Arms and Armour

Hauberk

A hauberk or byrnie is a mail shirt. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. A haubergeon ("little hauberk") refers to a smaller mail shirt, that was sometimes sleeveless, but the terms are occasionally used interchangeably. Mail armor, likely invented by the Celts, became widely adopted for its flexibility and spread throughout Europe and Asia, becoming a staple in Roman legions and medieval warfare. By the 11th century, the hauberk evolved into a knee-length, sleeved mail shirt, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and it remained in use in Europe until the Renaissance despite the rise of plate armor.

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See also

• ▸1st Special Service Brigade
• ▸Fergus Greer
• ▸Charles Sargeant Jagger

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.