Mail (armour)

Mail (also maille, often given as chain mail or chain maille) is a type of armour or jewelry that consists of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. Mail armour provided a highly effective defense against the weapons of the era. Tests conducted by the Royal Armoury at Leeds concluded that, "it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon."^[1] This construction can ward off a slashing blow by an edged weapon, preventing it from cutting through to the skin. The flexibility of mail meant that a particularly strong blow would often transfer to the user, often causing fractures or serious bruising. It is to be considered however, that most Medieval physicians or physicians of earlier time periods could usually set broken bones, and the mail prevented more serious injuries. The word chainmail is of relatively recent coinage, having been in use only since the 1700s, prior to this it was referred to simply as mail.^[2]

The word itself refers to the armour material, not the garment made from it. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk, if knee-length; haubergeon if mid-thigh length, and byrnie if waist-length. Mail leggings are called chausses, mail hoods coif and mail mittens mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is camail or aventail. A mail collar worn strapped around the neck was called a pixane or standard. It should be understood that this is not like a modern collar that wraps around the throat and back of neck but is rather a very small poncho in that it drapes over the shoulders and covers the breast and upper back.

History

Mail was invented some time in the mid 1st millennium BC, but it is unknown where and by whom it was first used. It may have been invented independently in East Asia and in Europe. The earliest finds are from a 4th century BC (Rusu, M., “Das Keltische Fuerstengrab von Ciumeşti in Rumaenien”, Germania 50, 1969, pp.267-269) Celtic chieftain's burial located in Ciumeşti, Romania. It is believed that the Roman Republic first came into contact with mail fighting the Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul, now Northern Italy. The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period where it was used alongside the lorica segmentata.

"David rejects the unaccustomed armour" (detail of fol. 28r of the 13th century Morgan Bible). The image depicts realistically the method of undressing a hauberk.

The use of mail was prominent throughout the High Middle Ages, and reached its apex in Europe, in terms of coverage, during the 13th century, when mail covered the whole body.

In the 14th century, plate armour began to supplement mail. Eventually mail was supplanted by plate for the most part. However, mail was still widely used by many soldiers as well as brigandines and padded jacks. These three types of armour made up the bulk of the equipment used by soldiers with mail being the most expensive. It was quite often more expensive than plate armour.^[3] A mail shirt interwoven between two layers of fabric is called jazzeraint, and can be worn as protective clothing.

Extant mail is common, but it is not proportionately represented in museum collections.

The Japanese used mail (kusari) in a limited fashion in armor beginning during the Nambokucho period (1336-1392). Two primary weave methods were used: a square 4-in-1 pattern (so gusari) and a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana gusari). Kusari was typically made with rings that were much smaller than their European counterparts, and on a much smaller scale - rather than creating full garments of mail, small sections were used to link together plates and to drape over vulnerable areas such as the underarm. The rings were not welded shut, though some pieces were constructed of rings that consisted of two or more turns, similar to the modern split ring commonly used on keychains. The rings were lacquered to prevent rusting, and was always stitched onto a backing of cloth or leather. The kusari was sometimes concealed entirely between layers of cloth or leather.

Etymology

The word chainmail is a pleonasm and a neologism: in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, "mail", "mayle" or chain was the English name for it, while maille was the common French name for it. This—and the alternative spellings "maile" and "maille"—derive through the Italian maglia, from the Latin macula, meaning "mesh of a net". Spanish corresponding word is malla and Portuguese malha. Cymric term lluric refers to Latin lorica.

Many modern armourers prefer the French spelling "Maille" in order to avoid confusion with the term chain letter for "chainmail" or postal delivery for "mail".

Manufacture

Several patterns of linking the rings together have been known since ancient times, with the most common being the 4-to-1 pattern (where each ring is linked with four others). In Europe, the 4-to-1 pattern was completely dominant. Mail was also common in East Asia, primarily Japan, with several more patterns being utilized and an entire nomenclature developing around them.

Historically, in Europe, from the pre-Roman period on, the rings composing a piece of mail would be riveted closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to a thrusting attack or a hit by an arrow.

