What the most bizarre and fashionable helmets of medieval knights looked like
What the most bizarre and fashionable helmets of medieval knights looked like

Video: What the most bizarre and fashionable helmets of medieval knights looked like

Video: What the most bizarre and fashionable helmets of medieval knights looked like
Video: How Did Pirate Ships Deal With Storms? | The Pirates Port - YouTube 2024, November
Anonim
Scary … Horror !: Frightful and bizarre helmets of medieval knights
Scary … Horror !: Frightful and bizarre helmets of medieval knights

Since ancient times, a knight's helmet has been one of the most important attributes of a warrior. In addition to its main protective function, it also served as a deterrent to enemies. The Middle Ages were especially famous for the art of making and the variety of helmets. In this review, the most fashionable helmets of the time.

Helmet "Toad's head"

Stechhelm or helmet
Stechhelm or helmet

Helmet Stehhelm, or "Toad's head", or Helmet with "frog's mouth", was very popular in Europe from the late 15th to the 17th century. This ominous looking helmet was intended for equestrian combat and has long been the most popular helmet in tournaments.

Helmet Bascinet

"Big Bascinet" from the Army Museum in Paris. OK. 1400 - 1420
"Big Bascinet" from the Army Museum in Paris. OK. 1400 - 1420
Dome bascinet, Master A, Milan, 1400
Dome bascinet, Master A, Milan, 1400
Bascinet 14th - 15th centuries
Bascinet 14th - 15th centuries

Bascinet or "Bundhugel" ("dog helmet", "dog face") - it is easy to guess that this helmet got its name for its characteristic shape. A helmet with a cone-shaped folding visor looks pretty funny. The shape of the visor resembles the face of a dog or mouse. The cone served as good face protection when struck, since the weapon slid off such a visor. The big plus of this helmet was that the visor could not only be lifted or folded back, but even completely removed. Bascinet helmets were worn mainly by knights, and this helmet was popular in the 14-15th centuries.

Sallet helmetsIn the middle of the 15th century in Europe, bascinets were replaced by sallet helmets, salads, Sallet (Chelata), which are sloping hemispherical helmets with narrow slits for the eyes and an elongated tail.

Image
Image
Image
Image

Sallets did not cover the head completely, only from above, so the gorget and chin were also added to them. And in this form, the maximum protection was already provided.

Image
Image
Complete set - helmet, gorget and chin rest
Complete set - helmet, gorget and chin rest
Image
Image
Sallet in the shape of a lion's head, 1475-1480, reinforced with the 'armor all'antica' - steel, covered with embossed and gilded copper
Sallet in the shape of a lion's head, 1475-1480, reinforced with the 'armor all'antica' - steel, covered with embossed and gilded copper
Oil-painted sallet, Germany, 1500 Oil-painted chelata worn by lower ranked swordsmen
Oil-painted sallet, Germany, 1500 Oil-painted chelata worn by lower ranked swordsmen

Closed helmets

In the 16th century in Europe, completely closed helmets, spherical in shape and with visors, gained great popularity. These helmets are believed to provide maximum protection. They began to decorate helmets with chasing.

Closed helmet, Germany, early 16th century
Closed helmet, Germany, early 16th century
Closed helmet with segmental visor. Milan. Weight 2.78 kg. 1590-1595
Closed helmet with segmental visor. Milan. Weight 2.78 kg. 1590-1595
Closed helmet of the stadtholder of the Spanish Netherlands by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. Milan. Around 1570
Closed helmet of the stadtholder of the Spanish Netherlands by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. Milan. Around 1570
Closed helmet. Northern Italy. Weight 3.86 kg. Around 1600-1620
Closed helmet. Northern Italy. Weight 3.86 kg. Around 1600-1620

Grotesque helmets

Arme helmets became one of the varieties of closed helmets. They are characterized by a rather complex system of connecting individual parts. The visor of these helmets also rises.

In the 16th century, the so-called "grotesque" visors gained great popularity. The armourers with great hunting and skill embodied everything that came to mind of the knights. Often the visors were shaped either as a human face or as an animal's muzzle. At the same time, helmets looked like anything but a helmet, and they began to be called grotesque.

