Armour
Armour is protective plates or clothing meant to shield a human from intentionally inflicted harm. Armour has been in use for all recorded history, beginning with hides, leather, bone, progressing to bronze, steel, ballistic cloth, and ceramics. Armour has been primarily a way to protect oneself from harm in combat and military engagements.
Armour parts may be manufactured using a wide variety of materials and forms. During the Middle Ages, cloth, soft leather, boiled leather, chainmail and iron or steel plates were often used.
In European history, common armour types were the lorica segmentata, the gambeson, the maille hauberk and later the full plate armour used by late medieval knights. In feudal Japan, laquered lamellar armours were popular.
