Chainmail Mantle

(About): Fashionable Neckwear for the Knight-About-Town

No suit of late-medieval armor was complete without a mantle of chainmail. Much lighter and less restrictive than a heavy steel plate gorget, our Chainmail Mantle is a light and aesthetically pleasing way to protect your jugular in your re-enactment or roleplay costume. Our Chainmail Mantle is made for us by the expert chainmail-crafters at House of Warfare, who have carefully designed their chainmail in a range of materials and construction for a wide variety of wearers. All versions include a comfortable dagged leather collar so that the mail is perfectly comfortable, and they are secured with two robust leather straps.

Mild Steel, Flat Ring, Wedge Riveted

Our mild steel version is perfect for those seeking greater historical authenticity, and a realistic look and feel. It’s slightly heavier than the aluminum version, and requires a little maintenance to keep it free from rust – but it is as likely as close as we can get to the historical chainmails made in Late Middle Ages Europe. As steel became more commonly available with the construction of blast furnaces from the 13th century onward, mild steel gradually replaced soft iron in the making of fine mailles. Where round rings were made by drawing heated billets through draw-plates, flat rings were also made throughout the medieval period, stamped from thin sheets of metal and riveted closed. New techniques like wedge-riveting were to innovated create more robust chainmail that was less prone to splitting under blunt force. As such, our mild steel Chainmail Mantle is totally period-authentic – perfect for late-medieval re-enactment and light combat.

Aluminum, Round Ring, Domed Rivet

Alternatively, our aluminum Chainmail Mantle is an excellent choice for those of you seeking a more modern and convenient design for your outfit’s chainmail. Metallic aluminum is a modern material; it was only isolated by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted in 1825 – although its naturally-occurring compound alum had been used as a fixative for dyes from Antiquity throughout the medieval period. Hence an aluminum mantle is not strictly historically accurate. But it does away with almost all of the inconveniences of other metals: it is about half the weight of ferrous (iron or steel) chainmail, and it is stainless and is therefore water-resistant and corrosion-free. It is, however, more fragile than ferrous maille, and so shouldn’t be used in combat-ready outfits. Our aluminum Chainmail Mantle is made from round rings, every ring being hand-riveted with domed rivets. This means in terms of its construction it’s a dead-ringer for historical originals, and in terms of its aesthetic appeal it’s a flawless piece of bring chainmail that’ll fit right in with your outfit.

Chainmail in a Changing World

The Chainmail Mantle, the ‘cape of maille’ or the ‘bishop’s mantle’ was a Late Medieval development in chainmail technology. Where in the Early and High Middle Ages chainmail was the primary form of elite armor, covering the body from helm to sabatons, the emergence of plate armor in the 14th century meant that chainmail assumed a new role: covering gaps and vulnerable joints. Goussets of mail were sewn onto the padded gambeson to protect the interior of the elbows and the armpits, paunces of maille were worn under plate cuisse and poleyns to protect the backs of the knees – and a chainmail mantle was worn over or under the breastplate to protect the throat. By the end of the 15th-century, advanced in riveting technology and the invention of the sliding rivet meant that articulated joints could be made that wholly encased the body throughout articulation – but chainmail mantles and other secondary maille remained popular with humbler soldiers throughout the remainder of the medieval period.

Technical Specifications:

• Material: Mild steel / Aluminum
  
• Ring type: Flat ring, wedge rivet / Round ring, domed rivet
  
• Construction: 4-in-1
  
• Weight: 1.7 lb (mild steel) / 1 lb (aluminum)
  

Size:
Neck Circumference: 20-22 inches
Collar height: 1 inch
Front height: 6 inches