A mail coif, a type of

armour Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

, covered the head. It consisted of a flexible hood of

chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

, extending to cover the throat, neck, and the top part of the shoulders. Mail

coif A coif () is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head. History Coifs date from the tenth century, but fell out of popularity with men in the fourteenth century."A New Look for Women." Arts ...

s protected European fighting-men of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

History

The

dates from the 10th century, and is a close-fitting cap that covers the top, back, and sides of the head. It was usually made from white

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

and tied under the chin. They were everyday wear for lower-class men and women from the 12th to 15th centuries.

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

originated with the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

in the 5th century BC. After the destruction of the

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, mail came back into fashion as the most common form of battlefield armour much later, during the Middle Ages among European mounted and foot soldiers until the 13th century.

Construction

The most common pattern of linking the rings together is the 4-to-1 pattern, where each ring is linked with four others. Historically, the rings composing a piece of mail would be riveted closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to an attack. In the beginning, European mail was made of alternating rows of round riveted rings and solid rings. By the 14th century, European mail makers stopped using solid rings and mail was made from wedge riveted rings only with no solid rings. Contrary to depiction in most media, the mail coif was never placed directly on the skull, but onto a thick shock-absorbing padding made from leather, textile, hair, etc. Increased

thermal insulation Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with s ...

led to faster overheating of the wearer, which was of major concern for armoured combat. By the late 15th century, the

aventail An aventail () or camail () is a flexible curtain of mail (armour), mail attached to the skull of a helmet that extends to cover at least the neck, but often also the throat and shoulders. Part or all of the face, with spaces to allow vision, cou ...

had replaced the mail coif completely. An aventail is a curtain of mail that is attached to the skull of a helmet. The mail extends to cover the throat, neck, and shoulders.

Etymology

For the word ''mail'', there are a variety of alternative spellings. This is a common English word introduced by the French. Generally, the English spelling has been preferred, which is ''mail'', instead of the lately used ''maille'' or the inauthentic term ''chainmail''.

References

Bibliography

* * * . * {{Elements of Medieval armor Medieval armour Body armor

History

Construction

Etymology

See also

References

Bibliography