Does anyone knwo by chance whether this progression followed some sort of “optimization” pattern, I.e. were the armors getting better and better or not really?
I’d imagine getting better but also adapting to changing warfare and to weapons getting better. But that’s just a guess
Essentially, the armor got more complex, expensive, and invulnerable up until ~1600 AD. Honestly, anything ~1440 AD onward is borderline invincible if well-made. The only real way to get through it at the time was sticking a dagger through the visor, or bludgeoning them to death, since even thick padding can only reduce impact force so much. Some warhammers and poleaxes could be used to crush and puncture their way through, but it’s still very difficult to get a solid enough hit in with them on a moving armored target.
After ~1600 AD, the expense and the weight that was needed to counter increasingly powerful firearms made armor just not worth it, in cost or weight, and it ‘reverted’ to leather jackets and metal cuirasses, as in the last pic, before fading away completely.
Though all of these are essentially meant for mounted troops, the ~1610 and ~1650 examples are optimized for cavalry use.
Cool! Thanks for the detailed answer
Guy in 1675: “Hey everyone! I just created a new type of defense from weapons and projectiles by using sheets of boiled leather!”
Everyone: “We’re way past that dude. Who uses leather anymore?”
