Most visors are hinged to be lifted up, down, moved to the side or taken completely off to allow better vision. The visor or mask protects the face from attacks by arrows and splinters from lances when they hit the shield or armour at high speed. It was the last piece of armour that the knight would put on when arming for battle, being generally the heaviest piece but the most protected part of a knight’s equipment. Helmets could come in all shapes and sizes, including types known as ‘basinets’ which were pointed towards the top and helped deflect blows away from the head and prevent arrows from punching holes through the front when facing the enemy. It protects the head from blows that would quickly kill or disable the knight if one wasn’t worn. The helm or helmet isthe main part of any set of armour for any warrior in battles throughout history.
In the diagram you can see the major pieces needed to make up the ultimate defence against your enemies, from head to toe. The knights paid large amounts of money to afford the best they could and have it fitted correctly to allow them to move, run, climb, fight and ride in the armour for long periods of time. Creating all the necessary parts of the armour for a knight was specialised work for highly skilled metal smiths, known as armourers. The armour was designed to take on all types of weapons from axes, swords, spears, arrows and many more found on the medieval battlefield.
A knight was the armoured tank of the Medieval period, wearing armour first of mail, steel rings riveted together, for hundreds of years until easier access to large amounts of high quality steel was possible from the 1300’s onwards.
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