Leather Cuirass Lorica Musculata, I used to think no way but

[Theodosius the Great]

We know from a royal English tomb and effigy that maille was combined with plate armor from head to toe. So, doubling of armor is a real possibility.

No we don't. It is impossible to tell from effigies whether mail was worn underneath the plate or whether mail was just used as voiders to cover gaps. There are inventories that list mail gussets/voiders dating to the beginning of the period when plate began to supplant mail.

Hi Dan,

I saw a recently produced program on the History Channel hosted by that English expert who specializes in using and wearing ancient and medieval armor / weapons (forgot his name - short and bald guy. His most recent appearance was on a program about Egyptian warfare). In it he showed a rare example of an effigy that shows a narrow gap in the surcoat which revealed that he was wearing mail underneath his breastplate. I wish I knew which effigy and tomb it belonged to but I didn't make note of it at the time.

Anyway, I know the History Channel is unreliable but that was my source for the claim I made about mail and plate.


~Theo