Image
Image
1520-1530 Germany
1520-1530 Germany
Southern Germany, 1510-20
Southern Germany, 1510-20
Image
Image
German (Nuremberg) or Austrian (Innsbruck), 1520-25 Arme with a visor-mask. Innsbruck or Nuremberg. Weight 3, 23 kg. Around 1520-1525
German (Nuremberg) or Austrian (Innsbruck), 1520-25 Arme with a visor-mask. Innsbruck or Nuremberg. Weight 3, 23 kg. Around 1520-1525
A ceremonial bird's helmet of the 16th century. Bird-headed helmet from Germany, early 16th century
A ceremonial bird's helmet of the 16th century. Bird-headed helmet from Germany, early 16th century
Duke of Urbino's helmet. Milan 1532-35
Duke of Urbino's helmet. Milan 1532-35
Toothy helmet of an unknown 17th century Italian master
Toothy helmet of an unknown 17th century Italian master

Helmets of Emperor Charles V the Wise

Image
Image
Image
Image

Koloman Kolman "Helmschmidt" helmet

Another very strange type of closed helmet-mask that was popular in the early 16th century in Austria and Germany.

Closed helmet-mask 1515 Kolman Helschmidt. Weight 2146 Augsburg, Germany, 1515
Closed helmet-mask 1515 Kolman Helschmidt. Weight 2146 Augsburg, Germany, 1515
Helmet-mask 1515 Kolman Helschmidt. Weight 2146 g
Helmet-mask 1515 Kolman Helschmidt. Weight 2146 g

It was used both in tournaments and in battle. Colman (Colman), "Helmschmidt" - is the name of the famous dynasty of gunsmiths who made this helmet. A helmet in the form of a rather cheeky face with a luxurious mustache has an unusual shape, reminiscent of a pumpkin.

"Horned" helmet

Helmet of Henry VIII, 1511-1514
Helmet of Henry VIII, 1511-1514

This helmet is one of the most famous. In 1514, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I presented Henry VIII to Tudor, King of England, a "costume" armor, of which this "horned" helmet was a part. Unfortunately, apart from the helmet, nothing else has survived from this armor. Made in the form of an extremely detailed human face, expressing malice and contempt, with sharply curved horns reminiscent of a ram, the helmet looks rather ominous. It was accompanied by removable masks, with the help of which it was possible to change the facial expression on the helmet, but these masks also did not survive.

Bourguignot helmet

Bourguignot, burgundy helmet or stormhaube, from it. Sturmhaube - "assault helmet", appeared in the first half of the 16th century. The bourguignot has a rounded shape and a thin, sharp crest. There are a lot of varieties of this helmet. All bourguignots have a movable visor-like visor that can be lifted upward, as well as hinged earpieces. Very often, the top of such a helmet is decorated with various figures and heraldic signs.

Open bourguignot with a strap. Northern Italy. Probably Milan. 1571 The ear pads are connected with each other only by the chin strap
Open bourguignot with a strap. Northern Italy. Probably Milan. 1571 The ear pads are connected with each other only by the chin strap
Closed bourguignot. France. Weight 2, 24 kg. 1610 Naushi form a rigid structure
Closed bourguignot. France. Weight 2, 24 kg. 1610 Naushi form a rigid structure
Bourguignot Savoyard. Northern Italy. Weight 4.5 kg. Around 1600
Bourguignot Savoyard. Northern Italy. Weight 4.5 kg. Around 1600
Kohlmann Helmschmid, helmet (bourguignot) of Emperor Charles V, 1530
Kohlmann Helmschmid, helmet (bourguignot) of Emperor Charles V, 1530
Very beautiful bourguignot helmets
Very beautiful bourguignot helmets

Starting from the 17th century, helmets, like other armor, could no longer withstand firearms, and gradually fell out of use.

When you look at knightly ammunition, the question involuntarily arises, and how knights in heavy armor went to the toilet … They would have their own secret.

Recommended: