Bishop's Mantle (Cape of Mail)
This cape-like mail garment is known as a bishop's mantle, a term probably coined by collectors or antiquarians in the nineteenth century. It would cover the shoulders and upper torso to about the level of the elbows and was sometimes worn by infantrymen in Germany in mid-sixteenth century.
Other uses of mail in the fifteenth and sixteenth century include eparate mail sleeves, worn with a cuirass (breastplate and backplate); shaped panels of mail called gussets, covered the armpits or the crooks of the elbows and were attached to arming jackets, garments specially tailored to be worn under armor; and mail breeches, called brayettes or pairs of paunces, could be worn by men fighting on foot.
From about the third century B.C. through the early fourteenth century A.D., mail, also called chain mail, was the predominant and most effective type of body armor known in Europe. From about the mid-fifteenth century onward, mail was used in conjunction with full plate armor to fill the gaps between plates.
Other uses of mail in the fifteenth and sixteenth century include eparate mail sleeves, worn with a cuirass (breastplate and backplate); shaped panels of mail called gussets, covered the armpits or the crooks of the elbows and were attached to arming jackets, garments specially tailored to be worn under armor; and mail breeches, called brayettes or pairs of paunces, could be worn by men fighting on foot.
From about the third century B.C. through the early fourteenth century A.D., mail, also called chain mail, was the predominant and most effective type of body armor known in Europe. From about the mid-fifteenth century onward, mail was used in conjunction with full plate armor to fill the gaps between plates.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bishop's Mantle (Cape of Mail)
- Date: ca. 1550
- Culture: German
- Medium: Iron, brass
- Dimensions: L. 23 in. (58.4 cm); W. 40 in. (101.6 cm); Wt. 15 lbs. 6 oz. (7 kg).
- Classification: Mail
- Credit Line: Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929
- Object Number: 29.158.188
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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Kunz Lochner
dated 1549
German, probably Nuremberg
ca. 1500
Kolman Helmschmid
ca. 1525
Peter Peck
Ambrosius Gemlich
ca. 1540–45
German
ca. 1450
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