blacksmiths on who made the better invention. The science behind the two is amazing and full of knowledge with some being lost through the strongest weapon of all, time. Great video subject and once again full of amazing details.

[@harrowdrut6316]

Sucks that right when armor started looking really cool guns were invented.

[@Kriegter]

Guns were already around at the time. Armour got cooler BECAUSE it had to stop musket shots. So it's more the other way around.

[@Dirtgut]

sucks that guns were invented

[@mrbouncelol]

@@revbladez5773 You might also say that developments in medicine, surgery and combat first aid have affected this because modern soldiers are able to wear only enough armour to prevent lethal hits because it is likely (although of course far from certain) that hits to their extremities can be made less than lethal via the rapid application of combat first aid e.g. tourniquets and rapid wound sealants, and swift expedition to a location where life saving medicine and surgery can be applied. Now all this probably goes out the window in a peer conflict

[@SerFordham]

I disagree, 11th 12th century Crusader armor looks really awesome..

[@theo4990]

colonial era uniforms are some of the drippiest though

[@JonatasAdoM]

Why are the 2 horses hugging each other? are they trying to console each other?Or are they brothers who were split between two brothers that hate each other?

[@JohnDoe-on6ru]

It's a sarcastic hug, like when you say "Ooooooooh I'm so happy for you!", but in your head you are really thinking "What an uppity bitch."

[@AGermanFencer]

The ernest answer (if interested :D ) is, that the horses are fighting for themselves. Destriers (medieval warhorses) were trained to fight.

[@diegosilva3927]

Blank- blade Nice

[@richardfry2069]

Timestamp?

[@diederikgeertzen9469]

Brothers from a other mother

[@theanonymousmrgrape5911]

Hey it's 4:00 AM. Time to learn about the history of knights!

[@khanaratsadon]

Hey it's been 2 years. Time to reply to this comment!

[@cometthegreat8750]

Same dude

[@WearyFeline]

Dude that’s literally exactly when I started watching this XD

[@hatforacat3977]

hitting too close to home

[@itisaturtle9391]

*3 years later at 4 am* Yes I agree with you!

[@MsPysoul]

its interesting how the romans made their first 'plate' armors centuries before the first experiments with them in the medieval ages

[@DennisBLee]

I was just thinking about how much of this was just reinvention of what already existed 1000 years prior

[@AverageAlien]

medievel technology quickly outpaced and overtook anything the romans made

[@wastrelperv]

I think while the exterior seems familiar, the greater difference might lie in the interior design. I could be uninformed but medieval armor design beyond just the plate seems more advanced and provided better protection. I've never heard of padding, layered protection, and suspended helmets in Roman armor. Could be wrong. And even medieval plate seems more complex in the way it comes together, better design. Medieval metallurgy would be much better as well. One reason weapons evolved so much, new capabilities and new tools needed to counter advances in armor.

[@hohenzollern6025]

That's what a dark age is. It's the loss of technology and knowledge. Took the Germanics a thousand years to pick up where the Latins left off. This upcoming dark age, I expect will last thousand-S- of years. It may be three thousand years before the next civilization can once again look at naked women on only fans via a cell phone, because this time... this time we have nukes. Buckle up kiddos, it's gonna be a wild ride! (luckily you wont live thru it)

[@AverageAlien]

@@hohenzollern6025 no it didn't, lmao

[@No-ig6kc]

metatron the kind of guy to upload a video and instantly have 1080p

[@JefferLin]

Thanks!

[@didsain]

A moment of silence as we remember the poor sop who was the first to have his neck snapped by his frog helm. (Thus causing the smiths to decide "Hey, let's attach that to the breastplate so it doesn't happen again!") 20:52

[@BioTheHuman]

I really don't understand how did they breathe in that thing 😅

[@Bamboozlenoodle]

You forgot to mention that the great helmet was preceded by the 'mediocre helmet' and the 'so-and-so helmet' before that. It was succeeded by the 'amazing helmet' and later the 'fabulous helmet'. The ultimate head protection was the 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious helmet'.

[@kevcaratacus9428]

It's a nice change to hear someone be specific of what era theyre talking about. So many utube channels say "medieval " this or that happened.. as if medieval lasted 10 years or something.. Medieval covers a few hundred years.. SHADIVERSITY take notice ..

[@Jelly_Juice2006]

Exactly. It covers about 1000 years of history

[@caveman2787]

You can't really blame him time flows differently in Australia

[@kevcaratacus9428]

@@caveman2787 lol

[@m33tballa]

Common media nerd misconception (video games, fantasy novels, etc) is that greaves are the full plate legging armor which is not the case. Greaves are only shin armor. Poleyn are knee guards. Cuisses are thigh armor. Its the same thing when people say "plate-mail" plate-mail is not a real thing for all intents and purposes. Plate and mail are separate materials. You may think this distinction is nitpicky, but it's important to have specific information and verbiage when talking about facts or history.

[@PadraicSmith]

I really enjoyed this and I love these long(ish) form talking videos about historical weapons and armour. Looking forward to more like it :)

[@kylevidauri4869]

This is going to be absurdly useful. I'm doing some work on a fantasy setting, and going through historical iterations of armor is just a perfect way of lining up both technological development and style is just so helpful. Thanks Meta!

[@sartanko]

This is great if you want to write fantasy with a world that has some progress over time.

[@gastonlinares5593]

Im here for that purpuse indeed :V

[@dutchdanderdinde6450]

That's exactly what I'm doing lol

[@StarRider253]

Literally the exact video I've wanted, right here. I love you, Metatron

[@masterchief3007]

I know by the 14th century, the shield had dropped mostly out of use. How and when did this happen? Could be a cool idea for a video.

[@duchessskye4072]

When the Full Plate armor was worn, those soldiers abandoned the shield. So the real question is, when was plate armor first used in battle?

[@masterchief3007]

The_JoJo_Reference I guess I'm more interested in the evolution of the shield alongside armor, and wondering if two handed weapons or any form of dual wielding was used before the invention of full plate, since especially some of the later armors seemed complete on their own and would provide enough protection without a shield.

[@duchessskye4072]

Adam Wolfe unlike plate most armors were still unable to really protect against blunt damage, so probably that's why

[@noone6766]

By the 15th century

[@skinon45]

gotta love that dark souls + deus ex music, simply beautiful, also i love these videos, and how specific you are metattron, thank you for your work

[@pabloraulpereyra4948]

I notice that a lot of time the 500-1000 years are "outside of medieval times. Most of the events and stuff arent cover in games or deal in any sense

[@trslim6032]

You used ds3 music. When are you going to continue your review of DS armor? Or is that series over?

[@adriancarrillo1330]

came for this comment

[@connorduffy3726]

these videos just get better and better

[@deytow]

Very funny how some armor characteristics from the Greco-Roman world that were lost get slowly readopted over time like, grieves, fully encased helmets, neck guards

[@kurtslavain]

Brigandine and chainmail+gambeson(or other type of thick cloth) is the coolest armour ever...also the Norse helmets with the nasal masks-the coolest looking ever.

[@ZemplinTemplar]

This is seriously one of your best videos to date. Good thinking with the shout out to Ian as well.

[@SpadaccinoLuciano]

Can you do a video on Byzantine armor from 284 - 1453? I've seen a few examples of Byzantine armor, and it seems really similar to armors like the Lorica Segmentata, but I've also seen Byzantine mail, and armors that look similar to ones I've seen from the Middle East, so I think it would make a really interesting video to show all the different styles and influences.

[@Βουλγαροκτόνος1014-χ7π]

SpadaccinoLuciano they tended to use lamellar and chain mail.

[@guilhermehx7159]

Theres no Byzantine empire at 285

[@fernothemouse]

Byzantine Empire existed from 330 to 1453 CE.

[@ideclaredwaronyourfrenchas4123]

@@fernothemouse AD*

[@ladoga]

@@fernothemouse Roman Empire FTFY Imperium Romanum/Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων There is no starting date for Byzantine Empire, since officially no such thing was ever established. So to be pedantic, what he clearly wants is a video on imperial Roman armor from late 200s to mid 1453.

[@Achillez098]

That Deus Ex and Dark Souls soundtrack in the background, you beautiful, cultured man!

[@Sylentmana]

This is also reflective of the armor progression of the Fighter in most D&D campaigns. It was for me at least.

[@aleksaradosavljevic4001]

I loved this video so much because it showed how armor dramatically changed from full chain to full plate from the 11th century to 15th century. Well done there and thank you so much! I think that armor was useless by 1500 because they already had guns and other advanced weaponry which replaced the medieval ones.

[@mrtrollnator123]

Armor wasn't useless after gunpowder. In fact, Armor became even more important to defend against this new weapon, so it adapted to this new change

[@aleksaradosavljevic4001]

@@mrtrollnator123 That seems very true. Thanks for sharing.

[@mrtrollnator123]

@@aleksaradosavljevic4001 no problem mate😎

[@LawnMowerProductions]

yes but the more important question is what about dragons?

[@chaptermastertushan3576]

I think you'd need to make some modifications to the armor...

[@LawnMowerProductions]

it's a joke from Shardivsty

[@DzinkyDzink]

Enchant your bloody armor. If dragons exist, the magic behind them does too.

[@jorgejohnson875]

MACHICOLATIONS!!!

[@gastonlinares5593]

A true man of culture!

[@ethan6277]

This video actually taught me something. Awesome job!

[@KingmanHighborn]

Wait a minute. Why are the horses wearing boxing gloves on their backs and hugging each other at 6:18 ?

[@natebiese8795]

I dunno what they're called but i think those are extensions of the saddles to help keep the rider on and oriented. They aren't hugging, they're grappling. It's a little known fact that horses invented wrestling.

[@DzinkyDzink]

Lies, the Greeks invented the wrestling.

[@KingmanHighborn]

Nick Dzink Greek horses?

[@natebiese8795]

Kingman Highborn That's what i meant.

[@plaidpvcpipe3792]

correction, fighting

[@mattparsons433]

Awesome video - I’m trying to learn about armour for artistic purposes, I always find that understanding how things work and what their purpose is helps immensely when trying to visualise how something should look. This video did a perfect job of explaining everything you need to know about medieval armour while giving great visual examples. Many thanks!

[@seisette]

Hi Metatron! It would be pretty interesting a video on horse armour through history. But probably you already thought about that :D Great explanation ad always. Ciao from Bari.

[@Zayphar]

I've been looking for this video for 2 years. I finally stumbled upon it by accident. Yes, I know, my search skills suck. Never thought to search for 'evolution'. So sue me. In any case, thanks Metatron. Appreciation!

[@cassuttustshirt4949]

Coat of plates! My favorite type of medieval armor! Yaaaay! Also, now I want a full harness of Milanese plate in Kingdom Come Deliverance. I'm pretty damn sure you can get one. You gave that game one hell review! I enjoy all of you videos. Man you make me *even more* excited for medieval warfare knowledge!

[@joshuawagner2590]

Wow! Over 30 hours of work? Thank you very much for this. Your time was well spent making this, as was mine watching it.

[@konstantin.v]

How to date a knight? That would make a great video title :)

[@paulbrule5897]

Ask him if he wants a one knight stand

[@yareyare9458]

@@paulbrule5897 badumpts

[@febbra2]

It depends. Do you have a sister?

[@Espirivit]

It'll be a bore. The first half of the date he'll talk about himself, the second half he'll talk about his armor.

[@Espirivit]

@Allen Rider The stay for the second half of the date! Lol.

[@JLkeepinitrealdude]

I’ve always loved the 1400’s sectioned light armor Plates fitted to the body that allow for more range of movement with more armor on places like the belly, legs and arms, with less and less as we get to the head has also been an aesthetic I love a lot when it comes to armor- definitely not efficient in the real world, but it still looks incredible (if looking to fashion alone)

[@gasperzuber129]

A wonderful video, I loved that you pointed out that fashion had a lot to do with the development of the armour, as knights would often wear unpractical equipment just for fashions sake. Various head decorations spring to mind. Or later, as the winged Hussars wore the wings purely for the aesthetic purposes.

[@Telsion]

Gašper Žuber THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!

[@gasperzuber129]

Telsion Coming down the mountain side! hahah I love Sabaton :D

[@Kretek]

inb4: "hussars wings were making this spooky sound to scare enemy horses" ;)

[@MRKapcer13]

In actuality they mostly didn't wear wings. Rarely, though it was done, was a single wing attached to the back of the horse worn. The misconception comes from around 19th century when Polish nationalism and clamour for independence gained a lot of ground. Re-emphasised by writers and painters of the period, it's mostly a myth. I should add that, at the very end of Hussars' existence, when they were jokingly called "Funeral Guard" they apparently did wear wings, but that was entirely outside of combat.

