Padded Armour

[Dan Howard]

The evidence that a subarmalis was worn under mail is anecdotal. There is pottery, an example of which is published in Peter Connolly's book, where an Etruscan warrior wears a quilted subarmalis in conjunction with scale armor. Medieval warriors definitely wore mail over a gambeson. Somewhere on the RAT is an excellent quote from an Arab historian sadly commenting on the impenetrability of Crusader mail + gambeson.

Actually there isn't all that much evidence for medieval mail being worn over padding. There is nothing at all before the end of the 12th century and several sources suggest padding was not worn. The Middle Eastern quote you mention suggests that felt was worn over the top of mail during that encounter as an additional defense against Saracen arrows - though it is ambiguous.