European, 15th century / 1400s
Hauberk
Hauberk
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Hauberk as arms and armor (European, 15th century · 1400s).
WHY IT’S INTERESTING
A hauberk might include as many as a quarter million steel rings.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this arms and armor as riveted steel rings.
The museum's collection notes: A hauberk is a mail shirt that generally reached to the knee and was the predominant form of metal body defense throughout Europe until about 1350. Knights wore mail over a padded undergarment known as an aketon and would have been supplemented by a metal helmet and a shield. After the development of full plate armor, mail continued to be a linking element or accessory well into the 1500s.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtHauberkOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.