During the Visigothic domination, some modifications must have been introduced in the form and number of the arms used, probably owing to the tradition of the Gothic race, and the Byzantine or Oriental influences, which they accept in every sphere; but the names and explanation of these weapons, given by San Isidoro in his "Etimologies," lib. xviii., indicate that the Roman system was adopted as a general rule. The chief modification which may be established for the Visigoths, and the greater part of the European races, is that from their time the breast-plates and metallic pieces, which served as a protection for the legs and arms, fell into disuse, and were substituted by coats of mail or chain armour. This is deduced from San Isidoro's not describing these metallic plates; although he gives numerous details on different sorts of coats of mail, including those made of coarse stuffs woven in Silisia. At this time, the use of planks or boards to protect the body was abandoned, and did not prove acceptable until the end of the 13th century, when they again became very generally adopted in Spain. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Spanish Christians continued to use the same weapons as in other European states. The history of Spanish arms, in like manner with its artistic history and civilization, is similar to that of other nations; it frequently occurs that objects of this kind are classified with those of other countries, the only exceptions to this general rule being those which result from the Moorish conquest and influence. The Arabs, after they took possession of Spain at the beginning of the 8th century, imported, with their arts and industries, special arms and weapons, the greater part of which were copied from Persian models; their swords, helmets, and shields deserve special attention; in other weapons the difference is not so great; and, indeed, in the two first it is chiefly confined to their decoration. None of the arms made by the Moors have been so justly celebrated, or so delicately worked as their swords. An Arabic author, El Camus, says the Arabs had as many as 1000 names to designate swords. In the first years of the Hegira, their historians praise the swords made at Yemen, and in India; later on, those of Syria; Damascus was, however, the great centre where arms of all kinds were made. Several interesting Arabic manuscripts are known on this subject, such as the _Treatise on steel blades_ in the library of Gotha, that on _Different kinds of arms, with the properties of lances, swords, and horses_, in the Library of Leyden, and numerous articles by Oriental scholars, which have appeared in the "Journal Asiatique," and other reviews. The manufacture in Syria decayed in the 15th century; other centres gained in importance, specially those in Egypt, Morocco, and Spain, which had rivalled the East in this industry during the Middle Ages.