Grooved and smooth armor: innovations in the first quarter of the XNUMXth century
Stone walls of knights' castles, impregnable until then
did not resist the cannons of the townspeople;
the bullets of the burgher guns pierced the armor of the knights.
Together with the armored noble cavalry
the rule of the nobility also collapsed.
Friedrich Engels
did not resist the cannons of the townspeople;
the bullets of the burgher guns pierced the armor of the knights.
Together with the armored noble cavalry
the rule of the nobility also collapsed.
Friedrich Engels
History knightly weapons. The Hundred Years' War, which tormented France from 1337 to 1453, and the plague of 1346-1351 left a colossal mark on its history. All these events left a colossal imprint on the economy, psychology, culture and even the genetic composition of the population.
But even more went to the British, who, in addition to the defeat in France, then back in 1455-1485. fought in the internecine war of the roses, that is, they waged the War of the Scarlet and White Roses on their island. The war brought significant destruction and disaster to the population of the country. During the conflict, a large number of representatives of the English feudal aristocracy died.
As a result, by 1500, in the same England, a situation developed when there were simply few knights as such. And the people of knighthood themselves were not at all eager to carry out knightly service and fight again, when many other ways appeared to get rich and live for their own pleasure.
Gradually becoming a knight became more and more difficult. Under Queen Elizabeth, for example, the government began to request lists of candidates for the highest approval, and by the time of her death, knighting warriors had practically ceased. There were fewer knights, fewer castles, which now turned out to be simply not needed due to the increased power of artillery, on the one hand, and ... craving for the convenience and comfort of the nobility, on the other.
Nevertheless, the upbringing of boys from noble families, both in England and on the continent, was still very traditional. First of all, it was required to learn how to skillfully stay in the saddle, control the horse only with the legs, freeing up hands for possession weapons, and of course, to be in armor for a long time, not knowing fatigue.
For training, they used a stuffed animal, poles with a hinge, where at one end of the lever there was a target in the form of a shield, and at the other - a sandbag that hit the awkward rider in the back. Another simulator for the future knight was a ring suspended on the crossbar of a pillar. It took a lot of training to get into it at a gallop, but then the developed muscles of the hand and forearm then almost intuitively directed the heavy knight's spear at the target.
Tournaments were still very popular. And since in the same England King Henry VIII himself was their avid lover at that time, his entourage sought to please the king in everything and also did not lag behind him in “military fun”.
In Europe, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian I and the French King Francis I were not inferior to him in this hobby. Naturally, tournaments demanded armor, and armor in fashion, and the fashion for them changed in the same way as for everything else.
Equestrian armor of the armorer Christian Schreiner the Younger (1499–1528), c. 1505–1510 This armor is a rare example of the fluted or "Maximilian" style at a very early stage in its development. Armor was made either in Mühlau or in nearby Innsbruck shortly after Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) established his court armor-making workshop in Innsbruck in 1504. Little is known about their creator, Christian Schreiner the Younger. Few of his works have survived, and this armor is one of the most complete. In this armor and in the armor of the Innsbruck / Mühlau school in general, a strong Italian influence is noticeable. They are characterized by full rounded shapes and a sparing use of superficial ornamentation, in contrast to the purely German Gothic of slender proportions. Innsbruck. Weight 9 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cuirass with ledges and grooves. Work of the master Hans Meishtetter (1508–1533), c. 1510 Innsbruck. Weight 2 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cuirass, back, circa 1505–1510 Probably the work of Francesco Negroli (d. December 1519). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The weakening of the feudal nobility occurred simultaneously with the growth of the power of the kings, who, precisely at the turn of the 1493th-1519th centuries. turned into truly autocratic sovereigns, capable of challenging the Vatican itself if desired. And if earlier the armament of each knight and the warriors subordinate to him was his personal affair, then in the last years of the XNUMXth century, knightly armament became a matter of special concern for European monarchs, and in particular Emperor Maximilian I (XNUMX–XNUMX), who is credited with creating knightly armor with grooves along surface, eventually called "Maximilian".
However, this name can be considered rather arbitrary, since most of the "Maximilian" armor was made long after his death in 1519. However, it can be fairly argued that it was Emperor Maximilian who gave a powerful impetus to the German production of knightly armor in the course of fierce competition from Italian gunsmiths.
