Pot helmet
The helm was a nearly cylindrical shaped helmet type , which in the early 13th century in Europe came up and up into the 14th century was in use. Other names are barrel helmet or bucket helmet . The bucket helmet, however, is seen as a further development of the older pot helmet. A contemporary Middle High German name for both types of helmets is Helmvaz ( Nibelungenlied , around 1190/1200).
development
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The development of the pot helmet was a reaction to the changed combat tactics of the High Middle Ages . The introduction of the stirrup made it possible to attack the enemy with an inserted lance and aim directly at his head. In the early Middle Ages , light thrusting and throwing lances were common, now the weapon became longer and heavier. The old nasal helmets no longer offered adequate protection, and a "full covering" of the head had become necessary. According to Ortwin Gamber (1977), the development of the pot helmet could also be based on suggestions from the Orient, which were taken up in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade (1189–1192) and further developed in Europe.
The nasal helmet, used since the 9th century, was increasingly made from a single sheet of steel. As a variant of the conical or round shaped nasal helmet, a cylindrical helmet was created in the 12th century . This helmet had a helmet bell almost as high as the nasal helmet and could also be provided with a nose piece. Due to the cylindrical shape, a larger space was created between the top of the skull and the helmet, which increased the protective effect. A variant of this helmet was soon created that was equipped with a fixed visor . Such a helmet hid the identity of its wearer to a large extent, which promoted the further development of heraldry . In tournaments , three-dimensional heraldic elements (known as helmet decorations ) were also attached to the helmet itself.
The early version of the pot helmet with a helmet bell and fixed visor was completed by the protection of the neck area, so that the entire head was enclosed in the later version of the pot helmet. Under the helmet still a tight iron was usually cervelliere or Bascinet worn with a hood-shaped helmet breastplate was associated. In this way, the wearer could also remove the heavy pot helmet or bucket helmet, depending on the combat situation, in order to have better vision and breathing and still be adequately protected.
In the course of time, the shape of the large helmets has been increasingly adapted to the shape of the human skull or the pelvic hood. In the 14th century, the bucket helmet was gradually replaced by other types of helmets such as the doggugel , which, with its tall helmet bell and long, pointed visor, offered better protection and made a helmet superfluous.
material
The material thickness of original medieval pot and bucket helmets are between two and four millimeters . Depending on the design, the helmets weighed between two and five kilograms without a crest. Funeral helmets from the post- medieval era sometimes have a material thickness of only one millimeter.
The helmets were made of relatively low-carbon sheet iron, which was formed from the raw bar by hammering. They were usually made of at least three individual sheets that were riveted together. The inside was usually padded, as shown by numerous small holes for the helmet lining. Sometimes the warrior also wore a padded ring or a ring cap over his chain or pelvic hood. A stolen or inherited helmet could be adapted to the individual head size of the new owner. The helmet ornament was connected to the helmet by cords or leather straps, which were passed through small openings in the crown plate. Occasionally the crest was also attached to the sides.
The bucket helmet
In the sparse specialist literature, the bucket helmet is mostly seen as a further development of the pot helmet. Originally the helmet seems to have been worn over the ring armor hood. A little later, iron hoods were also used , from which the pelvic hood was developed. This required an even more voluminous shape of the pot helmet, which now had to be slipped over the pool hood. The often flat crown area of the large helmets has been adapted to the rounded shape of the pool hood. The cross-shaped slots on the lower edge of the front plates were used to hang the toggles of the weapon chains, with which the helmet was often connected to the breastplate of a lentner or plate skirt .
However, the terms pot helmet and bucket helmet did not emerge until the 19th century. It is therefore difficult to precisely differentiate between the two closely related helmet types. Most of the large equestrian helmets from around the second half of the 14th century are called bucket helmets that were worn over a basin hood. The transition phase between the two types of helmets begins in the late 13th century. However, the original connection between a preserved bucket helmet and a basin hood can no longer be documented. A basin hood from the finds from Tannenberg Castle in Hesse was destroyed in World War II. Whether this lower helmet was worn together with the Tannenberg bucket helmet (now reconstructed), which is only preserved in fragments, remains speculative.
