Hauberk (1400s): Art, History and Details

Hauberk (1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

By the early 1400s the hauberk was being worn as an accessory to supplement full or partial plate armor. It offered a secondary level of protection for areas not fully covered by plate armor, such as the armpit and groin. The making of chainmail involved the linking of thousands of small rings of steel.

Object facts

• Title: Hauberk
• Date: 1400s
• Culture: European, 15th century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: riveted steel rings; close woven
• Dimensions: Overall: 110.5 cm (43 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.1552

A detail from the museum

Mail provided excellent defense against the sword cut, though only limited defense against crushing blows from weapons like the mace or the battle axe.

Collection credit

Gift of John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.