AustLit

'Medieval warfare was fierce and bloody, and as combat techniques changed, arms and armour needed to become more sophisticated. It was the task of the blacksmith, and later the armourer, to find ways of defending against each new advance in warfare. Medieval armourers had to create better and better protective clothing and superior weaponry to make fighting men less vulnerable in battle. Talented artisans created everything from ring-mail and chain-mail to full body armour that a knight could turn somersaults in. It seemed that the art of the armourer had reached its highest level - until a revolutionary development in weaponry reduced it to so much scrap metal ...' (Publication summary)