Valued for flexibility in combat, chain mail was the primary defensive armor in Europe for more than one thousand years.

To create a 'chainmail' or 'maille' garment, thousands of rings would be punched out whole or riveted from strands of wire. A blacksmith would weave the rings into sheets using a pattern of interlocking rings. Patterns varied by region, dictated by armaments and fighting styles. Given the labor-intensive process of weaving, chain mail garments were very costly to purchase but relatively simple to repair.