Hauberk Facts for Kids

An Italian hauberk from the late 1400s.

A hauberk is a special kind of shirt made from mail, which is like a fabric made of tiny metal rings linked together. It was a type of armor worn in the past. Hauberks usually reached at least to the middle of the thigh and had sleeves. A smaller version was called a haubergeon, meaning "little hauberk." These had shorter sleeves and did not reach the thighs.

The History of Hauberks
How Hauberks Were Made
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The History of Hauberks

The idea for a short, sleeved mail shirt might have come from the medieval Islamic world. However, the European hauberk developed from an older type of armor called a byrnie. The word hauberk comes from an old Frankish word, halsberg, which means "neck protection." It was first used around the year 1300.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry shows Norman soldiers wearing hauberks. Their armor reached their knees, had three-quarter length sleeves, and was split at the front and back so they could ride horses easily. This type of armor was very expensive to make because it needed a lot of iron wire and skilled workers. Because of this, most regular foot soldiers did not have hauberks. By the mid-1100s, hauberks had longer sleeves and offered more protection for the legs.

A German haubergeon from the 1400s.

One of the oldest hauberks still existing in Central Europe is kept in the Prague Cathedral. It dates back to the 1100s and is believed to have belonged to Saint Wenceslaus. In Europe, people continued to use mail hauberks until the 1300s, when plate armor started to become more popular. Some knights still wore mail hauberks under their plate armor for extra protection. In parts of Central Asia, mail armor was used for much longer.

The Hebrew Bible also mentions a "coat of mail" or "habergeon." For example, it was part of the armor worn by Nehemiah's workers and given to soldiers by King Uzziah. The giant Goliath also wore a heavy "coat of mail" when he faced David.

How Hauberks Were Made

A soldier taking off his hauberk, from a book called the Morgan Bible (1200s).

A hauberk was usually made from many small metal rings linked together to form a flexible shirt. The sleeves sometimes only went to the elbow, but often they covered the entire arm. Some even had mail gloves or a soft leather palm on the hand part. The hauberk usually reached the thigh or knee. It had a split in the front and back, which made it easier for the wearer to ride a horse. Sometimes, a hauberk also included a hood, called a coif, made of mail.

Even though hauberks were lighter than full plate armor, they could still be very heavy. A writer named William of Poitiers once praised William the Conqueror's strength. He wrote that William carried his own hauberk and the hauberk of one of his strong followers, William fitz Osbern, because he wanted to help him.