Chain Mail armour was made from thousands of interlocking metal rings. This type of armour could stop most blows from swords and daggers and polearms, however, Chain Mail was not very effective against the English Longbow or the Crossbow!
There were many different types of chain mail armour with various names, one being a chain mail shirt (like in the photo below) that was known as a 'Hauberk' and there were chain mail 'coifs' and even chain mail 'leggings'!
Chain Mail 'Coif'
This type of armour was very heavy on the shoulders and warriors wore padded gambesons underneath to stop the armour from chaffing with the skin. It was mainly worn by Norman warriors in combat around the 11th century but was later replaced by full plate armour in the 16th century.
Me dressed in my Chain Mail Hauberk
This armour was also worn underneath full plate mail and plate mail armour to provide extra protection to the vulnerable parts of the body.
To produce Chain mail armour took many hours of winding, cutting and bending small metal rings. The armourer used a tool known as a 'Mandrel' to wind the wire around a small rod and then he slid the wound wire off and cut it using metal cutters. The ring ends were then flattened and small holes punched and the ring was then closed up and secured with a small rivet.
With today's method of producing chain mail, armourers use normal wire of around 1.6mm to 2.5mm wire and then it is cut and bent using pliers - no need for little rivets like in the old days!
For further information on these and other weapons and armour described here in these web pages, see my bibliography page.
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