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Do you wear gambeson under plate?
The gambeson was used both as a complete armor unto itself and underneath mail and plate in order to cushion the body and prevent chafing. There are two distinctive designs of gambeson: those designed to be worn beneath another armor, and those designed to be worn as independent armor.
What did a knight wear under his armor?
A knight wore a coat of mail called a hauberk made of metal rings linked tightly together to protect his body. Underneath this he wore a padded shirt called an aketon.
Did knights wear chains under plate?
Chain mail armour was commonly used by knights from the 9th up to the late 13th century CE, although it did continue to be worn into the 15th century CE, often under plate armour.
What was worn under plate armour?
Because of this weakness, most warriors wore a mail shirt (haubergeon or hauberk) beneath their plate armour (or coat-of-plates). Later, full mail shirts were replaced with mail patches, called gussets, sewn onto a gambeson or arming jacket.
How many layers did a gambeson have?
Unlike many reproductions of quilted gambesons which are available to purchase or see today, and are usually stuffed, it was decided to make the gambeson at least twenty-eight layers thick. This seems like a lot, but there are references to gambesons that had up to thirty layers.
Why would a Knight wear a gambeson?
A knight wearing chain mail armor would have a gambeson under the mail and possibly an aketon (same thing as a gambeson only some historians use the term to reference the quilted jacket that people sometimes wore over their armor) over all of it. When not wearing armor knights would wear a gambeson because it was warm and offered decent protection.
What would a Knight wear under his armor?
A knight with plate armor would wear chain mail under the plate and a gambeson (a quilted jacket that was stuffed with horse hair or scraps of cloth) under the chain mail.
Can you wear a gambeson with armor?
A gambeson could be worn in conjunction with mail and/or plate (in which case it was often known as an aketon), or as stand-alone armour. The stand-alone gambesons tend to be quite thick, like this one, and would have been impractical to combine with metal armour.
What does a gambeson look like?
Collection Centraal Museum, Utrecht. A gambeson (also aketon, padded jack or arming doublet) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armor separately, or combined with mail or plate armor. It also doubled as a winter coat for wearers.