Corrugated armor in the "Maximilian style" from Nuremberg, with a two-piece cuirass design, which, although typical of German Gothic armor, was quite unusual for this period. On the armor there is a manufacturer's mark in the form of a shield and an image of a half-lion or a bear above the letters LB. Production time is about 1520. The height of the armor is 175,26 cm. Weight 26,15 kg. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
German armor in the "Maximilian style" 1515-1520 The pointy shoes seem to have disappeared, and plate "boots" of the "bear paw" type are used instead. On the hands are gauntlets. The grooves cover almost all parts of the armor. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
This armor appeared somewhere around 1500, and the corrugated surface of this armor began above the knees. Leggings below the knees remained smooth, apparently due to the fact that the gunsmiths did not see the need to strengthen the protection of the shins and feet. The corrugated surface of the new armor created a beautiful play of sunlight on their surfaces and was definitely close to the fashion for pleating in the clothes of the nobility.
But in addition to its optical properties, the corrugation also increased the strength of the armor itself, which made it possible to make it thinner and therefore lighter, but with exactly the same level of protection. However, the technology for manufacturing such a surface was more complex compared to armor with a smooth surface and very laborious, which greatly increased the cost of the armor, so that these very beautiful but expensive armor disappeared without having existed for several decades.
"Maximilian Armor" from Nuremberg c. 1525. It consists of elements from at least three different but very similar pieces of armor, all made in Nuremberg when fluted armor was at its height. Height 170,2 cm. Weight 22,23 kg. Helmet weight 3 g. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The same armor. Back view
Helmet with grooves and accordion visor
And this is how the helmet looked when the visor was raised ...
Plate "necklace" with a twisted "rope" side. Attached with shoulder straps
Two wambras with three-piece elbow pads, as was customary in Germany
Greave. Back view
It is very interesting that immediately after the appearance of corrugated armor in Germany, Italian masters immediately began to copy them, who reacted very quickly to any innovation. But in the same Milan, their production was abandoned already in 1520, and only in Germany they continued to be produced until 1540. At the same time, the city of Nuremberg remained the main center of their production all this time. Neither Innsbruck nor Augsburg, although they were recognized centers of armor production, could not be compared with him, at least in terms of their number.
Interestingly, almost simultaneously with the “Maximilian” armor, on which the grooves partly resembled the folds on clothes that were fashionable at that time, from the very beginning of the XNUMXth century, the so-called “costume armor” also came into fashion. They reproduced with much greater accuracy the fashionable at that time camisoles - purpuins and "from de chausses" ("top of trousers") - short trousers with slits. Moreover, in them, just like in the "Maximilian" armor, the leggings remained smooth, like stockings, called "ba de chausse" ("bottom of the pants"), which were then universally worn along with civilian clothing.
Since more and more puffy sleeves came into fashion at this time, it became impossible to imitate them in metal. However, in the Imperial Armory of the New Hovburg Palace in Vienna, one can see a costume armor with stunning sleeves, 1520 and signed in the name of the prestigious master Kolman Helmschmid. That is, there is a very funny transformation of knightly armor into ... a kind of ceremonial clothing of the feudal nobility.
Now they began to flaunt in armor not only at tournaments, but also in palaces, demonstrating their taste, significant financial capabilities and ... a desire to serve the king, pleasing his exacting gaze with their unusual and expensive outfit!
The unusual armor of Wilhelm von Roggendorf, the work of the gunsmith Kolman Helmschmid (1471–1532), also belongs to "costume armor". Engraver Daniel Hopfer (1471–1536). Made around 1523. The armor looks like the traditional clothes of the German landsknechts. Imperial Arsenal of New Hovburg Palace in Vienna. Author's photo
It is interesting that arme helmets, which appeared in the middle of the XNUMXth century, with new, grotesque visors depicting a frightening-looking face with hooked noses and protruding mustaches, and besides, often wearing glasses, began to be worn on the front exits to the armor. Strange "faces" on the helmet visors were also associated with the fact that tournaments at that time were often held during carnivals, and it was customary to wear a variety of masks, including a frightening one.
The helmet shown in this photograph belonged to Duke Ulrich von Württemberg (1487–1550). The work of the master armorer Wilhelm Cervey the Elder (1501–1538, Nuremberg). Imperial Arsenal of New Hovburg Palace in Vienna. Author's photo
That is, the ceremonial function of knightly armor has now become the main one.
The spear hook disappeared on them, and they even stopped making holes for attaching it. The armor became symmetrical, as the protective asymmetry was no longer needed and, of course, the armor now began to be very richly decorated! Such armor now increasingly replaced court clothes, so a very paradoxical situation arose: the feudal nobility began to fight less often, but wore knightly armor much more often!
And at the door of the royal chambers there was a guard in ceremonial armor and with round shields in their hands, which have already lost all meaning, but are very beautiful.
