Couter

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.[1]

In fighting reenactment groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, a couter/cowter is often called an elbow cop.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Oakeshott 1996, p. 285.