1.
Cuirassier
–
Cuirassiers were cavalry equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. This French term means one with a cuirass, the armour which they wore. The first cuirassiers were produced as a result of armoured cavalry, such as the man-at-arms and demi-lancer, discarding their lances, in the later 17th century, the cuirassier lost his limb armour and subsequently employed only the cuirass, and sometimes a helmet. By this time, the sword was the weapon of the cuirassier. Cuirassiers achieved increased prominence during the Napoleonic Wars and were last fielded in the stages of World War I. Cuirassiers continue to be employed as ceremonial troops by a number of countries, the first cuirassiers were similar in appearance to the fully armoured Late Medieval man-at-arms. They wore three-quarter armour that covered the upper body as well as the front half of the legs down to the knee. The head was protected by a helm, burgonet or lobster-tailed pot helmet. The torso was protected by a breast and back plate, sometimes reinforced by a placate, the arms and shoulders were fully armoured with pauldrons, rerebraces, elbow couters and vambraces. Armoured gauntlets were often abandoned, particularly for the right hand, long tassets, instead of a combination of short tassets with cuisses, protected the front of the thighs and knees, Riding boots were substituted for lower leg armour. Weapons included a pair of pistols in saddle holsters, sometimes a pick. The armour of a cuirassier was very expensive, in England, in 1629, during the latter half of the 16th century, the heavy knightly lance gradually fell out of use perhaps because of the widespread adoption of the infantry pike. Also, the lance required an amount of practice to perfect its use. The lancer or demi-lancer, when he had abandoned his lance, following some initial successes, this tactic proved to be extremely ineffective as infantry, with superior firearms and numbers could easily outgun the cuirassiers. The change from cavalry being reliant on firearms, to close combat cavalry reliant mainly on the sword was often attributed to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the 1620s and 1630s. Only two cuirassier regiments were raised during the English Civil War, the Lifeguard of the Earl of Essex, with the refinement of infantry firearms, especially the introduction of the powerful musket, the usefulness of the protection afforded by full armour became greatly lessened. By the mid 17th century, the fully armoured cuirassier was becoming increasingly anachronistic, the cuirassier lost his limb armour and entered the 18th century with just the breast and backplate. Cuirassiers played a prominent role in the armies of Austria, by the time of the French Revolutionary War, few heavy cavalry regiments, excepting those of Austria, wore the cuirass on campaign
2.
French language
–
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
3.
Armour
–
Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals. Vehicle armour is used on warships and armoured fighting vehicles, a second use of the term armour describes armoured forces, armoured weapons, and their role in combat. After the evolution of armoured warfare, mechanised infantry and their weapons came to be referred to collectively as armour, the word armour began to appear in the Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French. It is dated from 1297 as a mail, defensive covering worn in combat, the word originates from the Old French armure, itself derived from the Latin armatura meaning arms and/or equipment, with the root armare meaning arms or gear. Armour has been used throughout recorded history and it has been made from a variety of materials, beginning with rudimentary leather protection and evolving through mail and metal plate into todays modern composites. For much of history the manufacture of metal personal armour has dominated the technology. Its production was influential in the revolution, and furthered commercial development of metallurgy. Armour was the single most influential factor in the development of firearms, significant factors in the development of armour include the economic and technological necessities of its production. For instance, plate armour first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper, also, modern militaries usually do not equip their forces with the best armour available because it would be prohibitively expensive. The samurai warriors of feudal Japan utilised many types of armour for hundreds of years up to the 19th century, Japanese lamellar armour passed through Korea and reached Japan around the 5th century. These early Japanese lamellar armours took the form of a sleeveless jacket, armour did not always cover all of the body, sometimes no more than a helmet and leg plates were worn. The rest of the body was protected by means of a large shield. Examples of armies equipping their troops in this fashion were the Aztecs, in East Asia many types of armour were commonly used at different times by various cultures including, scale armour, lamellar armour, laminar armour, plated mail, mail, plate armour and brigandine. Around the dynastic Tang, Song, and early Ming Period, cuirasses and plates were also used, the Chinese, during that time used partial plates for important body parts instead of covering their whole body since too much plate armour hinders their martial arts movement. The other body parts were covered in cloth, leather, lamellar, in pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armour was made out of various animals, with more exotic ones such as the rhinoceros. Mail, sometimes called chainmail, made of interlocking iron rings is believed to have first appeared some time after 300 BC and its invention is credited to the Celts, the Romans were thought to have adopted their design. Gradually, small plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas. Hardened leather and splinted construction were used for arm and leg pieces, the coat of plates was developed, an armour made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat
4.
Hellenistic Greece
–
During the Hellenistic period the importance of Greece proper within the Greek-speaking world declined sharply. The great centers of Hellenistic culture were Alexandria and Antioch, capitals of Ptolemaic Egypt, cities such as Pergamon, Ephesus, Rhodes and Seleucia were also important, and increasing urbanization of the Eastern Mediterranean was characteristic of the time. The quests of Alexander had a number of consequences for the Greek city-states and it greatly widened the horizons of the Greeks, making the endless conflicts between the cities which had marked the 5th and 4th centuries BC seem petty and unimportant. It led to a steady emigration, particularly of the young and ambitious, the Greeks valued their local independence too much to consider actual unification, but they made several attempts to form federations through which they could hope to reassert their independence. Following Alexanders death a struggle for power broke out among his generals, which resulted in the break-up of his empire, Macedon fell to Cassander, son of Alexanders leading general Antipater, who after several years of warfare made himself master of most of the rest of Greece. He founded a new Macedonian capital at Thessaloniki and was generally a constructive ruler, Cassanders power was challenged by Antigonus, ruler of Anatolia, who promised the Greek cities that he would restore their freedom if they supported him. This led to successful revolts against Cassanders local rulers, in 307 BC, Antigonuss son Demetrius captured Athens and restored its democratic system, which had been suppressed by Alexander. But in 301 BC a coalition of Cassander and the other Hellenistic kings defeated Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus, after Cassanders death in 298 BC, however, Demetrius seized the Macedonian throne and gained control of most of Greece. He was defeated by a coalition of Greek rulers in 285 BC. Lysimachus was in turn defeated and killed in 280 BC, the Macedonian throne then passed to Demetriuss son Antigonus II, who also defeated an invasion of the Greek lands by the Gauls, who at this time were living in the Balkans. The battle against the Gauls united the Antigonids of Macedon and the Seleucids of Antioch, an alliance which was directed against the wealthiest Hellenistic power. Antigonus II ruled until his death in 239 BC, and his family retained the Macedonian throne until it was abolished by the Romans in 146 BC. Their control over the Greek city states was intermittent, however, since other rulers, particularly the Ptolemies, Sparta also remained independent, but generally refused to join any league. In 267 BC, Ptolemy II persuaded the Greek cities to revolt against Antigonus, in became the Chremonidian War. The cities were defeated and Athens lost her independence and her democratic institutions, the Aetolian League was restricted to the Peloponnese, but on being allowed to gain control of Thebes in 245 BC became a Macedonian ally. This marked the end of Athens as a actor, although it remained the largest, wealthiest and most cultivated city in Greece. In 255 BC, Antigonus defeated the Egyptian fleet at Cos and brought the Aegean islands, except Rhodes, in spite of their decreased political power and autonomy, the Greek city state or polis continued to be the basic form of political and social organization in Greece. Classical city states such as Athens and Ephesus grew and even thrived in this period, the Aetolians and the Achaeans developed strong federal states or leagues, which were governed by councils of city representatives and assemblies of league citizens
5.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
6.
