Covered head to toe in heavy battle armour with chain mail underneath, English and French knights were a deathly force to be reckoned with, renowned as such for unleashing havoc across the battlefield.

Carrying a range of weaponry from broadswords, longswords, axes, halberds and crossbows, coupled with strong armoured horses, the medieval European knights were in fact the first tanks ever, who were capable of dishing out great damage with great focus as they had little fear of arrows or attacks from the back.

The armour was of two kinds, the first layer was made up of chain mail constructed out of thousands of metal rings. The typical chain mail armour was a long cloak called a hauberk. Knights wore a padded cloak underneath the armour to help cushion the weight of the armour.

In some other cultures, chain mail was further reinforced with laminated leather covered either in metal studs, golden studs or thin metal layering, such as in India, China and Persia. This offered great flexibility, protection against slashing attacks, and some level of defense against both blunt trauma and thrusting, but ultimately proved fallible enough against arrows and thrusting weapons.

The second layer was made up of plate armour, usually made of steel. By the 1300-1400 most knights were donning full plate armour. This armour offered better protection, at the cost of flexibility and weight, furthermore the helmet limited the field of vision.

A full set of plate armour weighed around 60 pounds. Plate armour was made up of sections, so it was easy to assemble and walk in though the worst thing to wear in a hot weather.

Battle armour survived well into the age of firearms, and it was only when firearms became reliable enough did barons and kings decide to do away with knightly armour and give their soldiers cheaper armour and give them training in firing guns and cannons.