Basic Information
The brigandine is a development of the earlier coat of plates - a piece of armour consisting of a number of small metal plates rivetted onto the inside of a cloth or leather carrier - in many ways similar to an inside-out suit of scale armour except that the plates seem to have tended to be oblong and abutted rather than overlapped.
This type of armour seems to become common in Europe during the late 14th century and remain well in use into the the 16th and despite its name1 was worn by men of all classes from archers to knights. In high quality sets the rivet heads on the outside of the garment could even be gilded. In India and Japan, brigandines - or at any rate extremely similar types of armour - remained in use into the 19th century.
A brigandine was typically worn over a gambeson and possible a mail shirt as well and covered only the torso but provided a realtively cheap and easily maintained bridge between plate armour and lighter forms before the adoption of the munition cuirass. Sane users would also attempt to add some form of limb protection.
Visually brigandine is frequently mistaken for studded leather armour which was far less common than is often though and the the name is often confused with brigantine … which is a type of ship.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- These were extremely common pieces of armour in their period - a PC in a late medieval setting should be much more likely to wear one than is normal in RPGs, especially if plate is priced realisitically. They may well even be cheaper than chainmail.
- Presentation can make all the difference - a well finished brigandine with gilded rivets may be accepted in places where ruder armour - even much more expensive harnesses of plate - might be frowned upon.
