Horse Armour

This horse armour is one of only seventeen examples to survive from the medieval Ottoman period. Made in Turkey, it bears the marks of the Arsenal of St Irene, the Turkish Armouries in Istanbul. Designed to allow for maximum movement in battle, one can see that the horse’s body armour is made up of numerous overlapping panels of thin steel. This is typical of a type of armour called ‘lamellar’ or ‘Armour of Scales’ that was developed in the Islamic world by the second half of the 15th century CE. The only heavy piece of solid plate is the headpiece on the horse which is attached to lighter overlapping cheek panels. The rider’s armour is also complete but the helmet as well as the shield and mace are of a slightly later date. The rider is covered from head to foot in chain mail, yet one can see that lamellar steel strips have been worked into the torso at the back and front, and into the upper legs to reduce the weight of the extremely heavy chain mail and to allow greater flexibility. Because of its lightness, lamellar armour became increasingly popular throughout the Islamic world and particularly in Turkey and India. This rare example of horse armour was probably kept at the St Irene Arsenal until 1839 CE when Sultan Abdulmejid I (1823-1861) ordered its closure and the contents were dispersed.