Hauberk A hauberk is a shirt of mail . The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid - thigh and including sleeves . Haubergeon ( " little hauberk " ) generally refers to a shorter variant with partial sleeves , but the terms are often used interchangeably . History . The word " hauberk " is derived from the Old Frankish word " halsberg " , which originally described a small piece of mail that protects ( " " bergen " " , lit . " to give protection , to save , to rescue " ) the throat and the neck ( the " " Hals " " ) . The Roman author Varro attributes the invention of mail to the Celts . The earliest extant example was found in Ciumeşti in modern Romania and is dated to the 4th – 5th centuries BC . Roman armies adopted similar technology after encountering it . Mail armour spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin with the expansion of the Romans . It was quickly adopted by virtually every iron - using culture in the world , with the exception of the Chinese . The Chinese used it rarely , despite being heavily exposed to it from other cultures . The short - hemmed , short - sleeved " hauberk " may have originated from the medieval Islamic world . The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates Norman soldiers wearing a knee - length version of the " hauberk " , with three - quarter length sleeves and a split from hem to crotch . Such armor was quite expensive — both in materials ( iron wire ) and time / skill required to manufacture it — so common foot soldiers rarely were so equipped . The " hauberk " stored in the Prague Cathedral , dating from the 12th century , is one of the earliest surviving examples from Central Europe and was supposedly owned by Saint Wenceslaus . In Europe , use of mail " hauberks " continued up through the 14th century , when plate armor began to supplant it . In parts of Central Asia , it continued to be used longer . In Japan , a form of " hauberk " called ( chain jacket ) was commonly worn by the samurai class and their retainers . In the Hebrew Bible the shiryon , translated " habergeon " or a " coat of mail , " is mentioned as part of the armor of Nehemiah ' s workers ( Nehemiah 4 : 16 ) , and one of the pieces of armor supplied by King Uzziah to his soldiers . ( 2 Chronicles 26 : 14 ) Goliath was also armed with a " coat of mail " , weighing five thousand shekels , as he confronted David ( 1 Samuel 17 : 5 ) . Construction . The hauberk is typically a type of mail armour which is constructed of interlocking loops of metal woven into a tunic or shirt . The sleeves sometimes only went to the elbow , but often were full arm length , with some covering the hands with a supple glove leather face on the palm of the hand , or even full mail gloves . It was usually thigh or knee length , with a split in the front and back to the groin so the wearer could ride a horse . It sometimes incorporated a hood , or coif . In fiction . Frodo Baggins and his uncle Bilbo both benefit from the use of a mail or net mithril shirt in " The Lord of the Rings " and " The Hobbit " ; whilst not strictly a hauberk , perhaps ; it is in fact made for a larger entity than a Hobbit therefore it fits them better than design may itself imply .