Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Were There Weak Spots in Suits of Armor?

One thing that every medieval warrior enthusiast or battle renactor should know is how to kill (figuratively speaking) a person in a medieval suit of armor, which can be difficult if you don't know where to strike.  To do that, we need to examine what medieval warriors did in the olden days to get through thick layers of armor.  There are several weak spots or openings in the armor that the soldiers targeted.  We don't recommend you use these techniques for SCA combat or other reenactments, but it will give you a general idea as to how fighters took each other down in medieval times.

One place that many medieval warriors targeted was the the underarm, which usually was like the soft underbelly of mythical dragons.  As soldiers needed freedom of movement, there was often no armor here.If any armor could be found, most likely it was weaker chainmail that could be broken through with a thrust of a weapon.The end result was to force the tip of the battle sword into the armpit area.  If sucessful, this would wound the soldier significantly or at least enough to take them out of commision for the rest of the battle or enough so the other side could make a finishing blow.

Another area that was probably the easiest to get at was the back of the upper legs.  Especially if knights were to ride on horses or go on long marches, this area usually did not have any significant armor.  This is why in many movies you see sword fighters slashing at each other's legs.If you had some skills with a blade a quick spin move or something similar would put you in a position to do a back swing to cut the enemy's legs.  This would render them incapable of further movement and make the susceptible to futher punishing.

The last area to attack a person in a suit of armor was in the neck below the helmet.Usually there was a wide enough slit or space in between the armor helmet and the chest plate below, so you could thrust a weapon or sword through the neck.  This was often fatal and was the ultimate place to attack the enemy.