Page "Mail (armour)" Paragraph 9

" There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie.

Relying ... only on artistic and some literary sources because of the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it.

It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms.

Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail.

Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue ".