Glossary of Arms and Armor

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anneal
To heat a metal until it is soft for working, followed by gradual cooling to strengthen or temper the metal.

armet
A helmet completely encasing the head, with hinged, movable cheekpieces overlapping on the chin, and a visor; replaced by the close helmet in the six- teenth century.

arquebus (also harquebus)
A light form of handgun used by European infantries throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

backplate
An armor plate for protection of the back; corresponds to the breastplate, to which it is attached by straps or hinges. Normally forged in one piece to fit the body, with additional plates (lames) attached to protect the lower back region.

barbute
A tall open helmet of Italian origin, often with a pointed apex (later rounded), cheekpieces, and a small face-opening; in use from about 1350 to the end of the fifteenth century.

bard
A comprehensive term for armor protecting the horse--made first of mail, later of plate.

basinet (also bascinet or basnet)
A light helmet in use during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The headpiece is generally ogival or egg-shaped, usually fitted with a pointed visor and a mail neckpiece (camail) for defense of the throat and neck.

"bastard" sword
See hand-and-a-half sword.

bevor
An element of plate for defense of the lower face and throat. Can be either a separate piece worn with a helmet such as the sallet, or an attached piece worn with the close helmet.

bill
A staff weapon with an asymmetrical head usually fashioned to include a spike, a curved cutting hook in front, balanced with a short spike in back. Derived from an agricultural instrument and popular with the English and Italian infantries of the fifteenth century.

boar spear
A spear with a broad, leaf-shaped blade (often elaborately decorated) and a cross-toggle below; originally used in boar hunting.

bluing
The process of applying heat to metal to achieve a deep blue color.

breastplate
An armor plate for protection of the chest and abdomen; normally worn together with a backplate and fitted with flexible plates (lames) below to protect the lower abdomen.

brandistock
A staff weapon consisting of a tubular shaft that conceals either a single blade or a set of three blades within an aperture. By jerking the weapon forward, the blades could be released and locked with a catch, ready for action. Widely used from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, both in civilian and military versions.

breath
Holes or slits for ventilation in the lower visor of a helmet.

breech
The rear end of a cannon or gun barrel; usually the point of ignition.

brigandine
A type of armored sleeveless jacket, used principally by infantry throughout the fifteenth century and until the middle of the sixteenth century, consisting of numerous small overlapping plates of metal attached with rivets to the back of a cloth support. Fine examples are often faced with colorful velvet.

broadsword
A sword with a straight, wide, two-edged blade used by European heavy cavalry through the nineteenth century.

buffcoat
A defensive coat made of buff (boeuf) leather thick enough to resist a sword cut; used primarily for cavalry in the seventeenth century, when plate armor was falling into disuse.

buffe
A separate, usually detachable, element of plate armor worn with an open helmet to protect the face and throat.

burgonet
A light, open helmet characterized by a peak, a fall over the eyes, and hinged earpieces; used by cavalry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Sometimes worn with a buffe.

cabasset
A light, open headpiece with a conical or almond- shaped apex and a small brim; generally used by infantry.

camail
A mail defense for the throat and neck attached to a helmet like the basinet or barbute, from which it suspends to the shoulders.

chanfron
The plate headpiece for a horse, first introduced in the fourteenth century. The complete chanfron was fitted with cheekpieces and a crestpiece, and by the sixteenth century was often elaborately decorated.

chapel-de-fer
An open-faced helmet usually with a broad brim resembling a hat; used from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.

close helmet
A helmet fitted with a visor and bevor completely encasing the head. It has no cheekpieces and all elements function from a common set of pivots at the temples.

collar
See gorget.

corsèque
A staff weapon, the head of which forms two fork-like blades resembling a trident.

comb
The ridge running fore and aft along the skullpiece of a helmet.

corselet
A term usually applied to the armor of the pikeman; his body armor or cuirass.

cranequin
A crossbow winder consisting of a ratchet, a claw to grasp the cord, and a handle; used to span or wind the crossbow in order to fire its bolt.

cuirass
The armor for the body as opposed to the head and limbs; a combination of breast and backplates.

damascening
The technique of inlaying gold and silver into grooves gouged out of a metal surface, often favored for the decoration of sword hilts. Originated with Muslim artists of the Near East and was later adapted by North Italian and Spanish craftsmen in the fifteenth century, from whom it spread into the rest of Europe.

embossing
The decoration of metal plate by hammering it up in relief from the inside.

engraving
The application of ornament to metal by cutting the pattern directly into the surface with special tools such as the burin and graver.

estoc
A thrusting sword with a stiff, usually three-sided blade designed to penetrate armor; name derives from the French word meaning "to thrust."

etching
The decorative technique most commonly used on arms and armor. The process consists of tracing a design into the metal with an etching needle through a previously applied acid-resistant substance like varnish. The application of acid "bites" into the exposed surface, leaving a permanent pattern which can be blackened or gilded after the varnish is removed. A variation of this technique known as "raised" etching involves applying varnish with a brush to cover those areas to be decorated with a design. Subsequent application of acid leaves the decorated areas slightly ele-vated to achieve relief.

fauld
That part of the armor attached to the breastplate for the defense of the abdomen, usually composed of horizontal lames.

field armor
Armor designed for use in war, as opposed to "tournament" and "parade" armors.

flanchard
An oblong plate of armor attached to the base of the saddle, protecting the flanks of the horse. It closed the gap between the crupper (protecting the rump) and the peytral (protecting the horse’s chest).

fuller
A groove that reduces the weight of the blade of a sword or dagger without weakening it.

gardbrace
A reinforcing plate closely fitted to the pauldron, providing additional protection to the combatant’s left shoulder (the principal point of impact) during a joust.

garniture
A complete armor with related or exchange pieces, especially double pieces for converting the basic unit to sporting and various field uses.

glaive
A staff weapon with a long cleaver-like or scythe-shaped blade.

