A report on Knight and Heater shield

A 14th century depiction of the 13th century German knight Hartmann von Aue, from the Codex Manesse.

Geometrical construction of the Reuleaux triangle style of heater shield, for use as an heraldic escutcheon

A Norman knight slaying Harold Godwinson (Bayeux tapestry, c. 1070). The rank of knight developed in the 12th century from the mounted warriors of the 10th and 11th centuries.

Effigy of William Longespée the Younger (d. 1250) in Salisbury Cathedral, showing an early triangular heater shield

The battle between the Turks and Christian knights during the Ottoman wars in Europe

Heraldic roll of arms displaying heater-shaped heraldic shields or escutcheons. Hyghalmen Roll, Germany, late 15th century

The miles Christianus allegory (mid-13th century), showing a knight armed with virtues and facing the vices in mortal combat. The parts of his armour are identified with Christian virtues, thus correlating essential military equipment with the religious values of chivalry:
The helmet is spes futuri gaudii (hope of future bliss), the shield (here the shield of the Trinity) is fides (faith), the armour is caritas (charity), the lance is perseverantia (perseverance), the sword is verbum Dei (the word of God), the banner is regni celestis desiderium (desire for the kingdom of heaven), the horse is bona voluntas (good will), the saddle is Christiana religio (Christian religion), the saddlecloth is humilitas (humility), the reins are discretio (discretion), the spurs are disciplina (discipline), the stirrups are propositum boni operis (proposition of good work), and the horse's four hooves are delectatio, consensus, bonum opus, consuetudo (delight, consent, good work, and exercise).

Tournament from the Codex Manesse, depicting the mêlée

Elements of a harness of the late style of Gothic plate armour that was a popular style in the mid 15th to early 16th century (depiction made in the 18th century)

Page from King René's Tournament Book (BnF Ms Fr 2695)

The Battle of Pavia in 1525. Landsknecht mercenaries with arquebus.

Fortified house – a family seat of a knight (Schloss Hart by the Harter Graben near Kindberg, Austria)

The Battle of Grunwald between Poland-Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights in 1410

Pippo Spano, the member of the Order of the Dragon

The English fighting the French knights at the Battle of Crécy in 1346

Miniature from Jean Froissart Chronicles depicting the Battle of Montiel (Castilian Civil War, in the Hundred Years' War)

A modern artistic rendition of a chevalière of the Late Middle Ages.

A battle of the Reconquista from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

The heater shield was used by almost every class of society in medieval Europe, from knights to typical soldiers.

- Heater shield

The heater shield was used during the 13th and the first half of the 14th century.

- Knight

2 related topics with Alpha

Shield

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Piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm.

Wall painting depicting a Mycenaean Greek "figure eight" shield with a suspension strap at the middle, 15th century BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens -The faces of figure eight shields were quite convex. The cited "strap" may be the ridge on the front (so denoted by the visible pattern of the ox hide) of the shield.

Elaborate and sophisticated shields from the Philippines.

Greek soldiers of Greco-Persian Wars. Left: Greek slinger. Right: hoplites. Middle: hoplite's shield has a curtain which serves as a protection from arrows.

Two wooden round shields survived at Thorsberg moor

U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) fire a shield-equipped Minigun

Image from Hatshepsut's expedition to Punt showing Egyptians soldiers with shields (wood/animal skin). 15th century BC. Temple of Hathor Deir el-Bahari

A hoplite by painter Alkimachos, on an Attic red-figure vase, c. 460 BC. Shield has a curtain which serves as a protection from arrows.

Sword and buckler (small shield) combat, plate from the Tacuinum Sanitatis illustrated in Lombardy, ca. 1390.

Drawing from the Codex Manesse showing jousting knights on horseback carrying shields.

Ceremonial shield with mosaic decoration. Aztec or Mixtec, AD 1400-1521 (British Museum).

Australian Aboriginal shield, Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

Hippopotamus Hide Shield from Sudan. Currently housed at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

Aboriginal bark shield collected in Botany Bay, New South Wales, during Captain Cook's first voyage in 1770 (British Museum)

Three-lion symbolic shield (under the helmet) in the coat of arms of Tallinn.

As body armour improved, knight's shields became smaller, leading to the familiar heater shield style.

Kite shield

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Large, almond-shaped shield rounded at the top and curving down to a point or rounded point at the bottom.

Kite shields as depicted on the Temple Pyx

A 15th century depiction of the Archangel Michael with a kiteshield

Flat-topped kite shields were later phased out by most Western European armies in favour of much smaller, more compact heater shields.

To compensate for their awkward nature, kite shields were equipped with enarmes, which gripped the shield tightly to the arm and facilitated keeping it in place even when a knight relaxed their arm; this was a significant departure from most earlier circular shields, which possessed only a single handle.