Muscle cuirass
–
It first appears in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It is commonly depicted in Greek and Roman art, where it is worn by generals, emperors, in Roman sculpture, the muscle cuirass is often highly ornamented with mythological scenes. Archaeological finds of relatively unadorned cuirasses, as well as their depiction by artists in military scenes, the cuirasses were cast in two pieces, the front and the back, then hammered. They were a development from the early Archaic bell-shaped cuirass, weighing about 25 pounds, examples from the 5th century BC have been found in the tombs of Thracians, whose cavalrymen wore them. The earliest surviving depiction in Greek sculpture seems to be an example on a sculptural warriors torso found on the acropolis of Athens, the muscle cuirass is also depicted on Attic red-figure pottery, which dates from around 530 BC and into the late 3rd century BC. From around 475 to 450 BC, the muscle cuirass is shorter, covering less of the abdomen and it was worn over a chitoniskos. In neo-Attic art, the cuirass was worn over a longer chiton. Tomb II at Vergina contained an iron muscle cuirass that was decorated with embossed gold, the Italian muscle cuirass lacked the shoulder-guards found on Greek examples. Examples among the Samnites and Oscans sketch a blockier torso more roughly than the anatomically realistic Greek pieces, many examples come from graves in Campania, Etruria, and elsewhere in southern Italy. Polybius omits the muscle cuirass in his description of the types of armor worn by the Roman army, the monument of Aemilius Paulus at Delphi shows two Roman infantrymen wearing mail shirts alongside three who wear muscle cuirasses. They were worn mostly by officers, and may have been molded leather as well as metal, with fringed leather at the armholes, the muscle cuirass is one of the elements that distinguished a senior officers uniform. Kenneth Clark attributes the development of an idealized standard musculature, varied from the facts of nature and he recognized that it allowed for the creation of a sculptural unit in which the position of humps and hollows evokes some memory and yet can be made harmonious by variation and emphasis. The cuirasse esthétique, which so greatly delighted the artists of the Renaissance, is one of the features of art that have done most to alienate modern taste. We can see from certain replicas that this was originally a construction of great power, such is the copy of the Doryphoros in the Uffizi. Hellenistic rulers added divine emblems such as thunderbolts to the shoulder flaps, another conventional decoration is the gorgoneion, or Medusas head, on the upper chest, and often vegetative motifs on the pectorals. One of the elements of iconography that identify the Greek Athena, other deities, particularly the war gods Ares and Mars, could be portrayed with muscle cuirasses. Among freestanding sculptures portraying Roman emperors, a common type shows the emperor wearing a highly ornamented muscle cuirass, figures such as winged victories, enemies in defeat, and virtues personified represent the emperor as master of the world. Symbolic arrangements this elaborate never appear on Greek cuirasses, the cuirass on the famous Augustus of Prima Porta is particularly ornate
7.
Augustus of Prima Porta
–
Augustus of Prima Porta is a 2. 03m high marble statue of Augustus Caesar which was discovered on April 20,1863 in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome. Augustus Caesars wife Livia Drusilla, now known as Julia Augusta, the sculpture is now displayed in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican Museums. The dating of the Prima Porta piece is widely contested and it is thought to be a copy of a bronze original. The sculptor may have been Greek and this original, along with other high honors, was vowed to Augustus by the Senate in 20 BC and set up in a public place. The marble statue, however, was found in his wife and this would explain the divine references to Augustus in the piece, notably his being barefoot, the standard representation of gods or heroes in classical iconography. Under this hypothesis, the dating of the statue can be placed during the first years of Tiberius reign as emperor, the statue is an idealized image of Augustus based on the 5th-century BC statue of the Spear Bearer or Doryphoros by the sculptor Polykleitos. Compare the Orator in the Museo Archeologico in Florence, the Doryphoross contrapposto stance, creating diagonals between tense and relaxed limbs, a feature typical of classical sculpture, is adapted here. The misidentification of the Doryphoros in the Roman period as representing the warrior Achilles made the model all the more appropriate for this image, despite the Republican influence in the portrait head, the overall style is closer to Hellenistic idealisation than to the realism of Roman portraiture. It is almost certain that the Augustus was originally painted, but so few remain today that historians have had to fall back on old watercolors. Vincenz Brinkmann of Munich researched the use of color on ancient sculpture in the 1980s using ultraviolet rays to find traces of color. Today, the Vatican Museums have produced a copy of the statue so as to paint it in the original colours. However, an art historian of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, Fabio Barry, has criticized this reconstitution as unsubtle, there are many notable differences between the original Prima Porta of Augustus and the painted recreation. However, due to the disagreement on the statues pigmentation there is little information or exploration on the usage of these colors. Another copy was painted with different color scheme for the Tarraco Viva 2014 Festival, the writings of second-century polymath, Lucian, provide a good example of how color functioned for a work of that time, I Fear I stand in the way of her most important feature. The rest of the body let Apelles represent, not too white but diffused with blood. The quote continues to state that a statue of the time is unfinished without its chora—skin—or layer, the specific implications of each color chosen for the Prima Porta is unknown, assumedly red for royalty. The haircut is made up of divided, thick strands of hair, from the left two strands stray onto the forehead, and from the right three strands, a hairstyle first found on this statue. This hairstyle also marks this out as Augustus from comparison with his portrait on his coinage
8.
Roman sculpture
–
The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere, examples of Roman sculpture are abundantly preserved, in total contrast to Roman painting, which was very widely practiced but has almost all been lost. Latin and some Greek authors, particularly Pliny the Elder in Book 34 of his Natural History, describe statues, and a few of these descriptions match extant works. Most statues were actually far more lifelike and often brightly colored when originally created, early Roman art was influenced by the art of Greece and that of the neighbouring Etruscans, themselves greatly influenced by their Greek trading partners. An Etruscan speciality was near life size tomb effigies in terracotta, vast numbers of Greek statues were imported to Rome, whether as booty or the result of extortion or commerce, and temples were often decorated with re-used Greek works. A native Italian style can be seen in the monuments of prosperous middle-class Romans, which very often featured portrait busts. The Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker, a successful freedman has a frieze that is a large example of the plebeian style. For a much wider section of the population, moulded relief decoration of vessels and small figurines were produced in great quantity. Even the most important imperial monuments now showed stumpy, large-eyed figures in a harsh frontal style, the hallmark of the style wherever it appears consists of an emphatic hardness, heaviness and angularity — in short, an almost complete rejection of the classical tradition. During the Imperial era, more idealized statues of Roman emperors became ubiquitous, tombstones of even the modestly rich middle class sometimes exhibit portraits of the otherwise unknown deceased carved in relief. Among the many museums with examples of Roman portrait sculpture, the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, religious art was also a major form of Roman sculpture. A central feature of a Roman temple was the statue of the deity. Although images of deities were also displayed in gardens and parks. These typically show more variation in style than large and more official works. Elsewhere the stela gravestone remained more common, Sarcophagi divide into a number of styles, by the producing area. The time taken to make them encouraged the use of standard subjects, to which inscriptions might be added to personalize them, the sarcophagi offer examples of intricate reliefs that depict scenes often based on Greek and Roman mythology or mystery religions that offered personal salvation, and allegorical representations. Roman funerary art also offers a variety of scenes from life, such as game-playing, hunting. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is of type, asnd the earlier Dogmatic Sarcophagus rather simpler
9.
Military
–
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their body and to defend that body. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives, the study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three levels, strategy, operational art, and tactics, all three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective. In most countries the basis of the forces is the military. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures, the obvious benefit to a country in maintaining armed forces is in providing protection from foreign threats and from internal conflict. In recent decades armed forces personnel have also used as emergency civil support roles in post-disaster situations. On the other hand, they may harm a society by engaging in counter-productive warfare. Expenditure on science and technology to develop weapons and systems sometimes produces side benefits, although some claim that greater benefits could come from targeting the money directly
10.
Bronze
–
These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as stiffness, ductility, or machinability. The archeological period where bronze was the hardest metal in use is known as the Bronze Age. In the ancient Near East this began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC, with India and China starting to use bronze around the same time, everywhere it gradually spread across regions. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age starting from about 1300 BC and reaching most of Eurasia by about 500 BC, the discovery of bronze enabled people to create metal objects which were harder and more durable than previously possible. Bronze tools, weapons, armor, and building such as decorative tiles were harder and more durable than their stone. It was only later that tin was used, becoming the major ingredient of bronze in the late 3rd millennium BC. Tin bronze was superior to arsenic bronze in that the process could be more easily controlled. Also, unlike arsenic, metallic tin and fumes from tin refining are not toxic, the earliest tin-alloy bronze dates to 4500 BCE in a Vinča culture site in Pločnik. Other early examples date to the late 4th millennium BC in Africa, Susa and some ancient sites in China, Luristan, ores of copper and the far rarer tin are not often found together, so serious bronze work has always involved trade. Tin sources and trade in ancient times had a influence on the development of cultures. In Europe, a source of tin was the British deposits of ore in Cornwall. In many parts of the world, large hoards of bronze artefacts are found, suggesting that bronze also represented a store of value, in Europe, large hoards of bronze tools, typically socketed axes, are found, which mostly show no signs of wear. With Chinese ritual bronzes, which are documented in the inscriptions they carry and from other sources and these were made in enormous quantities for elite burials, and also used by the living for ritual offerings. Pure iron is soft, and the process of beating and folding sponge iron to wrought iron removes from the metal carbon. Careful control of the alloying and tempering eventually allowed for wrought iron with properties comparable to modern steel, Bronze was still used during the Iron Age, and has continued in use for many purposes to the modern day. Among other advantages, it does not rust, the weaker wrought iron was found to be sufficiently strong for many uses. Archaeologists suspect that a disruption of the tin trade precipitated the transition. The population migrations around 1200–1100 BC reduced the shipping of tin around the Mediterranean, limiting supplies, there are many different bronze alloys, but typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin
11.