German joust (Deutsch Gestech)
A form of joust fought with blunted lances in an open field without a tilt, requiring special equipment for both rider and horse. Popular in the German-speaking lands. See also Stechhelm.

gorget
Also called a "collar." An armor element providing defense for the neck, throat, and upper part of the chest; normally consists of two parts, front and back, joined by a hinge on the left shoulder and fastened with a stud on the right.

greave
An element of plate armor to protect the lower leg from the knee to the ankle.

halberd
A staff weapon combining an axe head balanced with a spike and a hook-like fluke; carried by infantry.

hand-and-a-half sword
Also known as a "bastard" sword. A large sword with a double-edged blade and a long grip which, when necessary, could accommodate both hands to wield it.

harness
A term referring to the whole armor for the man.

hauberk
A shirt of mail generally extending between the hip and the knee.

joust
A sporting combat between mounted knights. The combatants charged each other with "couched" lances, and often required special armor and equipment. Jousts frequently took place within a tournament.

knee-cop
A protective plate for defense of the knee.

lames
Overlapping plates of metal forming a flexible defense. Mobility was achieved by riveting the plates to straps at the back or by means of sliding rivets.

lance-rest
A support for the lance when couched under the right arm, consisting of a bracket riveted to the breastplate and sometimes hinged so that it could be folded away when not in use.

linstock
A staff for holding the lighted match used for firing a cannon; sometimes combined with a spearhead at center for self-defense and often very decorative.

lists
An enclosed area, usually fenced off, where tournaments were held.

lock
The ignition mechanism for a gun.

mail
Flexible armor fashioned from interlocking rings. Commonly used throughout Europe until its replacement by plate armor in the fourteenth century.

morion
An open helmet with a tall comb and a curved brim peaking before and behind.

munitions armor
Armor mass-produced for the common soldier, usually cheaply.

partisan
A staff weapon with a symmetrical double-edged central blade, often highly decorated. Carried as a ceremonial arm by officers and bodyguards in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

pauldron
A plate defense for the shoulder and upper arm.

pike
A specialized infantry staff weapon with a small leaf-shaped head, often averaging fourteen to twenty-two feet in length; used as a hedge against cavalry charges.

pole arms
A generic term for hafted weapons, nearly always carried by infantry and requiring the use of both hands, with a steel head (in a variety of shapes and configurations) attached to a long wooden pole. Ceremonial versions were often embellished with colorful woolen pompoms or velvet tassels.

pommel
The spherical knob, often highly ornate, serving as a counterweight at the opposite end of a sword to the point.

pommel plates
Steel plates attached to the upper curl of the saddle bow, designed to protect the upper thighs of the rider.

quarrel
The missile, shorter than the arrow of the longbow, shot from the crossbow. Also called a bolt.

quench
To plunge heated steel into a medium such as water to cool it. The more rapid the quenching, the harder the steel becomes.

quillons
The crossbar on the hilt of a sword.

rapier
A sword originally worn with civilian dress, distinguished by its long straight blade and complex guard. With the development of fencing techniques, the rapier became a fashionable thrusting weapon.

Rennen
A German term for a form of joust in which sharpened or pointed lances were used to unhorse one’s opponent. Points could also be scored for the splintering of lances.

rerebrace
Armor for protection of the upper arm.

ricasso
The rectangular part of a sword blade nearest the hilt but above the edge, usually thickened and blunted to permit the fingers to grip it securely.

sabaton
Armor plates for the foot.

saber
A curved, single-edged cutting sword used exclusively by cavalry.

sallet
A light, semi-open helmet that succeeded the basinet in the fifteenth century. Sometimes fitted with a visor, sometimes open-faced, and sometimes with a vision slit cut in its front, it features a rounded skullpiece with a long, drawn-out tail.

sight
The vision slit in a helmet or visor.

smallsword
A light thrusting sword worn with civilian dress from about 1640; later worn with court uniform.

Stechhelm
A great helm that was bolted to the rider’s breastplate and used with blunted lances in a specifically German form of the joust. See also German joust.

tassets
Plates suspended from a breastplate by rivets or straps for defense of the hips and upper thighs.

temper
To soften hard, brittle steel by heating it to high temperatures.

tilt
A wall or fence, often of cloth-covered wood, intended to separate mounted participants in a joust. Introduced during the fifteenth century to prevent head-on collisions between riders.

tournament
A generic term for mock combat held between teams of contestants either mounted or on foot. Introduced as a useful form of practice for real combat, as well as for entertainment, becoming a formal event during the twelfth century.

two-handed sword
An extremely large (up to six feet long) infantry sword requiring both hands and special training for effective use. Eventually became a ceremonial weapon for bodyguards.

vambrace
Armor defense for the lower arm.

visor
The movable plate or plates attached to a helmet for protection of the face.

 

Glossary reprinted from Arms and Armor.