A rondel ( French: ; not to be confused with a vamplate, which was referred to by the same term) is a circular, disk-shaped plate of metal added to a harness of late-medieval

plate armor Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, e ...

to close structural gaps or to reinforce vulnerable straps and hinges. The rondel was also used in weapons as a handguard, in particular the

rondel dagger A rondel dagger or roundel dagger is a type of stiff-bladed dagger used in Europe in the late Middle Ages (from the 14th century onwards), used by a variety of people from merchants to knights. It was worn at the waist and could be used as a ...

but also in swords.

Historical development

The first rondels appeared in the late 14th century, soon after rigid

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

es made of

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. European In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is the front portion of plate armour covering th ...

s and backplates had replaced the earlier

coat of plates A coat of plates is a form of segmented torso armour consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates is considered part of the era of transitional armour and was normally worn as part of a full ...

. By the mid-15th century their use had spread throughout Europe until being phased out in field armour of the mid 16th century.

Typology and applications

Armpit defenses

In late-medieval and Renaissance armour the (

axilla The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm a ...

e) were protected by besagews. These often took the form of a plain, slightly convex rondel that hangs from either the

pauldron A pauldron (sometimes spelled pouldron or powldron) is a component of plate armor that evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the a ...

or the top edge of the

gorget A gorget ( ; ) was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the English medieval clothing, medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon (headgear), chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather Collar (c ...

, covering the otherwise exposed gap at the arm’s forward pivot. The plate is normally secured with a very short leather strap and buckle, with laces, or on some breastplates by a turning pin.

Head defenses

Armets often carried a small rondel, also called a volet, attached to the nape of the helmet's skull by a stem. This disk is believed to have protected the leather strap of the wrapper (a reinforce for the visor that preceded the buffe) and prevented an opponent from cutting it away, along with protecting the rear junction of the cheekpieces. Early close helmets, which often mimicked the style of the armet, also made use of rondels at the nape and occasionally at higher points of the skull of the helmet. Rondels were also depicted in

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

s being affixed to the sides of

bascinet The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel Cervelliere, skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at ...

s and

sallet The sallet (also called ''celata'', ''salade'' and ''schaller'') was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also ...

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 ...

s were also sometimes depicted with rondels being affixed to them to cover the throat, much like a

bevor A bevor ( ) or beaver is a piece of plate armour designed to protect the neck, much like a gorget. Etymology The word “bevor” or “beaver” is derived from Old French ''baver'', meaning ‘to dribble’. This is a reference to the effect ...

Elbow disks

Some mid-14th-century armour employed a simple globular

couter The couter (also spelled "cowter") is the defense for the elbow in a piece of plate armour. Initially just a curved piece of metal, as plate armor progressed the couter became an articulated joint. Couters were popular by the 1320s. In fighting ...

consisting of a rondel centred on the elbow joint. By the 15th century this form had largely been superseded by winged couters that wrapped around the joint.

Gauntlets

Small rondels occasionally strengthen the back of gauntlets, either brazed on or riveted through the glove lining, to stiffen the

metacarpals In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus, also known as the "palm bones", are the appendicular skeleton, appendicular bones that form the intermediate part of the hand between the phalanges (fingers) and the carpal bones (wrist, wris ...

and act as a stop for the tourney shield. The manifer (''main de fer''), a type of gauntlet that protected the left hand in the

joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

, employed the rondel as a reinforce.

Shaffrons

The shaffron, a forehead defense that formed part of the

barding Barding (also spelled ''bard'' or ''barb'') is body armour for war-horses. The practice of armoring horses first developed extensively in antiquity in the Asian kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in ...

for a horse, sometimes featured a rondel in the midpoint between the horse's eyes where it was affixed with a spike on which it could rotate to dampen the impact of blows from blunt weapons. They were often ornate and formed part of the style of barding for nobility.

References

{{Elements of Medieval armor Western plate armour