Iron
–
Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series and it is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earths outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earths crust, like the other group 8 elements, ruthenium and osmium, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +6, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen, fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike the metals that form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than the metal and thus flake off, Iron metal has been used since ancient times, although copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures, were used even earlier in human history. Pure iron is soft, but is unobtainable by smelting because it is significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities, in particular carbon. A certain proportion of carbon steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron. Crude iron metal is produced in blast furnaces, where ore is reduced by coke to pig iron, further refinement with oxygen reduces the carbon content to the correct proportion to make steel. Steels and iron alloys formed with metals are by far the most common industrial metals because they have a great range of desirable properties. Iron chemical compounds have many uses, Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores. Iron forms binary compounds with the halogens and the chalcogens, among its organometallic compounds is ferrocene, the first sandwich compound discovered. Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron is also the metal at the site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants. A human male of average height has about 4 grams of iron in his body and this iron is distributed throughout the body in hemoglobin, tissues, muscles, bone marrow, blood proteins, enzymes, ferritin, hemosiderin, and transport in plasma. The mechanical properties of iron and its alloys can be evaluated using a variety of tests, including the Brinell test, Rockwell test, the data on iron is so consistent that it is often used to calibrate measurements or to compare tests. An increase in the content will cause a significant increase in the hardness. Maximum hardness of 65 Rc is achieved with a 0. 6% carbon content, because of the softness of iron, it is much easier to work with than its heavier congeners ruthenium and osmium. Because of its significance for planetary cores, the properties of iron at high pressures and temperatures have also been studied extensively
12.
Man-at-arms
–
A man-at-arms was a soldier from the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight or nobleman, a member of a knight or noblemans retinue or a mercenary in a company under a mercenary captain, such men could serve for pay or through a feudal obligation. The terms knight and man-at-arms are often used interchangeably, but while all knights equipped for war certainly were men-at-arms, in the Early Medieval period, any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin. In the course of the 12th century knighthood became a rank with a distinction being made between milites gregarii and milites nobiles. The term man-at-arms thus primarily denoted a military function, rather than a social rank and this evolution differed in detail and timeline across Europe but by 1300, there was a clear distinction between the military function of the man-at-arms and the social rank of knighthood. Though in English the term man-at-arms is a fairly straightforward rendering of the French homme darmes, in the Middle Ages, in France, he might be known as a lance or glaive, while in Germany a Spiess, Helm or Gleve and in various places a bacinet. In Italy, the barbuta was used and in England from the late 14th century, men-at-arms were known as lances or its English equivalent. The military function that a man-at-arms performed was serving as a fully armoured cavalryman, though he could. Throughout the Medieval period and into the Renaissance the armour of the man-at-arms became progressively more effective and expensive, throughout the 14th century, the armour worn by a man-at-arms was a composite of materials. Over a quilted gambeson, mail armour covered the body, limbs, increasingly during the century, the mail was supplemented by plate armour on the body and limbs. In the 15th century, full plate armour was developed, which reduced the mail component to a few points of flexible reinforcement, from the 14th to 16th century, the primary weapon of the man at arms on horseback was the lance. The lance of the 14th century was essentially a simple spear,12 ft in length, a lighter weapon called a demi-lance evolved and this gave its name to a new class of lighter-equipped man-at-arms, the demi-lancer, towards the end of the 15th century. When fighting on foot, men-at-arms initially adapted their ordinary cavalry weapons, in the 15th century, the increased protection of plate armour led to the development of a specialist foot combat weapon, the pollaxe. The horse was a part of a man-at-arms equipment. The type of horse, however, varied according to wealth, Andrew Ayton in an in-depth study of English warhorses of the 13th and 14th centuries has shown that three types predominate, the destrier, the courser and an animal simply known as a horse. Destriers were both rare and expensive, making up 5% of men-at-arms horses, Ayton also calculated the value of the average man-at-arms horse in thirteen campaigns between 1282 and 1364, showing it varied between £7.6 and £16.4. In only two campaigns in the century did the majority of horses cost more than £10. The horse was, therefore, an item of expenditure in the equipment of a man-at-arms
13.
Hauberk
–
A hauberk is a shirt of mail. The term is used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh. Haubergeon generally refers to a version of the hauberk. The word hauberk is derived from the Old Frankish word halsberg, which described a small piece of mail that protects the throat. 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 and 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 exposed to it from other cultures. The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates Norman soldiers wearing a version of the hauberk, with three-quarter length sleeves. Such armor was quite expensive—both in materials and time/skill required to manufacture it—so common foot soldiers rarely were so equipped. The hauberk stored in the Prague Cathedral, dating from the 12th century, is one of the earliest surviving examples from Central Europe and was owned by Saint Wenceslaus. In Europe, use of mail hauberks continued up through the 14th century, in parts of Central Asia, it continued to be used longer. In Japan, a form of hauberk called kusari katabira was commonly worn by the samurai class, goliath was also armed with a coat of mail, weighing five thousand shekels, as he confronted David. The hauberk is typically a type of armour which is constructed of interlocking loops of metal woven into a tunic or shirt. The sleeves sometimes only went to the elbow, but often were full arm length, with covering the hands with a supple glove leather face on the palm of the hand. It was usually thigh or knee length, with a split in the front and it sometimes incorporated a hood, or coif. Mail Plated mail Mail Coif The Arador Armour Library
14.
Galba
–
/ˈsɜːrviəs sʌlˈpɪʃəs ˈɡælbə/, was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex and he was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors and the last emperor born in the First Century BC. He was born as Servius Sulpicius Galba near Terracina, on the left as you go towards Fundi in the words of Suetonius, through his paternal grandfather, he was descended from Servius Sulpicius Galba. Galbas father attained the consulship, and although he was short, hunchbacked and his mother was Mummia Achaica, the granddaughter of Lutatius Catulus and great-granddaughter of Lucius Mummius Achaicus. His father married a wife, Livia Ocellina, a distant kinswoman of the empress Livia. She later adopted Galba, so he took her names, remaining Lucius Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba until becoming emperor. His was a family, and he was a man of great wealth. In his early years he was regarded as a youth of remarkable abilities and his wife, Aemilia Lepida, however, was connected by the marriages of some of her relatives to some of the Julii-Claudii. They had two sons, probably Gaius and Servius, who died during their fathers life, the elder son was born circa 25 AD. Hardly anything is known about his life as he died young and he was engaged to his step-sister Antonia Postuma, but they never wed, which leads modern historians to believe that he died during this time. Their engagement is dated to 48, and that is believed to be his time of death. The date of birth of the younger son occurred later than 25 and this Galba outlived his older brother. He was a quaestor in 58, but he was never seen in politics after that and his time of death is generally believed to be around 60 AD. Galba Minor was never married and had no children, additionally, Suetoniuss description of Galba was that In sexual matters he was more inclined to males, and then none but the hard bodied and those past their prime. This seems to be the case in Roman history where a named individual male is stated to prefer adult males. He became Praetor in 20, and consul in 33, he earned a reputation in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Africa and Hispania for his capability, strictness. On the death of Caligula, he refused the invitation of his friends to make a bid for the empire, for the first half of Neros reign he lived in retirement, until 61, when the emperor bestowed on him the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. In the spring of 68, Galba was informed of Neros intention to put him to death and he was at first inclined to follow the example of Vindex, but the defeat at Vesontio and suicide of the latter renewed Galbas hesitation
15.
