Armet Armet is the name of a type of helmet which was developed in the 15th century . It was extensively used in Italy , France , England , the Low Countries , Spain and Hungary . It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head while being compact and light enough to move with the wearer . Its use was essentially restricted to the fully armoured man - at - arms . Appearance and origins . As the armet was fully enclosing , and narrowed to follow the contours of the neck and throat , it had to have a mechanical means of opening and closing to enable it to be worn . The typical armet consisted of four pieces : the skull , the two large hinged cheek - pieces which locked at the front over the chin , and a visor which had a double pivot , one either side of the skull . The cheek - pieces opened laterally ; when closed they overlapped at the chin , fastening by means of a spring - pin which engaged in a corresponding hole , or by a swivel - hook and pierced staple . A multi - part reinforcement for the bottom half of the face , known as a " wrapper " , was sometimes added ; its straps were protected by a metal disc at the base of the skull piece called a " rondel . " The visor attached to each pivot via hinges with removable pins , as in the later examples of the bascinet . This method remained in use until c . 1520 , after which the hinge disappeared and the visor had a solid connection to its pivot . The earlier armet often had a small aventail , a piece of mail attached to the bottom edge of each cheek - piece . The earliest surviving armet dates to 1420 and was made in Milan . An Italian origin for this type of helmet , therefore seems to be indicated . The innovation of a reduced skull and large hinged cheek pieces is such a radical departure from previous forms of helmet that it is highly probable that the armet resulted from the invention of a single armourer or soldier and not as the result of evolution from earlier forms . Use and variations . The armet reached its height of popularity during the 15th and 16th centuries when western European full plate armour had been perfected . Movable face and cheek pieces allowed the wearer to close the helmet , thus fully protecting the head from blows . The term armet was often applied in contemporary usage to any fully enclosing helmet , however , modern scholarship draws a distinction between the armet and the outwardly similar close helm on the basis of their construction , especially their means of opening to allow them to be worn . While an armet had two large cheekpieces hinged at the skull and opened laterally , a close helm instead had a kind of movable bevor which was attached to the same pivot points as its visor and opened vertically . The classic armet had a narrow extension to the back of the skull reaching down to the nape if the neck , and the cheekpieces were hinged , horizontally , directly from the main part of the skull . From about 1515 the Germans produced a variant armet where the downward extension of the skull was made much wider , reaching as far forward as the ears . The cheekpieces on this type of helmet hinged vertically on the edges of this wider neck element . The high quality English Greenwich armour s often included this type of armet from c . 1525 . Greenwich - made armets adopted the elegant two - piece visor found on contemporary close helmet s ; armets of this form were manufactured until as late as 1615 . The lower edge of such helmets often closed over a flange in the upper edge of a gorget - piece . The helmet could then rotate without allowing a gap in the armour that a weapon point could enter . The armet is found in many contemporary pieces of artwork , such as Paolo Uccello ' s " Battle of San Romano , " and is almost always shown as part of a Milanese armor . These depictions show armets worn with tall and elaborate crests , largely of feathered plumes ; however , no surviving armets have similar crests and very few show obvious provision for the attachment of such crests . The armet was most popular in Italy , however , in England and Western Europe it was widely used by men - at - arms alongside the sallet , whilst in Germany the latter helmet was much more common . It is believed that the close helm resulted from a combination of various elements derived from each of the preceding helmet types . Bibliography . Жуков К . А . Armet a rondelle . Функциональное назначение одной детали шлемов позднего средневековья . http : / / mreen . org / OZRclub / armet - a - rondelle - funkcionalnoe - naznachenie - odnoy - detali - shlemov - pozdnego - srednevekovya _ 2 . html