Crusader Flat Top Kite Shields With Jerusalem Cross Painted Design For Hire

A kite shield is a large, almond-shaped shield rounded at the top and curving down to a point or rounded point at the bottom.

Kite shields were introduced in large numbers to the Middle East by the First Crusade, when Arab and Byzantine soldiers first observed the type being carried by Norman crusaders; these left such a favourable impression on Byzantium that they had entirely superseded round shields in the Komnenian army by the mid twelfth century.

Around the mid to late twelfth century, traditional kite shields were largely replaced by a variant in which the top was flat, rather than rounded. This change made it easier for a soldier to hold the shield upright without limiting their field of vision. Flat-topped kite shields were later phased out by most Western European armies in favour of much smaller, more compact heater shields. However, they were still being carried by Byzantine infantrymen well into the thirteenth century.