Suetonius
–
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius, was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian and he recorded the earliest accounts of Julius Caesars epileptic seizures. Other works by Suetonius concern the life of Rome, politics, oratory, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians. A few of these books have survived, but many have been lost. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was probably born in about 69 AD, a date deduced from his remarks describing himself as a man twenty years after Neros death. His place of birth is disputed, but most scholars place it in Hippo Regius, Suetonius was a close friend of senator and letter-writer Pliny the Younger. Pliny describes him as quiet and studious, a man dedicated to writing, through Pliny, Suetonius came into favour with Trajan and Hadrian. Suetonius may have served on Pliny’s staff when Pliny was Proconsul of Bithynia Pontus between 110 and 112, under Trajan he served as secretary of studies and director of Imperial archives. Under Hadrian, he became the Emperors secretary, but, in 119, Hadrian dismissed Suetonius for the latters allegedly excessive informality with the empress Sabina. The book was dedicated to a friend Gaius Septicius Clarus, a prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 119. De Viris Illustribus, to belong, De Illustribus Grammaticis De Claris Rhetoribus De Poetis De Historicis Peri ton par Hellesi paidion Peri blasphemion The two last works were written in Greek. They apparently survive in part in the form of extracts in later Greek glossaries, the below listed lost works of Suetonius are from the Foreword written by Robert Graves in his translation of the Twelve Caesars. Rolfe, with an introduction by K. R. Hurley, Suetonius, J. C. Rolfe, Lives of the Caesars, Volume I. J. C. Rolfe, Lives of the Caesars, Volume II, Suetonius on Christians Barry Baldwin, Suetonius, Biographer of the Caesars
16.
Mail (armour)
–
Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. A coat of armour is often referred to as a hauberk. The earliest example of surviving mail was found in a chieftains burial located in Ciumești and its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, but there are examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BC. Mail may have inspired by the much earlier scale armour. Mail spread to North Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Tibet, South East Asia, the origins of the word mail are not fully known. One theory is that it derives from the Latin word, macula. Another theory relates the word to the old French, maillier, in modern French, maille refers to a loop or stitch. The Arabic words burnus, برنوس, a burnoose, a cloak, also a chasuble and barnaza, برنز, to bronze. The first attestations of the mail are in Old French and Anglo-Norman, maille, maile, or male or other variants. The modern usage of terms for mail armour is highly contested in popular and, to a lesser degree, since then the word mail has been commonly, if incorrectly, applied to other types of armour, such as in plate-mail. The more correct term is plate armour, civilizations that used mail invented specific terms for each garment made from it. The standard terms for European mail armour derive from French, leggings are called chausses, a hood is a mail coif, a mail collar hanging from a helmet is a camail or aventail. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk if knee-length and a haubergeon if mid-thigh length, a layer of mail sandwiched between layers of fabric is called a jazerant. A waist-length coat in medieval Europe was called a byrnie, although the construction of a byrnie is unclear. Only on artistic and some sources because of the lack of archaeological examples. It was also long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue. The use of mail as battlefield armour was common during the Iron Age, the Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period
17.
Knight
–
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors, during the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, often, a knight was a vassal who served as a fighter for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback, since the early modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, as in the British honours system, often for non-military service to the country. The modern female equivalent in the United Kingdom is Dame, furthermore, Geoffroi de Charnys Book of Chivalry expounded upon the importance of Christian faith in every area of a knights life. This novel explored the ideals of knighthood and their incongruity with the reality of Cervantes world, in the late medieval period, new methods of warfare began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but the titles remained in many nations. Some orders of knighthood, such as the Knights Templar, have become the subject of legend, each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state or monarch to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry, cavalier, the special prestige accorded to mounted warriors finds a parallel in the furusiyya in the Muslim world, and the Greek hippeus and Roman eques of classical antiquity. The word knight, from Old English cniht, is a cognate of the German word Knecht and this meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages. Middle High German had the phrase guoter kneht, which also meant knight, the Anglo-Saxon cniht had no connection to horsemanship, the word referred to any servant. A rādcniht, riding-servant, was a servant delivering messages or patrolling coastlines on horseback, a narrowing of the generic meaning servant to military follower of a king or other superior is visible by 1100. The specific military sense of a knight as a warrior in the heavy cavalry emerges only in the Hundred Years War. The verb to knight appears around 1300, and, from the same time, an Equestrian was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. This class is often translated as knight, the medieval knight, both Greek ἳππος and Latin equus are derived from the Proto-Indo-European word root ekwo-, horse. In the later Roman Empire, the classical Latin word for horse, equus, was replaced in common parlance by the vulgar Latin caballus, sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos. From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate with the English cavalier, Italian cavaliere, Spanish caballero, French chevalier, Portuguese cavaleiro, the Germanic languages have terms cognate with the English rider, German Ritter, and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder. These words are derived from Germanic rīdan, to ride, in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root reidh-, in ancient Rome there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris from which European knighthood may have been derived. Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, in the Early Medieval period any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin
18.
Aventail
–
An aventail or camail is a flexible curtain of mail attached to the skull of a helmet that extends to cover the throat, neck and shoulders. Part or all of the face, with spaces to allow vision, the earliest camails were riveted directly to the edge of the helmet, however, beginning in the 1320s in Western Europe a detachable version replaced this type. The detachable aventail was attached to a band, which was in turn attached to the lower border of the helmet by a series of staples called vervelles. Holes in the band were passed over the vervelles. Aventails were most commonly seen on bascinets in the 14th century, some aventails were decorated with edging in brass or bronze links, or with a zig-zag lower edge. By the mid 14th century, the aventail had replaced the mail coif completely, the Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. Knight, Noble Warrior of England 1200–1600
19.
Bascinet
–
The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced military helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a pointed apex to the skull. A mail curtain was usually attached to the edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck. A visor was often employed from ca.1330 to protect the exposed face, early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called great bascinet. The first recorded reference to a bascinet, or bazineto, was in the Italian city of Padua in 1281, when it is described as being worn by infantry. It is believed that the bascinet evolved from a simple iron skullcap, known as the cervelliere, the bascinet is differentiated from the cervelliere by having a higher, pointed skull. By about 1330 the bascinet had been extended lower down the sides, within the next 20 years it had extended to the base of the neck and covered the cheeks. The bascinet appeared quite suddenly in the later 13th century and some see it as being influenced by Byzantine or Middle-Eastern Muslim helmets. The bascinet, without a visor, continued to be worn underneath larger great helms, the earliest camails were riveted directly to the edge of the helmet, however, beginning in the 1320s a detachable version replaced this type. The detachable aventail was attached to a band, which was in turn attached to the lower border of the bascinet by a series of staples called vervelles. Holes in the band were passed over the vervelles. The illustration to the shows a bascinet with a type of detachable nasal called the bretache or bretèche made of sheet metal. The bretache was attached to the aventail at the chin, according to Boeheim, this type of defence was prevalent in Germany, appearing around 1330 and fading from use around 1370. The bretache was also used in Italy, one of the first representations of it is on the statue of Cangrande I della Scala. It is also shown on the tomb of Bernardino dei Barbanzoni in the Museo Lapidario Estense in Modena, an advantage of the bretache was that it could be worn under a great helm, but afforded some facial protection when the great helm was taken off. Use of the bretache preceded and overlapped with that of a new type of visor used with the bascinet, the open-faced bascinet, even with the mail aventail, still left the exposed face vulnerable. However, from about 1330, the bascinet was often worn with a guard or movable visor. The klappvisor or klappvisier was a type of visor employed on bascinets from around 1330-1340, this type of visor was hinged at a single point in the centre of the brow of the helmet skull
20.
Edward the Black Prince
–
Edward of Woodstock KG, called the Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, and the father of King Richard II of England. He was the first Duke of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales and he was called Edward of Woodstock in his early life, after his birthplace, and since the 16th century has been popularly known as the Black Prince. He was a military leader, and his victories over the French at the Battles of Crécy. In 1348 he was made a Founding Knight of the Garter, Edward died one year before his father, becoming the first English Prince of Wales not to become King of England. The throne passed instead to his son Richard II, a minor, Richard Barber comments that Edward has attracted relatively little attention from serious historians, but figures largely in popular history. Edward was born on 15 June 1330 at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire and he was created Earl of Chester on 18 May 1333, Duke of Cornwall on 17 March 1337 and finally invested as Prince of Wales on 12 May 1343 when he was almost thirteen years old. In England, Edward served as a regent for periods in 1339,1340. He was expected to all council meetings, and he performed the negotiations with the papacy about the war in 1337. He also served as High Sheriff of Cornwall from 1340–1341,1343,1358, Edward had been raised with his cousin Joan, The Fair Maid of Kent. Edward gained permission for the marriage from Pope Innocent VI and absolution for marriage to a blood-relative, the marriage caused some controversy, mainly because of Joans chequered marital history and the fact that marriage to an Englishwoman wasted an opportunity to form an alliance with a foreign power. When in England, Edwards chief residence was at Wallingford Castle in Berkshire and he served as the kings representative in Aquitaine, where he and Joan kept a court which was considered among the most fashionable of the time. It was the resort of exiled kings such as James IV of Majorca, Peter of Castile, thrust from his throne by his illegitimate brother Henry of Trastámara, offered Edward the lordship of Biscay in 1367, in return for the Black Princes aid in recovering his throne. Edward was successful in the Battle of Nájera, in which he defeated the combined French. However Peter did not pay fully and refused to yield Biscay, Edward retreated to Guienne by July. The Black Prince returned to England in January 1371 and died on 8 June 1376, Edward lived in a century of decline for the knightly ideal of chivalry. However, some argue he may have been playing for time to preparation of his archers positions. On the other hand, his tendencies were overridden by expediency on many occasions. The Crécy Campaign on the front, which crippled the French army for ten years
21.
