Monkshood (helmet)
The iron hat (French: Chapel de fer) was a simple helmet type in the shape of a hat with a brim that was created in the High Middle Ages .
The monkshood probably appeared in Byzantium in the 11th century and was in some cases almost conical in shape. The helmet bowl was completely surrounded by a wide brim that was partly bent downwards . The monkshood did not restrict vision or breathing and offered protection against attacks from above (e.g. against saber blows from horsemen or projectiles from defenders of a fortress).
This helmet type was mainly the simple infantry spread, but sometimes also wore knight under conditions such as heat a Eisenhut, sometimes they supplemented it on a breastplate fastened chin guard ( Bart ). In the mid-15th century from the Eisenhut was developed Schaller by prolonged the brim on one side to a neck guard and greatly shortened on the other side. The monkshood was in use throughout Europe throughout the High and Late Middle Ages , until helmets such as the morion and the cabasset emerged from it and replaced it in the 16th century . In the 17th century iron hats appeared, which were replicas of hats used in civilian fashion at the time.
Three stylized iron hats are depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Landshut .
Other hat-shaped helmets
The monkshood was a helmet shape from the Middle Ages, but hat-like helmets existed even earlier. The " Warrior of Capestrano ", a statue of an Italian warrior or king from the 6th century BC, wears a hat-shaped helmet made of bronze with a crest .
Japanese warriors wore the jingasa , a helmet in the shape of a flat hat.
The first modern steel helmets from the First World War included several designs that were very similar to the medieval monkshood. The best example is the British “ Brodie helmet ”.
literature
- Wendelin Boeheim : Handbook of the armory. The weapon system in its historical development from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century (= Seemanns Kunstgewerbliche Handbücher. Vol. 7, ZDB -ID 53757-3 ). Seemann, Leipzig 1890, pp. 136, 139, 145 (reprint. Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-201-00257-7 ).
- George Cameron Stone : A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. With an Introduction by Donald J. LaRocca. Courier Dover Publications, Mineola NY 1999, ISBN 0-486-40726-8 , p. 308.
