Weight: 7-12 kg


The hauberk was the main mail body armour of the medieval period, the larger of the two types of mail shirt. The other was the haubergeon .

The hauberk extended to at least the mid-thigh, and sometimes to just below the knees.

The lower part of the hauberk was usually split up the front and back for men-at-arms (to make riding easier), and up the sides for infantrymen. It usually had long sleeves, often with mittens or mufflers to protect the hands. The sleeves were almost always tied at the wrists with straps, to keep the mail firmly in place.

The quality and cost of a hauberk was determined by the quality of its tailoring and the size of the links. Typical link sizes were around 8mm diameter for an average example and 5-6mm for a finer quality hauberk for a knight. The smaller the link size, the better the protection – but the bigger the cost.

How was it used?

Hauberks were worn by all cavalry and heavy infantry.

Men-at-arms either wore them on their own over an aketon or reinforced them with a hardened leather cuirie for the body and additional leather or metal vambraces for the arms. On the best armours at the time of Bannockburn the mufflers were replaced by separate plate gauntlets.