History Of Medieval Armor

The first armor was introduced by the Sumerians.
The Sumerians carried spears and large rectangular shields. Greek soldiers wore bronze helmets that covered almost the whole head, and they carried large, round bronze shields.

The Greeks and their armor.
The Greeks used armor that was made of small bronze plates joined tightly by red laces. The Greeks sometimes used a muscled bronze greave, or lower leg armor.

The Chinese armor used bronze armor.
By 1300 B.C., they were using bronze body armor made of many small plates or one large piece. The Roman armor incorporated special helmets.
Legionnaires at first wore mail, made of small metal rings, or a metal plate on the chest. The large shield and tunic were colored to match the soldier's unit. The iron helmet, tied under the chin, had cheek pieces to guard the face and a broad neck armor. Ear cutouts allowed the Roman soldier to hear.

Mail was armor made from interlinked iron rings (looked like mesh)
Because mail is not rigid, blows can break bones without actually cutting through the rings. More and more steel plates were therefore added, and by 1400, knights were covered from head to foot in plate armor. A rivet on one plate slid in a slot in another plate, or two plates pivoted on a single rivet. Battle armor, like this weighed about 1400, weighed about 44 pounds (20 kg). Plate armor was used until the 17th century.

The Age of Mail as armor and the Saxon warrior
Armor was first introduced in England during the 1066 Battle of Hastings. The wooden kite shaped shield became popular with mounted knights.