Canterbury Cathedral
–
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site and its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury. Founded in 597, the cathedral was rebuilt from 1070 to 1077. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the fourteenth century. Christianity had started to become powerful in the Roman Empire around the third century, following the conversion of Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century, the influence of Christianity grew steadily. The cathedrals first bishop was Augustine of Canterbury, previously abbot of St. Andrews Benedictine Abbey in Rome and he was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 as a missionary to the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine founded the cathedral in 597 and dedicated it to Jesus Christ, Augustine also founded the Abbey of St. Peter and Paul outside the city walls. This was later rededicated to St. Augustine himself and was for centuries the burial place of the successive archbishops. The abbey is part of the World Heritage Site of Canterbury, along with the cathedral, bede recorded that Augustine reused a former Roman church. The oldest remains found during excavations beneath the present nave in 1993 were, however, parts of the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon building and they indicate that the original church consisted of a nave, possibly with a narthex, and side-chapels to the north and south. A smaller subsidiary building was found to the south-west of these foundations, during the ninth or tenth century this church was replaced by a larger structure with a squared west end. It appears to have had a central tower. During the reforms of Dunstan, archbishop from 960 until his death in 988, but the formal establishment as a monastery seems to date only to c.997 and the community only became fully monastic from Lanfrancs time onwards. Dunstan was buried on the side of the high altar. The cathedral was damaged during Danish raids on Canterbury in 1011. The Archbishop, Ælfheah, was taken hostage by the raiders and eventually killed at Greenwich on 19 April 1012, after this a western apse was added as an oratory of St. Mary, probably during the archbishopric of Lyfing or Aethelnoth. The 1993 excavations revealed that the new apse was polygonal. It housed the archbishops throne, with the altar of St Mary just to the east, at about the same time that the westwork was built, the arcade walls were strengthened and towers added to the eastern corners of the church
22.
Surcoat
–
A surcoat initially was an outer garment commonly worn in the Middle Ages by both men and women. It can either refer to a coat worn over other clothes or the outermost garment itself, the name derives from French meaning over the coat, a long, loose, often sleeveless coat reaching down to the feet. The surcoat displayed the device of the knight thus identifying him, indeed, some historians cite this as one of the reasons behind the spread of heraldry across medieval Europe. During the 13th century, knights began to add plates of armour to their surcoats, by the mid-fourteenth century it was replaced with the jupon, a much shorter item, often padded for supplementary protection. In the 15th century, once suits of plate armour became common, the period in the history of armour development, in which surcoats became increasingly rare, is referred to as the surcoatless period. Tabard Nunn, Joan, Fashion in costume, 1200-2000, New Amsterdam Books,2000, ISBN 1-56663-279-X
23.
Tabard
–
A tabard is a short coat common for men during the Middle Ages. Generally used while outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces, in its more developed form it was open at the sides, and it could be worn with or without a belt. A tabard was originally a humble outer garment of tunic form, generally without sleeves, worn by peasants, monks, in this sense, the earliest citation recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary dates from c.1300. The Oxford English Dictionary first records this use of the word in English in 1450, tabards were apparently distinguished from surcoats by being open-sided, and by being shorter. Tabards became an important means of identification with the development of plate armour as the use of shields declined. They are frequently represented on tomb effigies and monumental brasses of the late 15th, a very expensive, but plain, garment described as a tabard is worn by Giovanni Arnolfini in the Arnolfini Portrait of 1434. This may be made of silk and or velvet, and is trimmed and fully lined with fur, at The Queens College, Oxford, the scholars on the foundation were called tabarders, from the tabard which they wore. A surviving garment similar to the medieval tabard is the monastic scapular and this is a wide strip of fabric worn front back of the body, with an opening for the head and no sleeves. It may have a hood, and may be worn under or over a belt, by the end of the 16th century, the tabard was particularly associated with officers of arms. John Stow wrote in 1598, Now these Tabardes are onely worne by the Heraults, in the case of Royal officers of arms, the tabard is emblazoned with the coat of arms of the sovereign. Private officers of arms, such as still exist in Scotland, in the United Kingdom the different ranks of officers of arms can be distinguished by the fabric from which their tabards are made. The tabard of a king of arms is made of velvet, the tabard of a herald of arms of satin, the oldest surviving English heralds tabard is that of Sir William Dugdale as Garter King of Arms. In the Diamond Jubilee year of the Queen of Canada, the Governor General unveiled a new tabard for the use of the Chief Herald of Canada. This new royal blue tabard, for exclusively Canadian use and of uniquely Canadian design, is a take on the traditional look
24.
Breastplate
–
A breastplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is the front portion of plate armour covering the torso and it has been a military mainstay since ancient times and was usually made of leather, bronze or iron in antiquity. By around 1000 AD, solid plates had fallen out of use in Europe, plates protecting the torso reappeared during the 13th century in the form of the cuirass or alternatively as plates directly attached to a knightly garment known as the surcoat. Around 1300 this developed into the coat of plates which continued to be in use for about a century, true breastplates reappear in Europe in 1340 first composed of wrought iron and later of steel. They were between 1 mm and 2.5 mm thick, in order to prevent the wearer from being cut by their own armour, the design featured outward turned edges that also increased stiffness. In some cases, further strength was added by a running down through the centre of the plate. These early breastplates only covered the torso with the lower torso not being protected by plate until the development of the fauld around 1400. Around 1450, the breastplate had expanded to cover the entire torso, the French term pancier, which became English pauncher and German panzer, was also used. Bullet-proof vests are the descendant of the breastplate. A breastplate or breastpiece was among the clothes of the Jewish High Priest, in the Bible, the word breastplate is used figuratively to describe protecting oneself from unrighteousness. Both Zeus and Athena are sometimes depicted as wearing a goatskin shield or breastplate called an Aegis, at the center of Athena’s shield was the head of Medusa. The hair-pipe breastplates of 19th-century Plains Indians were made from the West Indian conch, brought to New York docks as ballast and their popularity spread rapidly after their invention by the Comanche in 1854. They were too fragile and expensive to be considered armour, and were instead a symbol of wealth during the economic depression among Plains Indians after the buffalo were almost exterminated, armour Cuirass Muscled cuirass Lance rest Linothorax Pteruges Media related to Breastplates at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Brigandine
–
A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment, generally canvas or leather, lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric. Medieval brigandines were essentially a refinement of the coat of plates. The Asian-originated armour reached Europe after the Mongol invasion in 1240 that destroyed the Kievan Rus, the brigandine has been confused with the haubergeon, while the name is often confused with the brigantine, a swift small sea vessel. The form of the brigandine is essentially the same as the civilian doublet, however, depictions of brigandine armour with sleeves are known. The small armour plates were riveted between two layers of stout cloth, or just to an outer layer. Unlike armour for the torso made from large plates, the brigandine was flexible, many brigandines appear to have had larger, somewhat L-shaped plates over the central chest area. The rivets, or nails, attaching the plates to the fabric were often decorated, being gilt, or of latten, the rivets were also often grouped to produce a repeating decorative pattern. In more expensive brigandines the outer layer of cloth was usually of velvet, the contrast between a richly dyed velvet cloth and gilded rivet heads must have been impressive and, unsurprisingly, such armour was popular with high status individuals. Modern flak jackets and ballistic vests are based on the same principle and it was commonly worn over a gambeson and mail shirt and it was not long before this form of protection was commonly used by soldiers ranging in rank from archers to knights. It was most commonly used by Men-at-arms and these wore brigandine, along with plate arm and leg protection, as well as a helmet. Even with the gambeson and the shirt, a wearer was not as well protected as when wearing plate armour. However, the brigandine was probably favored by soldiers who preferred the greater degree of mobility this armour afforded, Brigandines were simple enough in design for a soldier to make and repair his own armour without needing the high skill of an armourer. A common myth is that brigandines were so-named because they were a choice of protection for bandits. Originally the term referred to a foot soldier. A brigandine was simply a type of armour worn by a foot soldier and it had nothing to do with its alleged ability to be concealed by bandits. In fact, brigandines were highly fashionable and were displayed by wealthy aristocrats both in European and in Asian courts. A similar type of armour was the jack of plates or coat of plates and this type of armour was used by common Medieval European soldiers and the rebel peasants known as Jacquerie
26.
