Splint armour

Limb armor consisting of strips of metal ("splints") are attached to a fabric (cloth or leather) backing ("foundation").

The splints are narrow metal strips arranged longitudinally, pierced for riveting or sewing to the foundation.

It first appears in a Scythian grave from the 4th century BC[1] then in the Swedish Migration Era;[2] and again in the 14th century as part of transitional armour, where it was also used to form cuisses and rerebraces.

While a few complete suits of armor have been found made from splints of wood, leather, or bone, the Victorian neologism "splinted mail" usually refers to the limb protections of crusader knights.

Knights in effigy are depicted with leg protection of a matrix of disks with a diameter equal to the splints.