Linked for Battle. Mail Armor and Medieval Warfare

Mail was neither an indestructible shell nor a simple costume of chivalry. Its protection depended on fit, padding, maintenance, and the weapons it faced. This history follows the military life of interlocking rings from workshops to campaigns, explaining how soldiers acquired, altered, inherited, and repaired their gear. It also considers what archaeological finds and surviving texts can reveal about a material that was often reused until little remained.