1) Body armour for a foot-soldier, possibly in two halves, so sometimes a plural.
1477 j par de bregandys coopertum cum rubeo velveto, York
1499 arraied in maner of war with ... Corsettes, Brygendyns, Jakkes, Salettis, Pickering. It consisted of iron rings or thin metal plates which were sewed onto canvas or leather and then covered over, either with the same material or a finer fabric. It derives from ‘brigand’, originally a term for a lightly-armed soldier which was already being used of undisciplined freebooters by the 1420s. Gerard de Usflete of North Ferriby was possibly serving in France when he made his will in 1420: he left unum par de bregaunters to whichever church he might be buried in. The word was unusual enough to serve as a second name for a York tradesman: Jacobus Brigendermaker took up his freedom in the city in 1453 and paid pro stallagio suo in 1455. In fact this entry was crossed through so he may not have been trading and it seems likely that he died soon afterwards. There are administration documents for James Roderyk, bregandyn maker, in 1459 and this implies that his occupational by-name had previously been unusual enough to identify him. His rare second name suggests that he was not an Englishman.