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Water/Wind driven trip hammers go back (at least) to the centralized manufacturing of swords for Charlemagne's armies by monasteries (which drives the transformation of the form of the sword from its migration era 'viking' form [spatha shaped] to the characteristically medieval cruciform shape)...

And many small plates riveted into a textile or leather sandwich are easier/cheaper/more efficient to manufacture than a single large plate for a breast or back.

It really depends. Yes, armour production required much highly skilled labour, but together with the grinding of bread-flour, steel production and arms and armour were the first things to benefit from wind and water power and the first glimmerings of industrial production, often at the...

What authors often forget is the sheer expense of high quality kit under pre industrial conditions. A hauberk and a helm under a padded Jack is a few years of wages for an unskilled workman. And this is the minimum for a professional man at arms. There’s a reason that baseline infantry kit...