Flak jacket
–
It is not designed to protect against bullets fired from small-arms such as rifles or handguns. However, certain flak jackets are able to sustain certain gunshots, dependent on the armor, the gun, anecdotes describing garments designed to protect the wearer from penetrating weapons can be found far back into recorded history. The Soldiers Bullet Proof Vest was manufactured by the G. & D. Cook & Company of New Haven and it consisted of two pieces of steel inserted into the pockets of a regular black military vest. Versions for infantry weighed 3 ½ pounds while a version for cavalry and artillery weighed 7 pounds, a more medieval-looking type of armor was made by the Atwater Armor Company, also of New Haven. It consisted of four plates of steel held on the body by broad metal hooks over the shoulders. The Atwater vest was heavier than the Cook models and cost about twice as much, during World War I, a number of British and American officers recognized that many casualties could be avoided if effective armor were available. Isolated efforts at developing armor were made, and soldiers could make purchases or efforts. As it is today, issues of weight, cost, availability of materials and/or environmental stability complicated the issue of developing armor that would also be effective. For example, soft armor made of silk was tried on a scale based on Japanese designs. The idea for the jacket came from Col. Malcolm C. Grow, Surgeon of the US Eighth Air Force in Britain and he thought that many wounds he was treating could have been prevented by some kind of light armor. In 1943 he was awarded the Legion of Merit for developing the flak vest, unfortunately, flak jackets proved to be too bulky for wear within the confines of the RAFs standard bomber aircraft, the Avro Lancaster. The Royal Air Force subsequently offered the jackets to the United States Army Air Forces, the UK subsequently supplied the USAAF with 9,600 flak jackets under reverse lend-lease. The jackets were supposed to protect against shell fragments and heat, Col. Grow’s request to the Wilkinson Sword company was to develop a vest that could stop a.45 caliber round fired at close range. Although flak jackets offered some protection against small caliber bullets and shell fragments. Flak jackets are now considered to be inferior to ballistic vests. It was claimed that the M-1951 field jacket could stop a 90 grain 7. 62×25mm Tokarev pistol round at the muzzle of the gun, however, even the Vietnam era revised flak jacket was not really designed to stop an AK-47 round fired at close range. Nevertheless, it did a job of stopping shell blasts, rocket fragments
27.
Chivalry
–
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is a code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood which developed between 1170 and 1220. The code of chivalry that developed in medieval Europe had its roots in earlier centuries, the term chivalry derives from the Old French term chevalerie, which can be translated to horse soldiery. Gautier states that emerged from the Moors as well as the Teutonic forests and was nurtured into civilization. Over time, its meaning in Europe has been refined to emphasise social and moral virtues more generally, in origin, the term chivalry means horsemanship, formed in Old French, in the 11th century, from chevalier, from Medieval Latin caballārius. In English, the term appears from 1292, thus, chivalry has hierarchical meanings from simply a heavily armed horseman to a code of conduct. Based on the three treatises, initially chivalry was defined as a way of life in which three essential aspects fused together, the military, the nobility, the religion. Gautiers Ten Commandments of chivalry are, Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them. Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born, Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy. Thou shalt make war against the infidel without cessation and without mercy, Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God. Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word, Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right, though these ten commandments are often accepted to be what knights would use, these would not necessarily be what a knight actually followed in the medieval era. This code was created by Leon Gautier in 1883, long after the knight had ceased to exist in its traditional form. Chivalry in a sense was more of a subjective term. It is a version of the myth of the Golden Age, from Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, We must not confound chivalry with the feudal system. The feudal system may be called the life of the period of which we are treating, possessing its advantages and inconveniences, its virtues. Chivalry, on the contrary, is the world, such as it existed in the imaginations of the Romance writers. Its essential character is devotion to woman and to honour, Sismondi alludes to the fictitious Arthurian romances about the imaginary Court of King Arthur, which were usually taken as factual presentations of a historical age of chivalry. He continues, The more closely we look into history, the more clearly shall we perceive that the system of chivalry is an invention almost entirely poetical and it is impossible to distinguish the countries in which it is said to have prevailed
28.
Cavalry
–
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the most mobile of the combat arms, an individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman, horseman, dragoon or trooper. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used animals, such as camels. Cavalry had the advantage of improved mobility, and a man fighting from horseback also had the advantages of greater height, speed, another element of horse mounted warfare is the psychological impact a mounted soldier can inflict on an opponent. In Europe cavalry became increasingly armoured, and eventually became known for the mounted knights, in the period between the World Wars, many cavalry units were converted into motorized infantry and mechanized infantry units, or reformed as tank troops. Most cavalry units that are horse-mounted in modern armies serve in purely ceremonial roles, modern usage of the term generally refers to specialist units equipped with tanks or aircraft. The shock role, traditionally filled by heavy cavalry, is filled by units with the armored designation. Before the Iron Age, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light chariots, the chariot originated with the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in Central Asia and spread by nomadic or semi-nomadic Indo-Iranians. The power of mobility given by mounted units was recognized early on, Cavalry techniques were an innovation of equestrian nomads of the Central Asian and Iranian steppe and pastoralist tribes such as the Persian Parthians and Sarmatians. The photograph above left shows Assyrian cavalry from reliefs of 865–860 BC, at this time, the men had no spurs, saddles, saddle cloths, or stirrups. Fighting from the back of a horse was more difficult than mere riding. The cavalry acted in pairs, the reins of the archer were controlled by his neighbours hand. Even at this time, cavalry used swords, shields. The sculpture implies two types of cavalry, but this might be a simplification by the artist, Later images of Assyrian cavalry show saddle cloths as primitive saddles, allowing each archer to control his own horse. As early as 490 BC a breed of horses was bred in the Nisaean plain in Media to carry men with increasing amounts of armour. However, chariots remained in use for purposes such as carrying the victorious general in a Roman triumph. The southern Britons met Julius Caesar with chariots in 55 and 54 BC, the last mention of chariot use in battle was by the Caledonians at the Mons Graupius, in 84 AD. During the classical Greek period cavalry were usually limited to citizens who could afford expensive war-horses
29.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
30.
Battle of Waterloo
–
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday,18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon Napoleons return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition, Wellington and Blüchers armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in an invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw to Waterloo, Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington. This resulted in the separate and simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard, upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon, in the evening Napoleon committed his last reserves to a desperate final attack, which was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellingtons Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleons last. According to Wellington, the battle was the thing you ever saw in your life. Napoleon abdicated four days later, and on 7 July coalition forces entered Paris, the defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleons rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, the battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-lAlleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, as this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians, an additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Wellingtons initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels and this would have pushed Wellington closer to Blücher, but may have cut Wellingtons communications with his base at Ostend. In order to delay Wellingtons deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellingtons supply chain from the ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total strength of about 300,000 men. The force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts and he hoped this would prevent them from combining, and he would be able to destroy first the Prussians army, then Wellingtons
31.
Tower of London
–
The Tower of London, officially Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, a grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, the general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history and it was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a record office. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, in the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period, in the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence and this use has led to the phrase sent to the Tower. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, in the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, in the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, today, the Tower of London is one of the countrys most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site. The Tower was orientated with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London and it would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three wards, or enclosures, the innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle
32.
Gardes du Corps (Prussia)
–
The Gardes du Corps was the personal bodyguard of the king of Prussia and, after 1871, of the German emperor. The unit was founded in 1740 by Frederick the Great, hans von Blumenthal was badly wounded leading the regiment in a successful cavalry charge in the battle of Lobositz and had to retire from the military. Initially, the Regiment was used in part as a unit for officers as part of a programme of expansion of the cavalry. Unlike the rest of the Imperial German Army after German unification in 1871, the Regiment wore a white cuirassier uniform with certain special distinctions in full dress. These included a red tunic for officers in dress and a white metal eagle poised as if about to rise from the bronze helmet on which it sat. These last replaced the white metal breastplates on certain special occasions. Die preussischen Kavallerie-Regimenter 1913/1914 nach dem Gesetz vom 3
33.
