1719 Medieval Leg Armor

13th C. .

Leg armor that covers the knee (known as ‘poleyns’) was one of the first forms of plate armor. Poleyns were generally worn by attaching them to or over chain mail ‘chausses’ that either came to the knee or else extended down the leg.

In the 13th C, most soldiers wore a gambeson (padded jacket) covered by chain mail, with polyens protecting their legs, copts to protect their elbows, and a helmet (usually the conical ‘Great Helm’). The use of full sets of plate armor did not come into common use for another century.

Crusaders wore this combination of mail with small sections of plate armor on their journey to and subsequent battles in the Holy Land. The 13th century saw many crusades, and it was a time of great upheaval as legions of soldiers left their homelands to fight in foreign lands. Armor was usually stripped from the dead as iron was a precious commodity in medieval Europe.
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