However , this connection becomes clear on numerous funerary monuments and epitaphs . Such representations have survived mainly in the former Reich and England . There are only a few examples left in France . Countless records fell victim to the iconoclasts of the Reformation and the French Revolution .
In close combat, the bucket helmet was probably thrown backwards and held by the gun chains. The open pelvic hood continued to protect the warrior, the heavy helmet no longer obstructed vision and breathing, but restricted mobility. This helmet shape was also only a compromise, which was largely replaced by the modified pelvic hood towards the end of the 14th century at the latest. This former under helmet has now been provided with a removable visor, the snout-shaped shape of which, together with the " Gugel " of the basin hood, led to the creation of the name "Hundsgugel".
When joust the bucket helmet was still used much longer than on the battlefield. In heraldry , the pot helmet or bucket helmet is considered the classic high-medieval helmet type up to the present day.
The pot helmet as a rider's helmet
The heavy pot and bucket helmets of the High Middle Ages were an effective protection against severe facial injuries during jousting and the lance attack on the battlefield. They were certainly only put on immediately before the armed forces . In the subsequent close combat, however, such a helmet was rather a hindrance. The narrow viewing slits offered only a very limited field of vision to the front. Attacks from the side were practically undetectable. In addition, the warrior's breathing was impeded. In the German-speaking area in particular, the helmet was therefore attached to the breastplate of a lentner or plate skirt using an iron chain . The heavy head protection could not be lost and quickly put over the chain or brain hood.
Original pieces and medieval representations suggest, however, that such helmets were also made individually according to the wishes of the wearer. Some knights , servants or even non- knightly warriors apparently consciously accepted the risk of eye injuries in order to get a better overview of the battle. The Treuchtlinger specimen also has relatively wide viewing openings through which a lance tip could easily penetrate. This head protection seems to have actually been used in close combat. The massive damage on the crown plate was probably caused by a battle hammer or mace . It is uncertain whether the carrier survived the attack by its opponent. A pelvic hood worn underneath it together with the helmet padding may have saved his life, but the impact alone is likely to have already put him out of action.
A particularly unusual depiction can be found on the edge of the "Merchant's Crucifixion" (Prague, around 1340, Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie ). The head protection pictured there has triangular, mask-like viewing openings, but otherwise corresponds to the typical basic shape of a late bucket helmet. The viewing slits of modern reproductions, which are usually very wide for reasons of portability (medieval markets, exhibition fights), do not necessarily have to differ from the medieval originals.
Many of the helmets with larger viewing openings were probably designed as pure tournament helmets for fighting with a sword or mace. Here the opponent tried to knock off the participant's crest. Protection against eye injuries was negligible. The late piston tournament helmets of the early modern times , heraldically usually referred to as "bow helmets", therefore have very large viewing openings that were secured by lattice-like metal brackets.
Occasionally the left half of the front of the helmet was reinforced by an additional iron plate, as the impact of the opposing lance was expected here. For this reason, ventilation holes were often only provided on the right side, the "enemy side" remained closed. The viewing slits of the funeral helmet in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg were secured with vertical clips. This example also shows that the great helmets of the Middle Ages were often burnished or painted, as can also be seen on numerous contemporary miniatures.
Original crest ornaments are only preserved for two pot or bucket helmets. The helmet of the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral includes a hat with a standing lion. The funeral helmet of the Lords of Pranckh , whose additional front reinforcement indicates its use as a tournament helmet, probably belonged to Albert von Pranckh, who wore an almost identical helmet with a Zimier in the seal, and came from the first half of the 14th century. In addition to the golden pair of buffalo horns, the helmet gem has silver combs on the outside, which are trimmed with leather. Such helmets were only worn at tournaments and boos , on the battlefield they would have hindered their wearer. After a crusade it was donated to the Seckau Abbey , where it hung over the Pranckhher's hereditary grave together with two of the family's death shields . In 1878 it was acquired for the imperial collection in Vienna; it is currently in the armory of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Probably the oldest representation of a pot helmet is on the third equestrian seal of the English King Richard the Lionheart (1194). The crest of this early specimen consisted of a heraldic painted umbrella board, a "waele".