Heian period
–
The Heian period is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism, the Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan. Many emperors actually had mothers from the Fujiwara family, the Heian period was preceded by the Nara period and began in 794 A. D. after the movement of the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō, by the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu. Kanmu first tried to move the capital to Nagaoka-kyō, but a series of disasters befell the city, prompting the emperor to relocate the capital a second time, a rebellion occurred in China in the last years of the 9th century, making the political situation unstable. The Japanese missions to Tang China was suspended and the influx of Chinese exports halted, therefore the Heian Period is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is noted for the rise of the samurai class. Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor but in power was wielded by the Fujiwara nobility. However, to protect their interests in the provinces, the Fujiwara and other noble families required guards, police, the warrior class made steady political gains throughout the Heian period. Still, a military takeover of the Japanese government was centuries away. The entry of the class into court influence was a result of the Hōgen Rebellion. At this time Taira no Kiyomori revived the Fujiwara practices by placing his grandson on the throne to rule Japan by regency and their clan, the Taira, would not be overthrown until after the Genpei War, which marked the start of the shogunate. The Kamakura period began in 1185 when Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the emperors, Nara was abandoned after only 70 years in part due to the ascendancy of Dōkyō and the encroaching secular power of the Buddhist institutions there. Kyōto had good access to the sea and could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces. The early Heian period continued Nara culture, the Heian capital was patterned on the Chinese Tang capital at Changan, as was Nara, Kanmu endeavoured to improve the Tang-style administrative system which was in use. Known as the ritsuryō, this attempted to recreate the Tang imperium in Japan. Despite the decline of the Taika–Taihō reforms, imperial government was vigorous during the early Heian period, Kanmus avoidance of drastic reform decreased the intensity of political struggles, and he became recognized as one of Japans most forceful emperors
34.
Satsuma Rebellion
–
The Satsuma Rebellion was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration, the rebellion lasted from January 29,1877, until September of that year, when it was decisively crushed and its leader, Saigō Takamori, ended his life. Saigōs rebellion was the last and most serious of a series of armed uprisings against the new government, the modernization of the country meant the abolition of the privileged social status of the samurai class, and had undermined their financial position. Saigō was a proponent of war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873. At one point, he offered to visit Korea in person, to help support and employ these men, in 1874 Saigō established a private academy in Kagoshima. Soon 132 branches were established all over the prefecture, the “training” provided was not purely academic, although the Chinese classics were taught, all students were required to take part in weapons training and instruction in tactics. The traditions of bushido and Hagakure were emphasized, Saigō also started an artillery school. Support for Saigō was so strong that Satsuma had effectively seceded from the government by the end of 1876. Word of Saigō’s academies was greeted with concern in Tokyo. In December 1876, the Meiji government sent an officer named Nakahara Hisao and 57 other men to investigate reports of subversive activities. The men were captured, and under torture, confessed that they were spies who had sent to assassinate Saigō. Fearing a rebellion, the Meiji government sent a warship to Kagoshima to remove the weapons stockpiled at the Kagoshima arsenal on January 30,1877 and this provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. Outraged by the tactics,50 students from Saigō’s academy attacked the Somuta Arsenal. Over the next three days, more than 1000 students staged raids on the yards and other arsenals. Presented with this success, the greatly dismayed Saigō was reluctantly persuaded to come out of his semi-retirement to lead the rebellion against the central government. In February 1877, the Meiji government dispatched Hayashi Tomoyuki, an official with the Home Ministry with Admiral Kawamura Sumiyoshi in the warship Takao to ascertain the situation. After Oyama departed, a flotilla of ships filled with armed men attempted to board Takao by force. The following day, Hayashi declared to Oyama that he could not permit Kawamura to go ashore when the situation was so unsettled, and that the attack on Takao constituted an act of lèse-majesté
35.
Linothorax
–
The linothorax is a type of upper body armor used by the ancient Greeks, as well as other Hellenic kingdoms including Macedonia, from the Mycenaean period through the Hellenistic period. The modern term linothorax is based on the Greek λινοθώραξ, which means wearing a breastplate of linen, the term thorax was the word for breastplate during this era and was traditionally made of metal in most contexts. The linothorax were made of linen glued in layers with animal fat, the earliest attested account of a linothorax used for battle is recorded in Book 2 of Homers Iliad. It is worn by Ajax the Lesser and is described in brief, Homer, composing stories long before the great armies of Athens, Thebes, Sparta and Macedon, surely understood what the armor was. However, the extent to which it was used can not be determined as the texts were not accurate accounts of specific time periods. An educated guess can be made, however, based on its use by Alexander the Great, and its mention by other such as Herodotus, Livy, Strabo. This could have been due to the price, lesser weight. Its high point in vase paintings, sculptural reliefs and artistic depictions corresponds with the time of the Persian Wars, by the time of the Peloponnesian War it was still used, and continued to seemingly flourish well into the Hellenistic period. Very few details of the construction are found in Homer and other authors of this era. The linen fabric was reinforced by a sheet around the waist, usually in a scale mail style. Metal plates or flaps called pteryges were protecting various parts of the body, a zoster was a belt, probably of leather with metal plates, worn around the waist over the other parts of the cuirass. The actual method of constructing a linothorax is unknown as no example has survived from ancient times, the only piece of armor that resembles the linothorax was discovered in a tomb in Vergina, Northern Greece. This armor, which was most probably worn for ceremony, was constructed from iron with gold embellishments. It is probably a copy of a linothorax. Since visual evidence is limited to paintings and sculptural reliefs, rather than actual surviving models, modern scholars can only guess at its makeup. There are a number of paintings that show what appear to be metal scales covering the armor. The type of material went into the construction of the linothorax is still hotly debated by academics. Some of the common theories of its construction involve laminated or quilting many layers of linen fabric
36.
Mirror armour
–
It literally translates to four mirrors which is a reflection of how these pieces looked, which resembles four metal discs or rectangular armour plates. Mirror armor was used in some cultures into the 20th century, mirror armour is a type of partial plate armour which was developed initially from round metal mirrors worn over other armour as enforcement. Metal mirrors in this armour were considered as protection from not only cold steel and arrows and it was believed that mirrors could reflect the evil eye, so they were polished and worn over other armour. Early mirror armour consisted of a mirror attached to the body with a few leather laces. Late mirror armour took the form of a cuirass, helmet, greaves. Early types of armour were known among the Celtiberians, by the Romans, in the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia. Later types of armour were known in the Middle East, Central Asia, India. The mirror cuirass with discs was popular in Turkey and Russia, while that without discs was popular in Persia, in India, there was a popular form of brigandine with a few mirror plates riveted to it. According to Bobrov, round metal mirrors worn by Mongolian warriors as armour reinforcement are shown in Persian miniatures of 13c and this is verified by archaeological finds in Central Asia and the Far East. This kind of armour prevailed in Central Asia during 15-17c, and could be worn over any armour including brigandines, lamellar armour, chainmail, in 16c in Persia, mirror plates became much larger and changed their shape to rectangular in order to improve body protection. This improved mirror armour gradually spread during 16-17c to Central Asia, further improvements were made during the 1640s when mirror plates evolved into mirror cuirass, which sometimes had additional mirror plates used as pauldrons for protection of the shoulder laces. Besides separate mirror plates laced as reinforcement to other armours there were small mirrors that were sewn or riveted to brigandine, Brigandines with such integral reinforcements were very popular at the end of 15c, but their use had practically been abandoned by the end of 17c. Mirror armours Brigandines reinforced by mirror plates Cf
37.