Up until the 14th century European mail was made of alternating rows of both riveted rings and solid rings. After that it was almost all made from riveted rings only. Both would have been made using wrought iron. Some later pieces were made of wrought steel with an appreciable carbon content that allowed the piece to be heat treated. Wire for the riveted rings was formed by either of two methods. One was to hammer out wrought iron into plates and cut or slit the plates. These thin pieces were then pulled through a draw-plate repeatedly until the desired diameter was achieved. Waterwheel powered drawing mills are pictured in several period manuscripts. Another method was to simply forge down an iron billet into a rod and then proceed to draw it out into wire. The solid links would have been made by punching from a sheet. Forge welding was also used to create solid links, but the only known example from Europe is that of the 7th century Coppergate mail drape. Outside of Europe this practice was more common such as the well known "theta" links from India.

Modern recreation

In modern re-creationist and re-enactment societies (such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, Adrian Empire and Regia Anglorum) and live action role-playing games (LARPs), suits of mail and mail jewelry are handmade from rings of wire. They may or may not be welded or soldered but are rarely riveted. They may also be made of split sprung steel washers. Usually two pairs of pliers are used to bend the washers open and closed while "knitting" the mail. Many makers may have an apprentice, sometimes called a "ringmonkey", to pre-open or close rings for faster and easier weaving. The resulting mail is usually heavier than traditional wire-wound mail, but very durable. When not used for combat, aluminium is sometimes used to reduce the garment's weight by as much two thirds, with a decrease in strength.

Modern butted mail can be made with household tools (cutters, mandrel for wire coiling and pliers for knitting). Making a hauberk and chausses will take roughly 180 hours. Modern mail makers often refer to the size of rings they are working with by the inner diameter, which is approximately equal to the diameter of the rod around which the wire was wrapped to create the rings. Wire thickness is measured in either millimeters, American Wire Gauge or Standard Wire Gauge, or in decimals of an inch to avoid confusion. In modern mail-makers' terms, mail made of rings with an inner diameter larger than about 10 mm (3/8") are known as "macromaille," whereas mail with rings with an inner diameter smaller than 3 mm (1/8") are known as "micromaille."

Probably the easiest means of producing mail is to wrap wire around a rod, also called a mandrel, to produce a coil of uniform size and shape. The mandrel may be turned by hand or driven by a power tool, such as a drill. The coil is then cut into rings. Depending on the material, rings may be cut with a jeweler's saw, a rotary tool with a cut-off blade, mini-bolt cutters, diagonal cutters, aviation or tin snips, or a hack saw. One of the most effective methods, with the cleanest cut, is shearing pliers, which make a very close overlap cut. Stretching the coil slightly before cutting is an easy means of opening a gap in the rings for assembly. (With practice, deformation of rings resulting from this stretching can be eliminated.)

Recently there has been a movement within the modern reproduction industry to make more historically accurate mail items. The majority of this type of mail is manufactured in India using a form of mass-production. Unfortunately this style of mail lacks many of the intricacies of the period mail it is meant to replicate. But, the cost is low. However, there are a handful of people around the world who are attempting to replicate mail in a much more accurate fashion, but unfortunately only a couple seem to have gotten it correct. While this type of mail is extremely durable, its high level of labor tends to make it too cost-prohibitive for all but the most discerning collectors of reproduction armour. Many reenactors tend to prefer the use of welded steel rings that take less time to produce while offering the same protective benefits of riveted mail.

Protective mail for industrial or other practical applications is knit and welded by machine from wire. However, these machines were largely produced in the 1920s and 1930s and are disappearing as newer materials, like Kevlar knit and fiberglass have displaced mail.

Modern uses

Practical uses

Mail is now used in protective clothing for butchers (against meat-packing equipment), workers may wear up to 8 lb of chainmail under their white coats.^[4] Scuba divers (against shark teeth) and animal control officers (against animal teeth). Shark expert and underwater filmmaker Valerie Taylor was among the first to develop and test the chainmail suit in 1979 while diving with sharks. The British police use mail gloves for dealing with knife-armed aggressors. Modern re-enactors of medieval battles and living history also use mail.

During World War I, mail was evaluated as a material for bullet proof vests, but results were unsatisfactory as the rings would fragment and further aggravate the damage.^{[citation needed]} A mail fringe, designed by Captain Cruise of the British Infantry, was added to helmets to protect the face but this proved unpopular with soldiers, in spite of being proven to defend against a three-ounce shrapnel round fired at a distance of one hundred yards (92.3m).

