Medieval Helmets

The helmets not having nasals were chiefly conical, round and flat-topped. The cylindrical or flat-topped Medieval Helmets appears to have came into fashion towards the close of the 12th Century. The Medieval Helmets developed into the cylindrical casque, which is common in the 13h Century. From now on, the Medieval Helmets can be classified in two categories: helms and helmets. The term helm will be used to designate the new type of headpiece, while the helmet will designate a piece of diminished completeness, the non-closed casque.

The flat-topped helm with movable ventail appears about the middle of the century. The successive changes of fashion supply a further division of the helms: the flat topped, the round topped, and the sugar-leaf form. Around 1270, the round-topped helm came into vogue. The helm was worn over the coif of chain-mail.

The helmets may be classed as the hemispherical, the cylindrical, the conical, and the nasal. Helms provided freedom of breathing by means of perforations in the lower part. Helms were made mainly of iron or steel, and were occasionally guilt. For war, the great helm was placed over the bascinet.

During this period, the Medieval Helmets became more sophisticated , and the movable visor was introduced. The helmets of the 14th Century are composed chiefly of a mixture of iron-plate and chain-mail. Among them, the visored bascinet with camail was much in vogue. The visor, which turned on side pivots, could be removed, so it allows the helm to be added to the knight defenses by placing it over the bascinet. The Medieval Helmets classification under the two categories of helms and helmets still applies in the 15th century. The helms of this century exhibit crests of every variety of fanciful design.