""Peak" Armor before Firearms" Topic

Hello,

What conflict, or Period, would represent peak armor development (full plate) prior to the common introduction of firearms?

The War of the Roses is the first item that comes to mind for me, but I wanted to ask for recommendations.

Thanks

I'm neither an armour or weapon scholar but it seems to me the Italian Wars were the height of armour perfection.

By the middle of those wars firearms were fairly common though so to meet your criteria I would probably say the latter half of the Wars of the Roses to the 1490s.

Yea, I'd say somewhere between 1490 – 1525 or 1530, during the Italian Wars.

Some, high quality armor made for nobles was reportedly proof against firearms back in the day. The latter just started being used widely around 1515+, supplanting bows and crossbows as the infantry weapon of choice for ranged combat.

I would also say the early Italian Wars. As it began to fall out favor before the end, I can't imagine SUITS of armor really being further refined from there. The next hundred years seemed primarily concerned with cheap mass production of armor for footmen.

Just my two cents.

From a technical perspective the period of about 1480 to 1500 would probably represent the peak of armour development "prior to the common introduction of firearms". But the depending on how you define "common introduction" you may have to push the period 10 years back or even more.

Both the Milanese/Italian and Gothic/German designs have fully matured and they have developed their ability to harden the steel plates to a level that would not be improved upon until modern times. (Partly because of technology, partly because firearms forced a diffrent approach to the material used in armour)

The best hardened steel armour from Innsbruck in 1480 would provide 2 to 3 times the protection compared to an armour of equal thickness from 100 years earlier. And that is before we take into account the effects of how the shape and design of the armour had improved protections.

In the Fourteenth century armors could encapsulate a man in head toe amour. In the Fifteenth century "styles" or fashion in the armor blossom, German/Gothic and Italian/Milanese. The first becomes more sought after by the end of that century to the point where Italians are making their own version of Gothic armor. In the 16th century both styles are sort of combine into Maximilian style.

That depends very much on how you classify the "common introduction" of firearms. Probably the era just before. If you think of armour protection alone, the late 15th century.