Couter

{{short description|Elbow armour}} {{refimprove|date=April 2012}} thumb|upright=1.35|A couter of an Austrian imperial armour, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria The '''couter''' (also spelled "'''cowter'''") is the defense for the elbow in a piece of plate armour. Initially just a curved piece of metal, as plate armor progressed the couter became an articulated joint. Couters were popular by the 1320s.{{sfn|Oakeshott|1996|p=285}}

In fighting reenactment groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, a couter/cowter is often called an ''elbow cop''.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}<!-- There was a page for this term, but it had no good sources and no content that isn't already here. -->

==See also== * Poleyn

==Citations== {{reflist|30em}}

==References== * {{cite book | last=Oakeshott|first=R. Ewart|title=The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry|year=1996|orig-year=1960|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=978-0486292885 }}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041207000438/http://www.chronique.com/Library/Glossaries/glossary-AA/armsindx.htm Armour Glossary]

{{Elements of Medieval armor}}

Category:Western plate armour Category:Armwear

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