Rerebrace (sometimes also called upper cannon) is a type of armour that protects the upper arms, so the area above the elbow. In early medieval Byzantine armour, one could find splint-rerebraces, consisting of strips of hardened metal or leather that covered the arm.
The rerebrace came back into use in England at the beginning of the 14th century. During the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as part of the full plate armour, the rerebrace was a tubular piece of armour that filled the space between the shoulder protection (spaulder or pauldron) and the elbow protection (couter).
This provided complete protection for the arm from the shoulder to the elbow.