Oxford English Dictionary
–
The Oxford English Dictionary is a descriptive dictionary of the English language, published by the Oxford University Press. The second edition came to 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, in 1895, the title The Oxford English Dictionary was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in ten bound volumes. In 1933, the title The Oxford English Dictionary fully replaced the name in all occurrences in its reprinting as twelve volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989, when the edition was published. Since 2000, an edition of the dictionary has been underway. The first electronic version of the dictionary was available in 1988. The online version has been available since 2000, and as of April 2014 was receiving two million hits per month. The third edition of the dictionary will probably appear in electronic form, Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press. As a historical dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary explains words by showing their development rather than merely their present-day usages, therefore, it shows definitions in the order that the sense of the word began being used, including word meanings which are no longer used. The format of the OEDs entries has influenced numerous other historical lexicography projects and this influenced later volumes of this and other lexicographical works. As of 30 November 2005, the Oxford English Dictionary contained approximately 301,100 main entries, the dictionarys latest, complete print edition was printed in 20 volumes, comprising 291,500 entries in 21,730 pages. The longest entry in the OED2 was for the verb set, as entries began to be revised for the OED3 in sequence starting from M, the longest entry became make in 2000, then put in 2007, then run in 2011. Despite its impressive size, the OED is neither the worlds largest nor the earliest exhaustive dictionary of a language, the Dutch dictionary Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal is the worlds largest dictionary, has similar aims to the OED and took twice as long to complete. Another earlier large dictionary is the Grimm brothers dictionary of the German language, begun in 1838, the official dictionary of Spanish is the Diccionario de la lengua española, and its first edition was published in 1780. The Kangxi dictionary of Chinese was published in 1716, trench suggested that a new, truly comprehensive dictionary was needed. On 7 January 1858, the Society formally adopted the idea of a new dictionary. Volunteer readers would be assigned particular books, copying passages illustrating word usage onto quotation slips, later the same year, the Society agreed to the project in principle, with the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. He withdrew and Herbert Coleridge became the first editor, on 12 May 1860, Coleridges dictionary plan was published and research was started
38.
Oxford University Press
–
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world, and the second oldest after Cambridge University Press. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the known as the delegates of the press. They are headed by the secretary to the delegates, who serves as OUPs chief executive, Oxford University has used a similar system to oversee OUP since the 17th century. The university became involved in the print trade around 1480, and grew into a printer of Bibles, prayer books. OUP took on the project became the Oxford English Dictionary in the late 19th century. Moves into international markets led to OUP opening its own offices outside the United Kingdom, by contracting out its printing and binding operations, the modern OUP publishes some 6,000 new titles around the world each year. OUP was first exempted from United States corporation tax in 1972, as a department of a charity, OUP is exempt from income tax and corporate tax in most countries, but may pay sales and other commercial taxes on its products. The OUP today transfers 30% of its surplus to the rest of the university. OUP is the largest university press in the world by the number of publications, publishing more than 6,000 new books every year, the Oxford University Press Museum is located on Great Clarendon Street, Oxford. Visits must be booked in advance and are led by a member of the archive staff, displays include a 19th-century printing press, the OUP buildings, and the printing and history of the Oxford Almanack, Alice in Wonderland and the Oxford English Dictionary. The first printer associated with Oxford University was Theoderic Rood, the first book printed in Oxford, in 1478, an edition of Rufinuss Expositio in symbolum apostolorum, was printed by another, anonymous, printer. Famously, this was mis-dated in Roman numerals as 1468, thus apparently pre-dating Caxton, roods printing included John Ankywylls Compendium totius grammaticae, which set new standards for teaching of Latin grammar. After Rood, printing connected with the university remained sporadic for over half a century, the chancellor, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, pleaded Oxfords case. Some royal assent was obtained, since the printer Joseph Barnes began work, Oxfords chancellor, Archbishop William Laud, consolidated the legal status of the universitys printing in the 1630s. Laud envisaged a unified press of world repute, Oxford would establish it on university property, govern its operations, employ its staff, determine its printed work, and benefit from its proceeds. To that end, he petitioned Charles I for rights that would enable Oxford to compete with the Stationers Company and the Kings Printer and these were brought together in Oxfords Great Charter in 1636, which gave the university the right to print all manner of books. Laud also obtained the privilege from the Crown of printing the King James or Authorized Version of Scripture at Oxford and this privilege created substantial returns in the next 250 years, although initially it was held in abeyance. The Stationers Company was deeply alarmed by the threat to its trade, under this, the Stationers paid an annual rent for the university not to exercise its full printing rights – money Oxford used to purchase new printing equipment for smaller purposes
39.
Public domain
–
The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
40.
Barbute
–
A barbute is a visorless war helmet of 15th-century Italian design, often with distinctive T shaped or Y shaped opening for the eyes and mouth. The name is first recorded in a made for the Gonzaga family of Mantua in 1407. It can be considered as a form of the sallet. The barbute resembles classical Greek helmets and may have influenced by the renewed interest in ancient artifacts common during this period. The defining characteristic of the barbute is the downward extension. Regardless of the type of opening, T-shaped, Y-shaped or arch-shaped and this helmet design enabled the user to wear a gorget. In place of a gorget, the barbute was often worn with a stiffened mail collar, termed a standard. In some examples, there is a central, narrow protrusion extending down from the top of the opening, sometimes, like Italian sallets, barbutes were covered by a rich decorative fabric, typically heavy velvet. Unlike the sallet, the barbute seems to have enjoyed little popularity outside Italy, the main differences between the barbute and the Greek hoplites helm to which it is often compared is the difference in material and the lack of a prominent decorative crest. Ancient Greeks used bronze, while most barbutes were constructed of steel, barbutes were made most commonly from a single sheet of steel using the metal smithing process of raising until the piece assumed the desired shape. Many barbutes feature a low ridged crest forged into the top of the skull which served to strengthen the helmet without adding a significant amount of weight. In The Lord of the Rings film franchise, two armies give their soldiers barbutes, The Men of Gondor wear conical-topped steel ones featuring seagull wings subtly embossed out from the inside, the Elven troops of the Last Alliance wear gold barbutes with Corinthian-looking crests on top. In Marvel Comics X-Men, villain Magneto wears a specialized barbute to thwart psychic abilities that might be used against him, warriors of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy wear barbute style helms, typically decorated with horns. In the 2003 Blizzard RTS game Warcraft 3, the human footman wear helms that closely resembles a barbute with its T shaped visor, the logo of the NHLs Vegas Golden Knights resembles a barbute, but with a V-shaped opening. Oakeshott, Ewart European Weapons and Armour, From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution
41.
Burgonet
–
The burgonet helmet was a Renaissance-era and early modern combat helmet. It was the successor of the sallet, the burgonet helmet is characterised by a skull with a large fixed or hinged peak projecting above the face-opening, and usually an integral, keel-like, crest or comb running from front to rear. Attached to the skull are substantial hinged cheekpieces which usually do not meet at the chin or throat, a flange projects from the lower parts of the skull and cheekpieces to protect the back and sides of the neck. Though typically a light helmet and open faced, a falling buffe. Some helmets, often termed close burgonets, were made which took elements, such as the peak, crest and falling buffe, of the burgonet, commonplace throughout Europe, it first came into use early in the 16th century and had attained its classic form by c. Accompanied by plate armour, burgonets were mostly worn by cavalry, cuirassiers, demi-lancers and, in Eastern Europe, hussars. The Border Reivers, of the English-Scottish borderlands, were fond of burgonets and the morion in Elizabethan times. Burgonets were also a helmet type among the Polish winged hussars. The burgonet was common among the mercenary Swiss infantry who were pikemen who could defend themselves against cavalry, encumbrance—Close helmets were slightly heavier, and while mobility was roughly similar, it could be hard for the wearer to see, and breathe freely during combat while wearing one. The burgonet, however, was light and had a face that gave an advantage in close quarters combat. Protection—The burgonet was not as protective as heavier helms, but still protected most of the head, having an open face could be remedied with a falling buffe. Blair, Claude, European armour circa 1066 to circa 1700, oakeshott, Ewart European Weapons and Armour, From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. The Art of Chivalry, European arms and armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The American Federation of Arts. Spotlight, The Burgonet Burgonet for an officer, Nuremberg, circa 1570
42.
Cervelliere
–
A cervelliere is a hemispherical, close-fitting skull cap of steel or iron. It was worn as a helmet during the medieval period, the Cervelliere was first introduced during the late 12th century and was the primary head protection for Crusaders at that time. It was worn alone or more often over or under a mail coif. Additionally, a great helm could be worn over a cervelliere, over time, the Cervelliere experienced several evolutions. Many helmets became increasingly pointed and the back of the skull cap elongated to cover the neck, cerveillieres were worn throughout the medieval period and even during the Renaissance. They were cheap and easy to produce and thus used by commoners. Anecdotally, medieval literature credits the invention of the cervellière to astrologer Michael Scot ca,1233, though this is not seriously entertained by most historians. charlesfleming-sca. com/military/cervelliere. htm
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cuirass". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 613–614.
