How much did a medieval knight's armor weigh plus chain mail?

Answer 1

Surviving examples of medieval arms and armour show that weapons were lightweight tools designed for efficient, agile combat, far removed from the massive lumps of iron of fantasy.

the sword, the most well-known of medieval weapons varied in weight depending on size and type, but the following are statisics referenced from originals in museums:

1-handed swords from the 12th Century to 15th C in the Wallace Collection, London, and the Royal Armouries, Leeds, range from 700 grammes in one case, up to 1,400 grammes. The average weight is about 1,200 grammes.

the longsword (sometimes called a "b*stard sword" by some people) was a larger sword designed to be able to be used either with one hand or two-handed. Usually 10 cm longer in the blade, and with about a 5 cm longer grip, the longsword is fundamentally similar in weight - 1,100 grammes to 1,500 grammes. A few later renaissance era examples have more complex hilts for greater hand protection, and reach close to 1,600 grammes.

the largest two handed swords of the late renaissance, in the Royal armouries of Leeds, and the Stibbert Museum, Florence, range from 1,500 grammes up to 2,500 grammes, but such weapons were very rarely used in the pre-renaissance medieval period.

(A side note: for the myth of the sword weighing 8, or even 15 kilogrammes, if you assume a length of 90 Cm (36 inches), and a blade 5cm (2 inches) wide, a sword blade would have to be nearly 10cm (4 inches) thick to have enough steel in it to reach that weight. Real sword blades are, by contrast, between 8mm and 2mm thick....)

Pole-axes and Halberds weigh an average of 1,500 grammes to 2,500 grammes, depending on the complexity of their heads and the length of the wooden haft. Weight was also affected by choice of material; Ash hafts are usually a little lighter than oak, and a haft soaked in linseed oil was heavier than untreated wood.

Maces and war-hammers, likewise, tend to weigh between 800 grammes and 1,600 grammes, with an average around 1,300 grammes. despite being quite light, these weapons focus their force onto a very small area, allowing them to punch though armour easily.

The knightly lance weighed between 3-4 kilogrammes, turned or carved from solid wood, with a steel tip called a cronel. Lances from the 15th century onwards were normally made with a distinct taper in the shaft, so most of the weight was centred in the user's hand and supported by the lance rest, a hook-like protusion on the knight's breastplate designed to support the weight. A rare intact surviving example of the jousting lance (a renaissance era lance from Italy) is to be found in the Wallace Collection of london, under the catalogue number #A1022. despite a length of 3.48 metres, it weighs only 3.1 kilogrammes.

Answer 2

close to 30 pounds on the top and 25 pounds around the bottom.

Answer 3

alex demarte,

LOL JKS about 15-20 lbs

Answer 4

bout 150

There really is no set weight for medieval knights, but their steel plate armor weighed anywhere from 60 to 100 pounds. This really slowed them down.

Answer 5

Possibly 80- 100 pounds, and it was very cumbersome.