Mace: A short mass weapon not unlike a heavy club. After the third quarter of the 14th century the club end was often made of metal and enhanced with metal flanges or spikes.
Mail: Interwoven links of
iron wire riveted together to form a kind of defensive metal cloth, highly resistant to slashing but less effective against piercing or crushing wounds. During the latter 14th and 15th centuries sometimes the riveted links were interposed with solid links that had been stamped to halve the production time. Mail was made by specialized
armourers, and because it was easy to make, seems to have been manufactured all over Europe, first introduced by the Romans during the latter days of their empire. See also
Aventail,
Ventail, Coif, Hauberk, Haubergeon.
Malleable: From the Latin 'malleare', to hammer, the quality of metal that allows it to be easily shaped or formed, by hammering or through pressure.
Mantling: The cloth decor suspended from a helmet, commonly illustrated in armorial artwork. The most splendid references to mantling are to be found in King René's Livre Tournoi, where they are shown matching or enhancing the heraldic colors worn by tournament combatants.
Martensite: A component of
iron useful for determining heat treating techniques used, it is a solution of iron and up to 1% carbon.
Masse: The word used in King René's Livre Tournoi to describe the clubs used in tournament. I suspect that
bâton is a better translation, looking at what the weapon actually looks like. See
Chronique: The Journal of Chivalry #10.
Maximillian: Armour created at the beginning of the 16th century for the Emperor Maximillian, characterized by
armets and close helmets with bellows
visors; small fan-shaped
fluting often covering most of the
harness (but never the
greaves);
etching, work taken from woodcuts; sharply waisted
cuirasses and squared
sabatons.
Metacarpal: The defense for the back of the hand, usually a part of a
gauntlet.
Metallography: Microscopic examination of a metal's crystalline structure, used in conjunction with
spectroscopy to determine the composition of a specimen's
iron component and the methods by which it was refined (
smelted) into a workable metal. The metal's crystalline structure are examined, using the
ferrite,
pearlite, and
martensite crystal structures and
slag content. It can also determine the armount of carbon present in the metal and the method used to achieve
heat treating.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Easily the largest collection of arms and armour in the United States, the museum has a substantial collection, of which only a small part is available in the new armour gallery that opened in 1995. 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10028 Website.
Milanese: The descriptive term for Italian armour of the 15th century characterized by an organic, rounded line. Milanese armours are generally made from larger plates than their German
gothic counterparts, have little
fluting, and are more curvaceous. Milan and Venice were the major armour production centers in Italy, home to the famous
Missiglian family. The
barbute and
armet were two innovations of this style; the barbute died out but the armet evolved into the close helmet during the early years of the 16th century.
Military belt: References to the military belt go all the way back to the Germanic tribes described by Tacitus in the 5th century. The military best seems to have been the predominant symbol of the military man for the whole medieval period. During the 14th century it took the form of a metal belt, sometimes white, with metal plates or
plaques. The belt was given to a knight at the adoubement ceremony, usually by a respected knight or one who has close ties to the candidate, or occasionally, especially in the case of mass battlefield knightings, by a king or prince.
Missiglia, armourer family: Active in Milan from the middle of the 14th century until the end of the 16th , the Missiglian family mark was known for quality and expense. The family changed their name during the 16th century and became the Negroli, but I am not sure how or why this came about.
Mitten Gauntlet: A defense for the hand that seems to have originated in Italy during the early 15th century. Early mittens were formed from three main plates, one forming the
metacarpal and the
cuff (this was sometimes split into two plates joined at the wrist), and two plates articulated carefully together to provide a defense for the fingers. Scale pieces were added to the thumb as well. During the 16th century the mitten idea was used alongside of finger gauntlets in a more international style spun from a mixture of
Milanese and
gothic elements.
Munitions Armour: Armour mass-produced for the common foot-soldier, increasingly available during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Frequently this armour was sold 'rough from the hammer' without
polishing, still featuring the hammermarks of the final
planishing, accomplished to smooth out the surface of the metal and to provide for
hammer-hardening.
Musée de L'Armé, Paris: The national armour collection of France, the museum is especially strong in 16th century pieces, although they have a few very fine individual pieces from the 14th century, such as a guilt kettle-hat meant for Royal use; a full
leg harness for a boy, and a very fine fragment of a
sabaton.
Overview
