Armor: How effective was Chainmail

[FarDarter]

Early medieval knights, like those that went on the Crusades, wore heavy chainmail all the way down to their knees and wrists, but they also wore something called a gambeson, which was essentially medieval Kevlar. The knights were made pincushions by enemy archers yet the only wounds they would have received were some nasty bruises.

As for chainmail in the ancient times, it was quite effective. The advantages chainmail has over segmentata is that although it is time-consuming to make, it is easy to make, and could be done by slaves, whereas plates required skilled blacksmiths. Further, a well-kept hauberk might last decades even under constant battlefield usage, whereas segmentata might last a few years if well-kept. However, segmentata was, obviously, better at stopping blows for reasons which I should not have to explain. The reason chainmail eventually superceded plates was honestly probably because the Roman army eventually became barbarianized and less able to sustain extremely well-equipped troops. Chainmail was a very tough armor certainly; however, many Roman soldiers also wore a subarmalis, which is essentially the Roman gambeson; I am sure this would greatly help to cushion stabbing attacks.