Skanderbeg's helmet

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Skanderbeg's helmet
Helmet of Skanderbeg.JPG
Information
Weapon type: Protective weapon
Designations: Skanderbeg's helmet
Use: helmet
Creation time: around 1460
Working time: until 1468
Region of origin /
author: 		Italy
Weight: 3000 grams
Lists on the subject

The Skanderbeg's helmet is a helmet attributed to the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405–1468) , which is kept in the court hunt and armory of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna in the Weltmuseum Wien . The sword of Skanderbeg also belongs to the helmet . According to research, the sword and parts of the helmet were never in the possession of Skanderbeg.

description

The helmet is made of white metal ( Britannia metal ). The helmet bell is made almost spherical, the edge of the helmet is covered with a brass band and decorated with bumps. In the middle area, a gold-plated copper band is riveted around the helmet . The ribbon is engraved with decorations and letters , each pair of letters being separated by a gold rosette . The letter inscription reads:

  • IN = Jesus Nazarenus
  • PE = Principi Emathy
  • RA = Regi Albaiae
  • TO = Terrori Osmanorum
  • RE = Regi Epirotarum
  • BT = Benedictat Te

The translation is: "Jesus of Nazareth blesses you (Skanderbeg), Prince of Mat, King of Albania, Terror of the Ottomans, King of Epirus".

The name "Albaiae" in the inscription stands for a different name from the time of origin for today's Albania. The region was named differently in different countries:

  • Turkey: Arnaut
  • Greece: Arbanas, Arbanensis
  • Italy: Albanian, Epirotarum, Albanensis
  • Albania: Arber, Arberesh, Epirotas

The helmet has a ridge on which the figure of a horned billy goat is attached. The figure is made of bronze and is gilded. The horned goat's head is interpreted as an old Illyrian symbol of rule, the horns as a symbol of power or as a symbol of the divine power of Zeus and other gods; a reference to the figure of the two-horned man ( Dhū l-Qarnain ) in the Koran ( Sura 18 , 83-102) is seen (since this figure is often equated with Alexander the Great , from whose name “Skanderbeg” can be derived). Legends connect the goat's head with events around Skanderbeg during the first siege of Kruja (1450).

The helmet weighs three kilograms.

  • Frontal view

  • Portrait of Skanderbeg with Helmet (Kosta Mandrović, 1885)

  • Skanderbeg monument in Debar ( North Macedonia )

history

The origin and authenticity of the helmet and sword are controversial. The museum writes that the helmet was made in Italy around 1460. The sword consists of a blade from the 15th century and a younger Turkish handle. According to recent reports, the sword is of Bohemian origin, the helmet was probably made in Venice in the 16th century . The helmet can hardly be original. The goat head attachment, however, could be original.

Skanderbeg is said to have owned three swords, which were ascribed a great impact. Presumably the weapons were brought to Italy by the family after his death. The Albanian historian Kristo Frashëri thinks that the sword and helmet are originals from the 15th century. According to him, Skanderbeg's wife Donika and his son Gjon Kastrioti took two swords and a helmet with them on their flight to Italy. First Ferdinand Kastrioti , the third son of Gjon Kastrioti , inherited the objects. When he died in 1561, his daughter, Irena Kastrioti, was given both weapons and a helmet. However, she had to sell it due to the high debts of her husband Pietro Antonio Sanseverino .

Archduke Ferdinand II probably bought a helmet and sword in Italy in the second half of the 16th century. He was an arms collector and, like Skanderbeg, had fought successfully against the Ottomans in the Turkish Wars, so that he saw himself as a successor to Skanderbeg.

These weapons have remained in Austria since the 16th century: the helmet and sword were first mentioned in 1593 in the inventory of the Archduke's collection in Ambras . In 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars , the weapons collection was brought to safety from Innsbruck to Vienna.

At the end of 2012 they were loaned to the National Historical Museum in Tirana for an exhibition on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Albanian state.

heraldry

In Albanian heraldry, the helmet of the Skanderbeg is not only a common figure used in the coat of arms (as in today's state coat of arms of Albania), but is also found under King Zogu I (1928–1939) in the coat of arms as a crowning .

  • National coat of arms of Albania

  • Kingdom of Albania (1928–1939)

Web links

Commons : Helmet of Skanderbeg  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Pfaffenbichler: Helmet and sword of Georg Kastriota, called Skanderbeg. In: Yearbook of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Vol. 10, 2008, ISSN  1605-2773 , pp. 150-159, here pp. 151, 153, 155.
  2. ↑ a b c d Oliver Jens Schmitt: Skanderbeg . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2229-0 , pp. 85, 88 f .
  3. ↑ Suetonius : De Vita Cesarum , LII, 12, 94, 1-2 century BC. Chr.
  4. ↑ Armin Hetzer : The function of the Skanderbeg myth . In: Reinhard Lauer (Ed.): Culture of Remembrance in Southeast Europe. Report on the conferences of the Commission for Interdisciplinary Research on Southeast Europe in January 2004, February 2005 and March 2006 in Göttingen (=  treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen ). NF Vol. 12. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-025304-7 , p. 105-118, here pp. 107-108 .
  5. ↑ a b c magnificent helmet. In: KMH image database. Kunsthistorisches Museum, archived from the original on February 15, 2012 ; Retrieved June 7, 2013 .
  6. ↑ a b Oriental sword. In: KMH image database. Kunsthistorisches Museum, archived from the original on February 15, 2012 ; Retrieved June 7, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Kristo Frashëri: Skënderbeu i shpërfytyruar nga një historian zviceran dhe nga disa analistë shqiptarë: vështrim kritik . Dudaj, Tirana 2009, ISBN 978-99943-0-109-6 , pp. 130 .
  8. ↑ a b c exhibition "Skanderbeg's weapons in Albania" ( Memento from November 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Speech by Federal Minister Dr. Claudia Schmied at the opening of the Skanderbeg exhibition in the National History Museum Tirana. Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture (Austria), November 26, 2012, accessed on May 23, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. (From apple cross to twin bars). 3rd, unchanged edition. Battenberg, Regenstauf 2011, ISBN 978-3-86646-077-5 , p. 384: Skanderbeghelm.