Armour of Bands 16 guage mild steel.
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Central Asian Armour of Bands

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Armour of Bands

A photograph of armour containing Armour Bands components.

Armour which was constructed of horizontal bands developed independently in several periods and regions. The dynamics leading up to that development were very similar and thus the armour produced was superficially also very similar.
The most complete evidence for such development is available for Japan. Originally, Japanese warfare was very ritualized. A warrior on horseback rode out from his "army", shouting challenges to his opponents. As he rode parallel to the opposing army, he shot arrows at them, under a shower of return fire. Without changing speed he thus made a circuit, charging forward, paralleling and then returning to his side. This was done, in turn, by other warriors from both sides - one warrior at a time.
Japanese armour was then very bulky and, made of very small lamellar plates, heavy. This, however was not a problem for the archer on horseback in as ritualized a situation as above described.
Warfare transformed as a result of the Mongol invasion. The samurai who charged, as above described, into a Mongol army was swallowed up. The Japanese army which expected their brand of "honorable" behavior from the Mongols was similarly decimated. As a result, the Japanese adapted to the reality of "all-out warfare". No longer able to simply shoot from horseback, but needing the ability to maneuver, use the sword and other close-in weapons, and the ability to fight when unhorsed, the samurai looked for alternative designs.

Japanese 'Loose Lacings' Armour Also worn are cuises of 'loose lacings' type plates, a light maile and plates helmet protecting only the forehead and top of the head, a Nodowa neck defense, maile and plates arm defenses joined by maile, greaves of 3 large plates with integral knee defense, and maile and plates shoes.

At this time, they began to use less bulky or partial armours which had previously been the types used by lowly retainers. They also often interspersed leather plates with steel, or substituted the steel for leather all together.
This, however, was not sufficient. After the Mongol threat disappeared, and the Japanese returned to their internal squabbles, they did not discard the lessons of the Mongols. Warfare became more vicious than ever. Now, warriors often had to remain armoured for prolonged periods.
The extensive cloth lacing of the lamellar, soaked in water and mud became twice as heavy as it normally was, slow to dry, it created a perfect breeding ground for vermin. Marching through mud, and without access to baths for weeks or months, the victims of the new type of war died more often from disease than from the weapons of their enemies.
The first order of business was to minimize lacing. After several designs, by the mid to late fourteenth century, the "Loose Lacing Armour" was perfected.
The cuirass of this armour consists of four panels (front, back, and sides) of horizontal bands. Recently developed from lamellar, these bands also overlap upwards and are attached by laces. With the strong awareness of status possessed by the Japanese, the number of laces is made to vary, increasing according to the social position of the wearer.
The adjacent bands of separate panels are connected by independent hinges. The armour hangs by straps from the shoulders and, as most Japanese armour, is fastened at the left. This is done by joining the left side panel to the front panel with toggle buttons.
The skirting and pauldrons are constructed of similar, laced bands. As is common of Japanese armour, the skirting is of eight panels, two laced to each of the four cuirass panels. The pauldrons attach to the cuirass with toggle buttons.
While this armour had its flaws, it was probably the most effective combination of flexibility, strength, and practicality achieved in Japanese armour. In attempting to fix its flaws, new styles invariably created new ones. One particular failure was an armour where the horizontal bands were continuous around the body, with a single opening. This armour was forced open by assistants while the warrior squeezed into it. It then closed by springing back into shape. Other armours were made too rigid by riveting the horizontal plates together, effectively creating a one-piece cuirass. Finally, when the wars ended under the Tokugawa shogunate, armour, which was now mostly a useless status symbol, reverted to older, flashier styles and became embellished with new and ever more impractical finery.
The Romans, faced with similar problems of weight, if not as much those of disease, and with the extreme expense and time constraints of equipping a world class army, came to a similar solution. The Lorica Segmentata, for some time, became virtually the uniform of the Roman army.

Hungarian Anime

This armour is composed of a cuirass of five or seven (depending on the time period) horizontal bands, overlapping downwards, in two sections which fasten in front and back. Some further plates hang the armour from the shoulders and it is completed by integral pauldrons of similar bands. As the few bands replace the large number of plates which would have been necessary for scale armour, the cloth or leather backing is replaced by a few leather straps to which the bands are riveted. The superior efficiency of the manufacture of this armour is immediately evident, the protection and flexibility afforded by its design is also quite good. Thus, its demise in the second century is rather surprising.
Interestingly enough, in the 16th century, now in response to the rigidity of plate armour, and probably due to some influence from the east, Italy and Germany began once more to construct armours of horizontal bands.
Called "Anime" for its flexibility, the bands this time are connected using the "sliding rivet" technology which had developed in the previous two centuries. This armour consists of a breast and back and is supplemented with the same harness as other Western European armour.

Girdle Armour of Bands with Disks

It is impossible to say when armours of bands came into use in Central Asia and the Middle East. However, by the eighth century they were quite common, probably introduced from Central Asia during the initial Muslim invasions, they appear in illustrations from Syria to the Caucas mountains.
Developed, as elsewhere, in response to the weight of lamellar, these armours are constructed of bands which overlap upwards. Often, the armour is not quite of bands, but is a combination of bands and lamellar. In this case, strips of lamellar alternate with bands. While these combination armours are laced, armours which are completely of bands are constructed using internal leather straps.
The cuirass is generally of two halves fastened in front and back (the back is generally permanently fastened while the front opens). Some cuirasses, however, as the eighth century Syrian ones, consist of a front and back. The cuirass is commonly supplemented with skirting of between two and eight sections and pauldrons which extend to the elbow or a little beyond.
These pauldrons are of two types. One consists of same sized bands throughout. The other has a half round upper plate (somewhat similar to the upper plate of the Germanic Spaulder).
The bands are of differing widths, and commonly extend from the waist to the neck. The cuirass is held up at the shoulders by leather straps or bands of maile. Probably the only extant example of such armour in existence, in the possession of the Metropolitan Museum, has half-length sleeves of maile and a skirt of maile-and-plates.
In the fourteenth century, a style of cuirass became popular where the bands stopped below the arm. The upper chest and back are of leather, fabric, or maile, supplemented with mirrors and two smaller discs which are located at the front of the underarm (for lack of a term, these may be likened to the Besageus on Western armour).
A photograph of armour containing Armour Bands components.

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Mirror and Brassier Armour

Armour of Bands

European style Armour

Arm Defenses

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Helmets	[Introduction]	[Rigid Helmet Domes]
[Soft Helmets]	[Face Protection]	[Back'n'Side of the head]

Photograph of a Full Armour

Photographs of a Leg Armour

Archery

Measuring for Armour

Table of Armour Types

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Articles and Illustrations by Norman J. Finkelshteyn.
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Copyright Norman J. Finkelshteyn 1997 -- All articles and illustrations at this web site are Copyright protected material. Use of these articles and illustrations is subject to appropriate restrictions under United States, International, and local Law.