Ring armour



Ring armour (ring mail) is an assumed type of personal armour constructed as series of metallic rings sewn to a fabric or leather foundation. No actual examples of this type of armour have ever been found on European archaeological findings. It is sometimes called ringmail or ring mail. In the Victorian era the term "mail" was used for any form of metallic body armour. Modern historians reserve the term "mail" for chain mail and its varieties, specifically an interlinked mesh of metal rings.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts some of these methods and this has been misinterpreted as different types of armour. It is generally acknowledged today that virtually all the armour on the Bayeux Tapestry is standard chain mail and not "ring mail" or "trellised mail" or "mascled mail" or any other Victorian construction.

Theoretical construction
Ring Armour is essentially a leather or textile item of clothing (a jacket, or trousers) that has a large number of metal rings sewn or tied directly into the foundation garment. Unlike chain mail, the rings are not physically interlocked with each other.

Schiessjoppe (eyelet doublet)
It has been claimed that the garment called eyelet doublet is not a form of ring armour, but an undergarment intended to be used under actual armour. The eyelets are intended as ventilation holes. It was known as a Schiessjoppe in Germany. However, Sir John Smythe, in 1591, recommended that, "Archers should weare either Ilet holed doublets that will resist the thrust of a sword ot a dagger and covered with some trim and gallant kinde of coloured cloth to the liking of the captain........or else Iackes of maile quilted upon fustian." It is clear from this that Smythe's "eyelet holed doublet" was not intended to be worn with mail but as a standalone armour, but this quote from the book titled "The Armourer and His Craft" By Charles John Ffoulkes brings into doubt whether the eyelet doublet was related to ring armour at all. "From the nature of their composition these "eyelet doublets" are rarely to be met with. They were made of twine or thread knitted all over in eyelets or button-holes. The appearance is much the same as modern "tatting" and macramé work."

Ring Mail in Asia
Ring armour seems to have also been used in Asia but was rare (see External Image).