What did shields look like in the middle ages?

Answer 1

Shields, like every aspect of life, evolved and changed over the very long medieval period.

Vikings and Saxons used medium-sized round shields of planks butted together. There was a hole in the centre with a bar across it for the left hand to grasp - the hand was protected by a large iron boss (umbo in Latin).

In the 11th century a new shape of shield developed - the flat kite shield. This was round-topped but elongated to a point at the bottom. The hand now grasped an arrangement of leather straps on the inner face of the shield, so the boss became redundant - but it remained, in smaller size, as a reminder of earlier styles.

By the early 12th century the flat kite became shaped to the body, have a slightly rounded cross-section. The boss continued in use for a time.

By the mid-12th century a number of changes occurred at once. The introduction of heraldry around 1140 led to bosses gradually falling out of use. The round top of the knight's kite shield was flattened somewhat, in order to make using weapons over the top of the shield easier. Ordinary infantry seem to have continued using the round-topped variety as it gave better protection.

By the late 12th century the long kite shields started to be replaced by much shorter shapes, some much like a modern guitar plectrum. All of these shields continued into the 13th century, but by the 14th century the familiar "heater" shape was most commonly used. This continued almost to the end of the medieval period.

The links below take you to images of some of these different shields.