vambrace

{{Short description|Armour protecting the forearm and elbow}}

{{about|the forearm guards in plate armour|the circular disc on a lance|vamplate|the 2019 video game|Vambrace: Cold Soul}}

File:Left Arm Defense (Vambrace) MET DP-12882-028.jpg

File:Pair of Vambraces (Arm Defenses) from a Costume Armor MET sfsb26.188.1 001.jpg

Vambraces (French: avant-bras, sometimes known as lower cannons in the Middle Ages) or forearm guards are tubular or gutter defences for the forearm worn as part of a suit of plate armour that were often connected to gauntlets. Vambraces may be worn with or without separate couters in a full suit of medieval armour. The term originates in the early 14th century. They were made from either boiled leather or steel. Leather vambraces were sometimes reinforced with longitudinal strips of hardened hide or metal, creating splinted armour.{{cite book |last=Moffat |first=Ralph |author-link=Ralph Moffat |date= 2022|title=Medieval Arms and Armour: A Sourcebook Vol.1 The Fourteenth Century |url= |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |page=289 |isbn=9781783276769}} Sometimes vambraces were decorated with extravagant designs as was customary for nobles during the late middle ages.