Why Knights Stopped Using Armor

Why did knights stop wearing armor if steel could actually stop bullets? The real reason wasn't the gun. In 1561 an emperor shot his own armor to prove it was bulletproof, and steel kept stopping bullets for another two hundred years. So why did soldiers take it off? From Cerignola and Pavia to Waterloo, the trenches of 1915 and today's body armor, this is the story of what really killed the armored knight, and how armor came back. Chapters: 0:00 The emperor who shot his own armor 0:51 Cerignola and Pavia: when the myth looks true 1:59 Bulletproof on purpose: proof marks 2:33 The 39-kilo problem 3:27 The real killer: money and huge armies 4:54 The gorget, Waterloo and 1914 5:59 Armor comes back: Ned Kelly, helmets and plates 7:11 So why did knights stop wearing armor? Sources: Gladius, "Bullet dents – proof marks or battle damage": https://gladius.revistas.csic.es/inde... The Met, Shot-Proof Cuirass: https://metmuseum.org/art/collection/... Brabants Erfgoed, cuirassier armour (Royal Armouries II.140): https://www.brabantserfgoed.nl/id/6675 Britannica, Battle of Pavia: https://www.britannica.com/event/Batt... Napoleon.org, Carabinier's breastplate from Waterloo: https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-o... Australian War Memorial, French cuirassiers 1914: https://awm.gov.au/collection/C159279 NFSA, Ned Kelly's armour: https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/cu... NIJ Standard 0101.06, Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor: https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publicati... Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): "Pippin the Hunchback", "Minstrel Guild", "Master of the Feast", "Thatched Villagers" Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Photos (Wikimedia Commons): Yair Haklai (CC BY-SA 4.0), Mary Harrsch (CC BY 2.0), Sailko (CC BY 3.0), Yu Chu Chin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Rama (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr), George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0), Gordon Leggett (CC BY-SA 4.0). Museum images: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access, CC0), Rijksmuseum (CC0), Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Livrustkammaren, Gallica/BnF (public domain). Maps: Natural Earth. #history #knights #medievalhistory