[@gasperzuber129]

Thank you for the information, but my point was just the fact that they did wear something that was not for personal protection.

[@mattblack118]

Super video. Great content and I learned much despite studying medieval arms and armour for a very long time. Great work Metatron.

[@PadraicSmith]

15th Century music was the Dark Souls III title music that is engraved into the back of my skull.

[@logansfury]

This was an awesome video! The Arthurian tales have always been my favorite books and I have always been very very interested in the specifics of plate armor. This was a fantastic tutorial of the evolution of the armor thru the medieval period. Thank you very much for the upload :D

[@rubengalvan1031]

Awesome video. It would be a good idea to make a video about the renaissance armors, in specific the half armors of the Landsknechts and the swiss mercenaries!

[@rickrussell8382]

As usual a clear run down. Easy to follow and interesting.

[@puffer_frog]

The Sister Friede's theme in the 14th century section and the Dark Souls opening in the 15th century section makes me extra moist

[@AudieHolland]

Methinks a "rider's split" was not just created in the hauberk for the knight to mount his horse. It was also pretty handy for going to the bathroom I bet.

[@BountyFlamor]

So the crusaders did not wear that flat-topped helmet till the 1200s?

[@silas__3994]

Yup, Lindybeige has a video on crusader helmets specifically

[@nekhlioudovbolkonsky2901]

There were crusades during the 13 th century

[@Jelly_Juice2006]

No, late 1100s

[@nealsterling8151]

Excellent Video! There's so much information, i'll need to watch it some more times! Also, i like the comparison between german and Italian styled armors, and since i like both styles very much, this Video has become one of my favourite (among so many) on this channel for now. Very appreciated!

[@calvinhuddleston576]

I'm trying to get into armoring and based on my (admittedly not large) experience I think the flat tops were just easier to make and thus cheaper, I might be wrong but that's my guess

[@Heratis]

Excellent video! Today I saw it for the second time and I think it will not be the last. I learnt a lot from it. This evening I saw a group of sculptures and I was able to identify it as a representation of a12th century knight and some common soldiers and I felt great! So when I came back home I watched this video again and I had to spent some time to thank you for your effort.

[@legopattonfilms]

Very interesting video. I also find it helpful for designing armor for a fantasy story, here's how I would use them for my story. (Based on the thumbnail) 1100: Light Infantry and City Guards 1250: The King's Guard 1330: Common Knights 1400: Elite Knights 1450: King's Armor and Tournament Armor Thanks very much for the Education!

[@betteryou7hanme]

"Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?" - Joan of Arc, probably.

[@Shiftinggers]

Man that Dark Souls 3 intro music hit the spot.

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Excellent, one of your very best videos so far.

[@kaicreedon7062]

Dark souls 3 soundtrack...Good choice

[@broskiemandudebrov]

Very interesting video. Not only did I learn about different armor from different periods, but how the armor worked. Very nice.

[@ostrowulf]

Why did they use 3/4 sleaves? It does not strike me that it would save that much resources compared to the cost of the rest of the mail, especially when you add in the cost of sheild, helmet, and horse.

[@celticperspective5183]

It’s for mobility really, there is less weight on the forearm so you can move more easily

[@ostrowulf]

@@celticperspective5183 Fair enough. Mobilty vs armour protection is part of the equation still having to be assessed with modern armour (both personal and vehicular).

[@celticperspective5183]

@@ostrowulf lol I didn't realise I answered a question from 4 years ago, but yeah I think that they would have prioritised mobility over protection especially as the larger shields would have made arm protection practically redundant

[@ostrowulf]

@@celticperspective5183 All good, I do it sometimes too. Took me a minute to figure out the refrence point of what my comment was even reffering to though. But yeah, having a sheild makes the calculation a little different as to if you want to bother wearing armour on your forearm. I mean, Romans were relatively (for their time) heavily armoured, with not a lot on the arms with their masive sheilds. The same logic applying later on with also relatively large sheilds.

