Medieval Weapons The weapons and protection of medieval times was quiet strange and beautiful. Armor began as leather that had been tempered and soaked in a substance, and when dried made it awfully stiff. Needless to say against the early swords of the time it was not very effective. After the discovery of steel, a new, more protective style of armor was developed. It was known as chain mail. The armor was made of steel rings "knitted" or linked together to form a tight shirt of metal. It was used widely and even was developed to cover arms, legs, heads, and arms. Later chain mail would be used to cover the heads and