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that mail is a viable alternative to heavy leather for protecting motorcyclists from injury should they be thrown from their motorcycles.^[5]

Historical re-enactment

Many historical reenactment groups, especially those whose focus is Antiquity or the Middle Ages, commonly use mail both as practical armor and for costuming. Mail is especially popular amongst those groups which use steel weapons. A fighter wearing hauberk and chausses can run, lie, stand up, jump, do somersaults (or even cartwheels), and even swim wearing full armor, depending on the fitness of the wearer. A modern hauberk made from 1.5 mm diameter wire with 10 mm inner diameter rings weighs roughly 10 kg and contains 15,000–45,000 rings. Mail can be used under everyday clothes and many reenactors wear a hauberk under their regular clothes to accustom themselves to it.

One of the two real drawbacks of mail is the uneven weight distribution; the stress falls mainly on shoulders. Weight can be better distributed by wearing a belt over the mail, which provides another point of support.

The other real drawback of mail is that although mail coifs and hoods were historically manufactured and used, the flexibility of mail made them a poor defense against head trauma, since injuries like skull fractures and brain damage could be inflicted simply by force transferred by a weapon that did not pierce the mail. This was the reason why mail-clad warriors wore separate, often rigid, helms over their mail hoods or coifs to better deflect or absorb this force rather than rely solely on mail for head protection.

Decorative uses

Mail remained in use as a decorative and possibly high-status symbol with military overtones long after its practical usefulness had passed. It was frequently used for the epaulettes of military uniforms. It is still used in this form by the British Territorial Army.

Mail also has applications in sculpture and jewelry, especially when made out of precious metals or colorful anodized metals. Recent trends in mail artwork include headdresses, Christmas ornaments, chess sets, and all manner of jewelry. For these non-traditional applications [1], hundreds of new weaves or patterns have been invented.[2]

In film

8-2 mail commonly referred to as Kings Mail

In some films, knitted string spray-painted with a metallic paint is used instead of actual mail in order to cut down on cost (a notable example being Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was filmed on a very small budget). Films more dedicated to costume accuracy often use ABS plastic rings, for the lower cost and weight. Thousands of such ABS mail coats were made for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, in addition to many metal coats. The metal coats were used rarely because of their weight, except in close-up filming where the appearance of ABS rings would have been clearly distinguishable.

In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Tina Turner wore a real metal mail dress.

Weta Tenzan Chain Maille, a division of Wingnut Entertainment, specialises in the production of chain mail (plastic, aluminium and steel) for films.

References

1. ^ "Medieval Military Surgery", Medieval History Magazine, Vol 1 is 4, December 2003
2. ^ Arms & Armour - Mail. Regia Anglorum . Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
3. ^ "Armour Purchases and Lists from the Howard Household Books", The Journal of the Mail Research Society, Vol. 1. No. 1, July 2003
4. ^ Schlosser, Eric (September 3, 1998). Fast-Food Nation: Meat and Potatoes. Rolling Stone magazine (USA), Issue 794,. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
5. ^ M.A.I.L. - Maille Artisans International League - Life Changing, Life Saving - Submitted by shinyrock

See also

• Ring mail
• Banded mail
• Plated mail
• Mirror armour (suplementary oriental plates worn with mail)
• Proofing of armour

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Chainmail

• Erik D. Schmid/The Mail Research Society
• The Treatment of Mail on an Arm Guard from the Armoury of the Shah Shuja: Ethical Repair and in situ Documentation in Miniature
• Excavated lorica hamata
• The Maille Artisans International League (MAIL) - Hundreds of weaves/tutorials/articles, and gallery pictures
• History Channel: Coat of Mail
• Construction tips
  • Butted mail: A Mailmaker's Guide
  • The Apprentice Armorer's Illustrated Handbook For Making Mail
  • The Ring Lord Chainmail Discussion Forum
  • Phong's Chainmaille Tutorials
  • Metal & Maille Forum - With Articles & Tutorials
• Ancient Roman originals can be seen on the pages of the Roman Military Equipment Web museum (www.romancoins.info) [3]ar:زردية

da:Ringbrynje de:Kettenrüstung es:Cota de malla fr:Cotte de mailles annulaire he:שריון שרשראות nl:Maliënkolder ja:鎖帷子 no:Ringbrynje pl:Kolczuga pt:Cota de malha ru:Кольчуга sr:Ланчани оклоп fi:Rengashaarniska sv:Brynja