The sallet was a war helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy. France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal. In essence the earliest sallets were a variant of the bascinet, intended to be worn without an aventail or visor. To increase protection to the face and neck, that the abandonment of the visor and aventail would have exposed, the sides of the helmet were drawn forward at the bottom to cover the cheeks and chin and the rear was curved out into a flange to protect the neck.