Fancy Styles Different styles of armor developed in the later fifteenth century. Italian armor tended to be rounded and smooth, while German armor in the Gothic style was elongated and fluted, with long, pointed sabatons. Plates were often brass-edged. Another style, which historians call Maximilian armor, appeared between 1510 and 1530. It had heavily ridged plates designed to deflect blades, and squared-off sabatons.The grandest armor of all was designed to be worn by Renaissance kings and princes on parade or at a tournament. Italian parade armor was often elaborately decorated in gold and silver, and embossed with fantastic patterns and designs. Similarly splendid armor was made for the riders horse.

Changing Times The high point in armor manufacture was reached in the sixteenth century, but already the nature of warfare was changing, as artillery and then handheld firearms became common and more effective. Mobility and vision were increasingly important on the battlefield, and three-quarter or half suits of armor became more practical for knights as well as foot soldiers. During the 1500s the Spanish conquistadorsthe soldiers who conquered indigenous peoples in the Americaswore only a single cuirass (a piece of armor to protect the upper body) and a brimmed helmet, which left the face open. Europe 14001550 This scene, painted by Paolo Uccello in the 1450s, shows Italian mercenary armies fighting in the battle of San Romano (1432). The knights wear full plate armor. 35 36 Chapter 4: Africa and Asia 5001550 Old Worlds

Many of the garments used across the Western world today, from trousers to coats, originated in the East, in the continent of Asia. For most of the medieval period, Asian lands possessed the most advanced textile Chinas chief trading route for textiles, the Silk Road, passed through Central Asia. These Chinese statues, from eighth-century Xian, show Central Asian musicians on horseback. technology in the world, pioneering sericulture (silk production), spinning wheels, and treadle looms. Asia produced the worlds finest and most beautiful materials, and these were being exported to Europe, by land and sea, long before the start of the medieval period.The spread of Asias weaving skills was encouraged by movements of peoples, by merchants and travelers, and even by contact between warring armies. These musicians wear costumes from the early part of China's Song dynasty (9071276). This was a golden age of arts and crafts, in which silk production reached a new level of perfection.

Asia in the Middle Ages The greatest empire in medieval Asia was that of China.The Chinese believed that their homeland lay at the center of the civilized world. Chinese cultural influence in the medieval period extended into Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, and there was also Chinese contact with India, Arabia, and even East Africa.Western Asia was greatly influenced by the spread of the Islamic faith by the Arabs during the early Middle Ages. Meanwhile, in southern India, powerful Hindu kingdoms arose, whose influence extended into Southeast Asia. In the later Middle Ages, Central Asian peoples such as the Turks and Mongols gained control of vast areas of Asia, including northern India.