 During the 13th century, knights began to add plates of armour to their surcoats, subsequently giving rise to the medieval coat of plates.In the early fourteenth century, the front of the knight's surcoat was shortened so that it was longer at the back and knee-length at the front, thus allowing greater freedom of movement and eliminating the danger of a rider getting his spurs caught in the garment.By the mid-fourteenth century, it was replaced with the "jupon" (or "gipon"), a much shorter item, often padded for supplementary protection.