First, you have to realize that the idea that plate replaced mail was not universal. There were many areas in Europe that continued to use as much mail as plate well into the 16th century.

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Originally posted by Erik D. Schmid:
Dear Androu,

First, you have to realize that the idea that plate replaced mail was not universal. There were many areas in Europe that continued to use as much mail as plate well into the 16th century.

-Good point Erik, "replace" was a poor choice of words since as you say, lots of maille continued to be used.

At the moment there are very few people who could give you an accurate answer to your question. There is a vast amount of research that needs to be done before we can say with any certainty one way or the other whether they were using voiders or not. Judging by the time frame though, it is entirely possible. What effigies are you referring to?

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-How about the image of Miles De Stapleton at this site?
http://users.vnet.net/burts/brassscans/brasses.html

From a practical point of view I have always thought that mail worn under plate is unnecessary in terms of providing protection. It also adds additional bulk with the resulting problems of heat build up and a possible hinderance to movement as up to 4 layers of defence would be present (Aketon under the haubergeon and then maybe a coat-armour over the haubergeon and then a rigid torso defence over the coat-armour.

Taking all these factors into account my personal view is that a mail skirt and voiders provides a more practical solution. Whether this first appeared in the mid/late 14th century or in the early part of the 15th (when it is first clearly illustrated) is anybody's guess though.

I have assumed that for my own late 14th century harness that it was also used then and have found that it works well.

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URL=http://www.jousting.co.nz

As Callum stated, we may never know for sure when the use of mail voiders came into play. In the image you provided, I would venture a guess to say that he is wearing voiders and a skirt, but this is pure speculation given that we are looking at a brass. Only a certain degree of detail is allowed.

Voiders or mailshirts in gaps is so important. I've done some sparring in armor where we didn't count most hits to the mail. I was able to sucessfully target and kill guys without voiders much more than those with.

I have a fairly well-fitted breastplate and still use quite a bit of mail for the voiders on my doublet:

Because the doublet moves inside the breastplate the voiders have to cover quite a bit of my upper arms & chest. Using voiders only reduces the amount of mail on my torso by maybe 30%. If not for it being a lot easier to slip into the pre-mailled doublet, I'd be tempted to just wear a mail shirt over the doublet & not have fussed with fitting all of the voiders (a pain).

I've wondered about heat and conjecture that a bit of mail under the plate might even help ventilation by providing a bit of airspace for air to flow in tight places.

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