<P> Single plates of metal armour were again used from the late 13th century on, to protect joints and shins, and these were worn over a mail hauberk . Gradually the number of plate components of medieval armour increased, protecting further areas of the body, and in barding those of a cavalryman's horse . Armourers developed skills in articulating the lames or individual plates for parts of the body that needed to be flexible, and in fitting armour to the individual wearer like a tailor . The cost of a full suit of high quality fitted armour, as opposed to the cheaper munition armour (equivalent of ready - to - wear) was enormous, and inevitably restricted to the wealthy who were seriously committed to either soldiering or jousting . The rest of an army wore inconsistent mixtures of pieces, with maille still playing an important part . </P> <P> By about 1420, complete suits of plate armour had been developed . A full suit of plate armour would have consisted of a helmet, a gorget (or bevor), pauldrons with gardbraces in Italian and French armour to cover the armpits, or besagews (also known as rondels) which were mostly used in Gothic Armour, couters, vambraces, gauntlets, a cuirass (back and breastplate) with a fauld, tassets and a culet, a mail skirt, cuisses, poleyns, greaves, and sabatons . The very fullest sets, known as garnitures, more often made for jousting than war, included pieces of exchange, alternate pieces suiting different purposes, so that the suit could be configured for a range of different uses, for example fighting on foot or on horse . </P> <P> A complete suit of plate armour made from well - tempered steel would weigh around 15--25 kg . The wearer remained highly agile and could jump, run and otherwise move freely as the weight of the armour was spread evenly throughout the body . The armour was articulated and covered a man's entire body completely from neck to toe . In the 15th and 16th centuries plate armored soldiers were the nucleus of every army . Large bodies of men - at - arms numbering thousands or even more than ten thousand men (approximately 60% to 70% of French armies were men at arms and the percentage was also big in other countries) were fighting on foot wearing full plate next to archers and crossbowmen . This was commonly seen in the Western European armies especially of France and England during the Hundred Years War, the Wars of the Roses or the Italian Wars . </P> <P> European leaders in armouring techniques were northern Italians, especially from Milan, and southern Germans, who had somewhat different styles . But styles were diffused around Europe, often by the movement of armourers; the Renaissance Greenwich armour was made by a royal workshop near London that had imported Italian, Flemish and (mostly) German craftsmen, though it soon developed its own unique style . Ottoman Turkey also made wide use of plate armour but incorporated large amounts of mail into their armour, which was widely used by shock troops such as the Janissary Corps . </P>

How much does a suit of plate armor weigh