In Western Europe, armorers began addressing the vulnerability of chainmail to heavy blunt-force trauma by creating the coat of plates. This protective vest consisted of numerous iron plates riveted securely to the inside of a heavy textile or leather torso jacket. It represented a vital technological bridge from flexible ring mail toward rigid, comprehensive plate armor, allowing infantry and knights alike to survive heavy blows from maces and early crossbows.

The development of the coat of plates altered the physical realities of medieval combat, which was quickly reflected in the realistic, gritty violence of late medieval vernacular poetry. Middle High German and Middle English verses began adjusting their combat descriptions, noting how weapons cracked plates rather than merely parting iron rings.