Greave



A greave (from the Old French "shin, shin armour" from the Arabic jaurab, meaning stocking ) is a piece of armour that protects the leg.

Description
The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia is a bone very close to the skin, and is therefore extremely vulnerable to just about any kind of attack. Furthermore, a successful attack on the shin results in that leg being rendered useless, greatly hampering one's ability to maneuver in any way. Greaves were used to counteract this. Greaves usually contained a metal outside with a felt padding inside. The felt padding was particularly important because, without it, any blow would transfer directly from the metal plating to the shin, rendering the piece of armour almost useless.

Ancient Greece and Rome
During Greek times, greaves had been mentioned in many texts, including Hesiod’s Shield of Heracles, Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. While these are primarily mythological texts, they still dealt with warfare and the fact that greaves were mentioned gives evidence that they were indeed in use. There are also non-fictional testimonies of their use among Roman light infantry (or hastati) from Polybius and Vegetius. These greaves were thought to be mass produced by the Romans using presses on sheets of metal and attaching lining, usually leather or cloth. While it is generally assumed that greaves were generally worn in pairs, significant amounts of evidence has been found that many wore just a single greave on their left or right leg. Many skeletons have been found buried with only a single greave, including gladiators and soldiers. It is also thought that people wore single greaves as a sign of status, as opposed to any practical use.

Medieval Europe
Greaves were common until around the ninth century, where they largely disappeared. There is not much evidence of their use until the second quarter of the thirteenth century. There were a few references to the use of greaves before then, most notably the Bible’s Goliath and the Trinity College Apocalypse, but the lack of other evidence suggests that they were uncommon at the time. Almost all greaves used at this time are known as “Demi-greaves”, or greaves that only protected the shin. Early in the fourteenth century, many illustrations were found showing “closed greaves”, or greaves that protected the entire leg. Closed greaves are made of two plates joined on the outside by hinges and fastening with buckles and straps on the inside.

Medieval Japan
Japanese greaves, known as suneate, were first introduced during the eleventh century, during the late Heian period. The earliest suneate consisted of three plates of metal covering the shin. By the Kamakura period (1186 - 1333), suneate became a standard part of Japanese armor. Around the Muromachi period (1334 – 1572), suneate eventually became a splint mounted on a piece of fabric with mail in between the metal splint and fabric, not unlike European greaves. This is the most common form of suneate, termed shino-suneate, and saw continued use throughout the Momoyama period (1573 – 1602). Sometimes, mounted soldiers used the old three plate suneate that was used during the late Heian period and Kamakura period, known as tsutsu-suneate. Like its European counterparts, most suneate contain leather padding on the interior to reduce the impact of blows and to make the armor more bearable to its wearers.