As a result, the armor, in fact, turned into a means of capitalization, while they literally lost their practical significance before our eyes.
The easiest way was to gild the armor! Here, for example, is the armor of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519), made by Francesco da Merate (1480-1508). Imperial Arsenal of New Hovburg Palace in Vienna. Author's photo
The same armor is a rear view. By the way, we see typical Milanese armor of the late XV - early XVI century.
The easiest way to turn almost any armor into ceremonial ones was to gild them. Various methods were used, but the most accessible was fire gilding using mercury amalgam. Gold was dissolved in mercury, then the parts of the armor were covered with the resulting composition and heated. Gold bonded strongly with iron, but mercury vapor was a great danger to those who used this method.
Plating was another method of gilding: the details of the armor were heated and covered with gold or silver foil, after which they were smoothed with a special “ironer”. It turned out a strong "golden" coating. Moreover, in Augsburg, the masters used this method already in 1510.
And now they also began to decorate armor with the help of engraving. It would be rather difficult to decorate the same cuirass on Gothic armor in this way - the belts in front and behind would interfere. But now there were no straps on the new one-piece forged cuirasses, and nothing prevented them from depicting entire artistic compositions on them.
So after 1500, another direction arose in the work of gunsmiths - armor engraving. It is clear that on the "Maximilian" armor, the presence of corrugations on them for engraved "pictures" did not leave room for them, but since smooth armor was still produced, engraving, as a way of decorating them, became very popular.
Cuirass with cuisses, possibly by Kohlmann Helmschmid c. 1510–1520 The engraved images are attributed to Daniel Hopfer (1471–1536), a famous engraver and etcher. Hopfer was a pioneer in the technique of making prints from etched metal plate, which revolutionized engraving in the 8th century. The figures on the breastplate depict the main Christian saints, including the Virgin and Child surrounded by St. George and St. Christopher. Augsburg. Weight 845 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The same cuirass. Back view. On the back plate, Saint Anna with the Mother of God and the Child is surrounded by Saints James the Great and Sebastian. The figure of Saint Sebastian pierced by arrows is copied from a woodcut made around 1507 by Hans Baldung Grien (1484 or 1485–1544)
Among other innovations in the field of armor, the beginning of which can be attributed to the year 1500, it should be noted the simplification of the design of combat armor. Thus, throughout the XNUMXth century, the front and back of the cuirass were usually made in two pieces, loosely riveted together in the German fashion, or fastened together with straps and buckles in the Italian fashion, to provide additional mobility to the body. That is, the entire cuirass consisted of four parts: two parts in front - the upper (“bristplate”) and lower (“placard”), and two behind.
Such a device made it easier to wear plate armor and increased the mobility of the torso and shoulder girdle. In addition, there was an opportunity for savings. One cuirass could be divided in half and the lower part of the cuirass could be given to one warrior, and the upper part to the other. In any case, even such protection was better than none at all!
By the way, the cuirass - the breastplate and its back plate - was the last element added to the full knightly armor made of "white metal". And this happened by no means due to the lack of appropriate skills among the gunsmiths, since by the middle of the XIV century they already knew how to make skillfully articulated protective armor for arms and legs, but rather due to the fact that the knights, after flexible chain mail, simply did not want to enclose themselves into an unyielding iron "corset".
And only by the beginning of the XNUMXth century, they had already clearly resigned themselves to the need to wear a completely rigid cuirass of just two solid forged plates.
Typical Gothic German-style cuirass, c. 1480 Weight 2 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cuirass Italian or Flemish c. 1490–1500 One of the first one-piece cuirasses, replacing the previous Gothic forms, which consisted of two parts. The shape of this cuirass, and especially the fringes around the opening for the neck and arms, became characteristic of a new type of armor created in Italy and then copied in Flanders. Weight 4 g.
But now the cuirass has acquired a rounded, globular shape, and besides, it began to consist of only two parts, front and back, connected on the sides and shoulders, where the straps were closed with shoulder pads and a plate "necklace".
Pointed plate shoes with long protruding noses disappeared. Now, because of their shape, they have received the name "bear's paw", and it is known that such appeared already in 1505. At the same time, there is a mass distribution of plate gauntlets in the form of gauntlets, and not gloves. The protection of the elbow and neck also becomes very thoughtful.
And at the same time, around 1512, the first ... half-armor appeared, that is, such armor in which there were no plate leggings. And it is obvious that their appearance was due to practical necessity, otherwise no one would have begun to produce or wear them!
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