[@verg8091]

that dark souls music for 14th century, just perfect

[@hanswoorst]

Greetings, noble one! I have a question to Metatron, the linguist. It is completely unrelated to this video, please excuse. Why do so many english speakers (including you in this video) say eK cetera when the latin expression is actually eT cetera? I have heard this consistently from many native english speakers and it does not seem to be an actual mistake, though it is kind of strange to hear for a german speaker. We use this expression a lot - in the form of eT cetera...

[@Hopeofmen]

hans wurst It depends on where in the US or UK you're in. Some places, they say the "t". Others form the t and c into a "ck" sound. I believe the main reason why this is the case is that t and c are hard to pronounce one after the other, and so English simplifies it to a "ck" sound.

[@yahyaf2132]

Hello fellow noble one, I think the reason many English speakers pronounce it this way is because it's easier to pronounce. The linguistic term is a "dissimilation rule" which basically means that one of two similar adjacent sounds are changed in such a way so they are more different and therefore easier to pronounce. For example: Sixth may be pronounced as sikst or fifth as fift to make it easier. eksetera is easier to say. Another English mangling you might hear is "et cetra". It is also common in English to omit the unstressed syllable in three syllable words like mystery and probably. In German how can you hear the difference between Bund and bunt? A second explanation may be that many words begin with the prefix /eks/ in English like exercise, exit, exemplary, etc. So it's a sound we are used to. A final reason may be that etc is often misspelled as ect but i'm not convinced on this one. Finally a question for you, it's my understanding that Germans often use the phrase „und so weiter“, is there any major difference between usw. and etc.?

[@xy7596]

hans wurst as a german i would say as far as i know they mean exactly the same thing and are used interchangable.

[@Xhatair]

Actually (I have to say that I didn't put much attention to how he pronounced it) I suppose it's also relevant that in italian "et cetera" has evolved into "eccetera" nowadays, so he may well have pronounced it in italian, maybe even without realizing it (just my 2 cent, from an italian like him) ;)

[@hanswoorst]

@Yahya F: "und so weiter" means exactly the same as "et cetera". Most Germans use both forms

[@cameronraleigh7354]

the funny part about testing armor yourself is if it works you'll know, but if it doesn't then you'll know for about 3 seconds

[@sengcreate3060]

I'm always curious, medieval time, where most army are make up peasant army & armour knights, where peasant soldiers are poor, they wear what they had, while the knights can own armour with various design & style to suit their body size and high, So with no standard outfit/uniform, how those army could tell which soldiers are friends or foes ? besides flag and language. all i know is, that the British use red coat as theirs standard uniforms, allow General recognize which soldiers is who.

[@Telsion]

seng create I have this same question

[@sengcreate3060]

Telsion for ancient Greek, i had theories how those army could tell which soldiers is friends or foes, based on the drawing symbol on their shield, or the formations, the incoming soldiers are foes, while the pushing army from rear are friends...this is just a theories

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

seng create The use of untrained levies would, of course, vary by region and time period. In some cases, a knight would bring along an entire retinue of men at arms, in others, they would bring along the local peasantry. In any case, it doesn't make sense to bring along your source of income (the workforce on your land) without looking after them. So, they might provide outdated armor for the peasants, possibly just a padded jack. As for identification, it could be anything from a bit of cloth tied around the arm, to a tabard with the lord's sigil. But this all depends on time and place.

[@grailknight6794]

seng create first of all in medieval times its a complete different thing then we as modern people think!, uniforms werent widely spread at this time! so one thing that they did is each 'regiment' or company or contigent of troops depending on where they were recruited had most likely their so called colours so for example you had a regiment of infantry soldiers from lets say wessex! they would have a standard bearer which job would be to carry the colours of that "regiment" or company or whatever! so it was mostly done with banners and colours which is why banners were so important back then! also to understand this way you have to know that battle tactics at this time were not about charging and spreading eachother like in hollywood were they leave formation and end up in a mixed cluster of small duels!!! this never happend because of many other reasons but one reason is that that way you distuinguish friend or foe and the whole concept of banners losses its value if everyone on impact just leaves the bannerman behind dispurses in a cluster of random melee! this why actual medieval battle tactics were you had your line and group you would stick to that group as much as possible! hence having a man with a huge banner in the middle so you know where approximetly where your group is and if happen to accidently get too far of your group you would look for the banner and get in line again! formations were so important because formations were designed not to break! if formation breaks you loose because people dont know who is who, they loose the group so they usually run away! very important formation not to break also for this topic of knowing who is who!

