Hauberk

A hauberk is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon ("little hauberk") generally refers to a smaller version of the hauberk, but the terms are often used interchangeably.

History

The word hauberk is derived from the Old Frankish word halsberg, which originally described a small piece of mail that protects ("bergen", lit. "to give protection, to save, to rescue") the throat and the neck (the "Hals"). The Roman author Varro attributes the invention of mail to the Celts. The earliest extant example was found in Ciumeşti in modern Romania and is dated to the 4th–5th centuries BC. Roman armies adopted similar technology after encountering it. Mail armour spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin with the expansion of the Romans. It was quickly adopted by virtually every iron-using culture in the world, with the exception of the Chinese. The Chinese used it rarely, despite being heavily exposed to it from other cultures.