ARMOR is a general name for the apparatus for personal defense, as contradis tinguished from arms or weapons of offense. Little of it is worn by soldiers at the pres ent day, seeing that hand-to-hand conflicts, in which it is especially serviceable, are rather exceptional in modern warfare. It was before the invention of gunpcovder that A.—often called in England by the name of harness—was especially used.
All the ancient nations who occupy a place in history were accustomed to adopt one or other of the defensive clothing or implements which collectively come under the denomination of A. Leather A. was sometimes worn; but brass, iron, and other metals were preferred. Some of the more luxurious leaders had much silver and gold in their A. In the Bible, shields, helmets, breastplates, and areaves, are mentioned among the articles of A. borne or worn by the Israelites and their opponents. The classical writers Homer, Xenophon, Herodotns, Livy, Tacitus, Varro, etc.—supply abundant evidence of the use of A. among the nations concerning whom they wrote.
It is believed that the early Britons bore little or no other A. than shields. The Anglo-Saxons were more fully provided. At different times before the Norman conquest they appear to have had four-cornered helmets; loricte made of leather; scale-A.; leath ern helmets; wooden shields covered with leather; sheep-skin shields; conical caps or helmets of metal; pectorals or neck-guards; breast-guards of undressed hide; flat-ringed A.; byrnes or tunics of overlapping pieces a leather, close-fitting cuirasses of leather, and sometimes of strong linen; leg-guards of twisted woolen cloth; shields of various sizes, from half a yard to a yard and a half in length; and casques having more 'or less resemblance to the ancient helmets. When the Danes were in Britain, they had at first no other A. than leathern neck-pieces, which descended some way over the shoulders and chest; and greaves or shin-pieces for the legs. In the time of Canute or Krone, how ever, they adopted a kind of A. which Sir Samuel Meyrick supposes them to have bor rowed from the Norsemen or Norwegians. It comprised a tunic, with a hood and long sleeves; pantaloons which covered feet as well as legs; and sugar-loaf-shaped helmets or skullcaps, with attached pieces which hid nearly the whole face except the eyes. All these were probably made of leather; but most of the-surfaces were strengthened by inacles or mascles, a perforated network of steel.
With William the conqueror came in the kinds of A. which were at that time preva lent among the knights and soldiers of the continent of Europe, and which became after wards more or less combined with the A. previously known in England. William him self occasionally wore a hauberk of ring-A. This kind of A. was much worn during his reign, the rings being usually attached to a foundation of leather. One curious variety of ring-A., called the haubergeon, had the tunic and breeches all in one piece. The hel mets were generally conical, with a nasal or nose guard descending from the front. A distinct ring-A., called hose, was often worn on the legs. The shield was generally kite shaped, unlike the oval shields carried by the Anglo-Saxons. Gradual changes iu these various portions of A. were made between the reigns of William Rufus and John. Under Henry III., we find stitched and padded hauberks and chausses, called " ouvrages de pounpointerie ;" suits of ring-A. ; greaves or shin-pieces of steel; poleyns or knee guards; vambraces or arm-guards; jacks, jaques, or jackets, made of leather, and worn over the ring-A.; interlaced ring-A., of oriental invention, not requiring to be stitched to any garment or foundation; helmets, visors, and skullcaps of various forms; and chan frons, or A. for the head and face of horses. During Edward III.'s reign, iron plate-A. was much used by troopers, in the various forms of helmet, breastplate, gauntlet, and greaves. In the 14th c., chain-mail fell into disuse, and was succeeded by plate-A.; this last-named kind became more and more complicated, and reached its greatest pitch of elaboration in the reign of Richard HI. During the times of Henry VII. and VIII., the A. was sometimes fluted, often elaborately engraved, and even damascened or inlaid with gold. Under James I., the knightly ideas of the feudal times gave way, and the use of A. declined; a knight armed cap-a-pie was a rarity. Charles I. tried to revive its use, but lie had few followers; and the days of Cromwell may be regarded as the last in which A. was worn to any considerable extent by the regular soldiers. Helmets and cuirasses are still worn by the three regiments of household cavalry (life-guards and horse-guards), but more for show than for service.
The chief pieces of A. will be found briefly described and illustrated under the proper headings.