[@sengcreate3060]

Garret LeBuis color are very expensive material at medieval time, so possible with symbol to identify who is who, that all i know

[@Bigbigpista]

Thank you very much, this was one of the best videos you have made.

[@Traderjoe]

Was there significant quality improvements to the mail in that era vs the mail used by Romans before Christ?

[@aqui1ifer]

traderjoes from what I’ve read the Roman mail was a combination of butted and riveted while medieval mail was riveted only.

[@zoukatron]

Really glad you did this video. Of course I really enjoy Ian LaSpina's videos as well, but we have been needing some to cover a better summary over time.

[@ZennZennster]

I hear the Dark Souls 3 soundtrack

[@johannesdolch]

Nice Video and also congratulations to your "Say Century a bazillion times in one video" achievement.

[@jigilo4853]

Excuse me if I am ignorant, but how come there doesn't seem to be any you-tubers who talk about French Chevaliers (Knights) at all?

[@baconthulu]

jigilo because they​ are to fancy to talk about

[@13bravoredleg18]

jigilo They are losers!!!

[@jigilo4853]

Wow thanks guys, your input is so helpful to me.

[@baconthulu]

jigilo perhaps they aren't popular enough or shown enough in popular media

[@jigilo4853]

I suppose that's a good reason but I've always struggled to see why. The whole idea of Knights came from France around the age of Charlemagne, and it's not like they were awful, they beat back the English in the hundred years war and spear-headed the crusades.

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

Thanks for all your great videos, Metatron! I love watching them and they have helped me draw so much. I never even thought that knights' armor evolved (because I'm dumb) and have been enlightened to be historically accurate in my art and, with historically accurate armor, I think my works look a lot more comfortable and functional while also looking more badass

[@alberto1234lr]

Great video! What about Spanish armor? and the famous XVI century conquistador helmet, was it functional?

[@alenirsic3500]

I am just impressed about your knowledge. Keep it up :)

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

Knight armor in 16th century: ''Let me show you my boomstick.''

[@xenotypos]

Actually, they just made armors thicker to withstand bullets, and in exchange there were more gaps uncovered so that weight would not be a big issue. It was common until the late 17th century.

[@mwdnasa]

very nice and subtle use of fitting background music!

[@MravacKid]

13:45 misspelled "Pembridge"

[@Markfr0mCanada]

It would be interesting to see how all these changes in armour relate to other changes in the same period. I'm sure that weapons and armour were often developed to counter one another, so comparative armour and weapons development would be a good topic. The other big change I notice is an increase in the overall amount of metal used in the armour, which leads me to believe that production methods must have improved, and that larger quantities of iron were becoming available. I also recognize the challenge of trying to cram this much material into a 25 minute video, so good on you man.

[@omega7334]

Why do some medieval paintings look so poorly drawn? I mean perhaps they were made by someone important but they look as if they were drawn by a child at the time. The knights in the 11th century image are very disproportionate, what is the reason behind that? Perhaps it can be a next video idea :)

[@PhyreI3ird]

Techniques for quality art were NOT well propogated to most places. Hell, to my understanding, literacy barely even was to those outside of the church and nobility, and writing/reading was far more important than good art to people of the time. Still it is really odd just how bad most medieval european art was xD

[@writ1741]

Well, as someone who has painted early medieval art, such as illuminated manuscripts, standard manuscript art (such as the Maciejowski Bible style), and "Byzantine" or Eastern Orthodox iconography, I must say that there are some running themes in the artwork and it's not as easy as it first appears. Although, I do agree that some art looks incredibly odd and sloppy compared to others. That might be due to time limits and the fact that many of these images are much smaller than you might think. But even I, before recreating these images, believed they were merely childish and easy to do with very little effort. I have quite the different opinion about them now. :)

[@poiuytrewq11422]

It was the popular style back then. Being realistic was not a large concern, getting the point across and looking flashy (To a person of the time) was all that mattered.

[@imiivestreamer]

This was super interesting! Thank you for putting your time into this.

[@madichelp0]

Did they forget how to make plate armor after the Romans disappeared? It seems so strange that they all went back to chainmail.

