similar construction continued to be used by infantry into the 15th century, but a longer
and narrower shield of Byzantine origin, shaped like an elongated almond, was
introduced in the 11th century for use by heavy cavalry and predominated from ca. 1050
to 1150. The normal type of helmet (MHG helm, OFr. helme, MidFr. heaume) in the
period before 1150 took the form of a more or less convex cone, most commonly
constructed from four or more triangular sections of metal or some other hard material
bound by iron bands. It was usually supplied with a nasal bar and until ca. 750 with
hinged cheek plates as well.
The coat was almost always made of mail (OFr. maille), a mesh of interlocking iron
rings of uniform size. The names most commonly given to the mail coat in the period
before ca. 1300 were derived from the Old Germanic word *brunaz ‘bright’: Lat. brunia,
OFr. brunie or bro(i)gne. Down to ca. 800, no protection for the neck was generally
worn, but in the 9th century it became customary to wear a mail hood with attached
shoulder cape over or partially under the mail coat and under the helm. This caped hood
was apparently known as the halsbergen ‘neck guard’ in Frankish and by a derivative
word variously spelled halberc, halbert, (h)auberc, etc. in Old French. This word (in
English in the form “hauberk”) has been applied since at least the 17th century to the mail
coat or brogne itself, but this was an error of the antiquarians, and historically it had
designated only the caped hood as long as the latter was still in use—that is, until the 14th
century. The hood proper, which was often attached directly to the brogne, was called the
coiffe, and from the 12th century onward the brogne with attached coiffe was called an
haubergonne.
Helmets and mail coats were expensive, and before ca. 800 they were worn only by
kings, nobles, and their most distinguished companions-in-arms. In the 9th century,
however, they came to be distributed to the ordinary members of royal and noble military
retinues, newly named vassals, and from ca. 950 they were to be characteristic of knights,
who were always expected to appear for battle in the most complete and up-to-date
armor.
The period 1150–1220 saw the first major changes in the form of armor used in France
since the Frankish conquest. Most of these changes were in the direction of increased
protection for the body, already begun with the adoption of the long shield. In the late
12th century, the sleeves of the brogne were extended from the elbows to the wrists and
finally acquired attached mittens. Mail leggings, or chausses, though occasionally worn
earlier, similarly came into general use among knights ca. 1150 and were worn to ca.
- Also ca. 1150 began the custom of wearing a surcoat (OFr. surcote, cote a
armer)—a loose, generally sleeveless cloth coat probably borrowed from the Muslims—
over the coat of mail. The surcoat was universally adopted by ca. 1210 and worn
thereafter until ca. 1410. Throughout this period, it was commonly emblazoned with its
wearer’s heraldic “arms,” but these new ensigns were primarily displayed on the shield—
which between 1150 and 1200 also lost its traditional boss, between 1150 and 1220 was
made progressively shorter and wider, and between 1200 and 1250 was given an
increasingly triangular shape through the leveling of its upper edge.
Although the traditional conical helm continued in use until ca. 1280, several new
forms emerged in this period that were destined to supersede it. The most important were
the flat-topped “great” helm, which between 1180 and 1220 evolved to enclose the whole
head in a cylinder of steel pierced only by slits for seeing and holes for breathing, and the
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