Hi there.
I'm wondering if or how chain mail would be worked into other pieces of clothing. For example would there be cases where mail might be worn beneath or woven into the inside of a gambeson, maybe with a thin layer of leather between the mail and the skin?
I'm writing some fiction that I want to keep grounded in at least something resembling actual historical practice. There is a character who travels some dangerous merchant roads but wants to appear relatively nonthreatening/unprotected. As such, I thought a coat of some sort resembling a thin, gambeson with mail woven into it to conceal the level of protection it provides might be in order. But I wanted to ensure that wasn't TOO fantastical. (I realize he wouldn't be able to conceal the mail protection entirely but I figured it was at least partially plausible.)
Thanks for your input.
I don't think mail can be 'woven into' fabric. There are examples where it was sandwiched in fabric though. Usamah ibn Munqidh, a Syrian nobleman who lived during the 12th century, owned a kazakhand that incorporated two mail shirts. Link
Ṣalaḥ-al-Dīn* stood in his place until a part of the army joined him. He then said, “Put on your armor.” The majority of those present did so while I remained standing at his side. After a while he said again, “How many times must I say ‘ Put on your armor’?” I said, “O my lord, thou dost not mean me?” “Surely,” said he. I replied, “By Allah, I cannot put on anything more. We are in the early part of the night, and my quilted jerkin [kuzāghand ] is furnished with two coats of mail, one on top of the other. As soon as I see the enemy I shall put it on."
Upon my order my attendant produced [the kazakhand] Taking it out from its leather bag, I pulled out my knife and ripped it at the breast and disclosed the side of the two coats of mail. The jerkin enclosed a Frankish coat of mail extending to the bottom of it, with another coat of mail on top of it reaching as far as the middle. Both were equipped with the proper linings, felt pads, rough silk and rabbits’ hair.
Kind of the opposite of what you're looking for though, as it was a piece of extremely heavy armour only worn in battle. There's a picture of a 15th century Turkish example here, though that only has a single layer of mail.
* Not the famous Saladin (though Usamah also served under him as a very old man) this was a "Salah-al-Din Muhammad ibn-Ayyub al-Ghisyani".
Mail armour was combined with fabric facings and/or backings. u/cnzmur linked one Ottoman example already. Here is another Ottoman example, originally used by a Janissary officer, late 17th century:
Inside: https://i.imgur.com/DyuFBVC.jpg
The torso and upper arms are protected by mail, the skirt and lower sleeves are not armoured.
Similar fabric-mail-fabric sandwiches were used in Japan during the Edo Period. This is often described as "ninja armour", but that isn't supported by evidence; the only special group reported as using fabric-and-mail armours were police. Japanese fabric-and-mail armours might use a backing onto which the mail is sewn:
while others were made with the mail sandwiched between layers of cloth:
As can be seen from these examples, both international 4-in-1 and Japanese styles of mail were used.
In Europe, some arming doublets included sewn-on mail to cover gaps left by the outer armour. This example has armpit protection, and sleeves:
The other major European example is gloves with an outer layer of mail:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/fc/77/27/fc77270256339f70269057b01ce87bc4.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c0/c6/f6/c0c6f659ccbbdd8b355897b998266b43.jpg
This pair is made for rapier duelling:
with the right glove having a bare palm, and the left glove a mail-covered palm, to allow grabbing the opponent's weapon.
Where we have European accounts of hidden mail armour, it is usually a mail shirt worn under one's regular clothing. This might be done for protection against assassination (also reported in western Asia and India), and for cheating in duels. It isn't necessary for mail to be sewn into clothing to be used as hidden armour - just wear an undershirt, the mail, and a shirt and/or jacket over it.
While cheating in a duel by using hidden armour requires the armour to be hidden, there are advantages to wearing armour openly: it advertises you as a difficult target, and bandits are less likely to attack. Travelling dangerous roads and appearing nonthreatening/unprotected will increase the chance of being attacked:
There is a character who travels some dangerous merchant roads but wants to appear relatively nonthreatening/unprotected. As such, I thought a coat of some sort resembling a thin, gambeson with mail woven into it to conceal the level of protection it provides might be in order.
If said character wants to appear as a harmless merchant in order to attract trouble, this would work well.