[@Riceball01]

I'm thinking, yes. You have to remember, by the time that Rome fell they had gone back to wearing mail and had been wearing mail for centuries. So given that, I'd day that it's pretty reasonable to believe the knowledge of how to make steel plates was largely forgotten.

[@lourencoalmada1305]

Riceball01 They were still making swords and spear tips, which are metal plates squeezed and sharpened at the edges, so I doubt they forgot how to make them. Armor was very affected by fashion, so I think it just was fashionable to have only mail (just like the flat top helm).

[@ryan.1990]

Cheaper too to make mail.

[@StarRider253]

Mail works well though, and is easier to produce, so there's two good reasons

[@andrewgu2457]

madichelp0 And mail was a lot more comfortable and easily maintained than a bunch of overlapping plates. You can see that almost all of the soldiers fighting on campaign preferred mail armor, given that a monument Adamklissi shows almost all of the Roman legionaries in mail. Keep in mind that this monument was built by soldiers, and was built at roughly the same time as Trajan's Column.

[@khayaludidi5967]

Who even dislikes well researched videos like these?

[@martin.m4306]

Can you make a video on man at arms?

[@Riceball01]

If I'm nost mistaken, men at arms refers to knights and possibly soldiers of the time in general; it does not refer to those people in a Medieval/Rennaisance army who weren't knights or nobles.

[@martin.m4306]

Riceball01 no no no. the man at arms show on AWE me

[@TheOnlyPedroGameplays]

I used to think the Bascinet looked ugly but now I love it

[@CodenameMalleus]

Is there a similar video for Japanese armor?

[@baconthulu]

CodenameMalleus not that I could find

[@HyperGnome]

Absolutely fantastic video Metatron. Thank you very much.

[@ryklatortuga4146]

As the Dragon said, "Pah, Canned food again."

[@seanshepherd1543]

Thank you SO much, Noble One. This is an *awesome* video! I (obviously) subscribed. Can't wait to see more! =)

[@casonastudios1228]

a nice Video, I do have an few critics though. You said that wehn you see a Kettle Helmet you can immediately to ca.1200, but this Type of Helmet was common 'till the End of the 15th Century, evendoe, according to the Artwork, it was more Common by the Common Soldier then by Nights. Secondly the Visby style Gauntlets date to the Battle of Visby 1361, and even though they might have been in use earlier by the Knightly Class, I don't know of any Sources that would indicate a Use in the Late 13th Century.

[@metatronyt]

Hello and thank you for watching. It is a common mistake to consider the armour found at Visby as contemporary to the date of the battle but that's a huge mistake completely debunked by the best of historians. The armour in question, found in the mass graves, belonged to the Gutnish country yeomen, peasants who did not wear the best armour of the time, but instead wore very old fashoned armour, which is what we see for instance in the visby gauntlet which needs to be dated several decades back in time to the time I have dated it in this video. For the Kettle helmet I think it goes without say that when I mention the date of the development of a certain helmet that helmet did not automatically and immediatelly go out of fashion and it will be used for several decade together with other kinds of helmets. What I ment to say was that if you see a kettle hat it's atleast a late 12th century early 13th century helmet. I can assure you a lot of thought and double and triple checking went into the making of this video and the information I share on it.

[@casonastudios1228]

Hello! Thank you so much for your Answer! I'm sure that you spend lots of Time researching for your Videos, and I appreciate that, and your Channel is one of my Favorite ones on KZbin. I know that the Gauntlets found in Visby where probably not common around 1360, and I also said that in my original Comment, I just don't know of any Sources for them being in use as early as the 13th C. But how far you should date them back is probably pretty vage, I personally would date them to around 1330. According to the Kettle Helmet, I must have understood you wrong, I thot you ment that they where just in use around 1200. Sorry for that. Thanks ones again, Singa

[@SebHaarfagre]

Who exactly are these so-called "best of historians"? On what basis do you conclude with such a bombastic term? Sorry, I really like the effort and quality of these videos, but I'm disappointed in the amount of sources listed (AKA _none_ ) and as such I regret to tell you that you lose almost all credibility. I know you're not inventing stuff for the gist of it, not at all, but seriously. I don't know if you hate academic stuff, but you got to at least have _some_ sources in description, or refrain from presenting it as objective fact overall.. Best regards

[@cpm9747]

This helped me a lot figuring out a suit of armor for a character in a story I'm writing. Thank you!