Beads & Baubles Cafe

The word Maille is derived from French meaning “mesh”, which comes from the Latin word “macula” meaning “mesh”.  Most people today use Maille or Chainmaille when referring to jewelry pieces to keep it from being confused with posted letters, “mail”, or types letters that are sent from one person to the other called “chain mail”.

 
Maille (also known as chainmail, chainmaille, chain mail, or chain maille), is a flexible weave  composed of small interlocking metal rings or loops of chain. Maille was historically used as armor from the 1^st  millennium B.C. until the late 14^th century, when it was gradually replaced by plate armor.  Maille was developed independently in both eastern and western cultures. It is used today for industrial armor, combat reenactment, jewelry, fashion design, and sculpture.
 
Most sources claim Maille to be an invention of the Celts but I have recently read an article that attributes the invention to an ancient people call the Scythians. It was used around the world as material-efficient armor for several centuries, until the introduction of plate armor around the 16th century.
 
Many of the patterns developed for chainmaille were so intricate and beautiful that jewelry was made from lighter rings using these patterns.  Many people own Chainmaille jewelry and don’t even know it.  If you own a Byzantine chain, then you own a piece of Chainmaille jewelry.  The Byzantine pattern is just one of many that is used to create Chainmaille jewelry.   In the next post on Maille we will give the different categories of weaves and a description of their characteristics.

 
Today, very few examples of ancient mail survive. The vast bulk of maille was broken up, and used as scouring pads through the late Middle Ages.