Special forms and successors
Special forms of the large helmets can be seen in numerous mediaeval image sources. One type had a very tall, mostly pointed helmet bell, reminiscent of a sugar loaf . In the English-language specialist literature, such specimens are therefore referred to as "Sugar loaf" helmets. Some authors believe that this shape should provide better protection against sword blows, as a sword blow could slide off the pointed bell. Many basin hoods also show this tapered helmet bell, so that the "sugar loaf" shape was probably a direct adaptation of the overhelmet to the basin hood.
Some sources apparently document pot or bucket helmets with folding visors. These representations probably show older helmet shapes that were subsequently closed by attaching side panels. The visor-like front panels may also have been riveted to the front as reinforcement. There is no archaeological evidence for the actual use of folding visors on pot and bucket helmets . However, an unfinished, subsequently added miniature in the "Codex Manesse" indicates that folding visors were briefly combined with the basic shape of the large helmets in the second half of the 14th century. Strangely enough, the visors seem to have been attached to closed regular bucket helmets under the viewing slits, perhaps to provide additional protection for the warrior's endangered neck area. However, this helmet shape does not appear on any other medieval image sources, so it did not gain acceptance on a large scale or is even an "invention" of the creator of the miniature.
The late bucket helmets of the 14th century evolved into sting helmets , which were used as head protection during the jostling until the 16th century and were often screwed tightly to the wearer's armor. In heraldry, stinging helmets serve as a crest on civil coats of arms. Noble coats of arms are now usually crowned by piston tournament helmets ("bow helmets"). The pot helmet is the oldest type of helmet on heraldic coats of arms and is only used by the old nobility , whose coat of arms can be traced back to this time.
Medieval original helmets
Most specimens of medieval pot or bucket helmets are relatively poorly preserved as soil and river finds. The few almost intact examples are generally funeral helmets (burial helmets), which were installed as discarded combat or tournament helmets together with a coat of arms above a burial site in a church. Occasionally, custom-made products in smaller material thicknesses that could not have been used in combat were used here.
Because of their high material value, most of the unusable or obsolete large medieval helmets were certainly melted down and the iron recycled.
- The Dargener helmet : This archaeological find from the Schlossberg near Dargen ( Western Pomerania ) is dated between 1250 and 1280 and is the oldest surviving example of a pot helmet ( Berlin , German Historical Museum )
- Archaeological find from the area of the Rehburg castle stable ( Lower Saxony ): 1st half of the 13th century (Rehburg, local history museum). The front of this example is rusted, but a remnant of the very narrow left viewing slit has been preserved.
- Madeln's older helmet : found in the ground, around 1300 ( Zurich , Swiss National Museum )
- Archaeological find from Altena Castle : late 13th century. Probably a tournament helmet with a cross-shaped reinforced front and narrow viewing slits that are very far apart. No holes for a helmet lining ( Altena Castle , Museum of Grafschaft Mark)
- Archaeological find from the area of Aranäs Castle ( Gotland ): early 14th century ( Stockholm , Statens Historiska Museum)
- Archaeological find from Treuchtlingen Castle : early 14th century. The top of this specimen is broken through, which is why the helmet was probably taken out of service and thrown away (Heimatmuseum Treuchtlingen)
- Archaeological find from Bozen ( South Tyrol ): early 14th century (possibly older, Rome , Castel Sant'Angelo )
- Madeln's younger helmet : Find from the middle of the 14th century ( Liestal , Canton Museum Baselland )
- Water discovery from the Traun near Linz ( Upper Austria ): mid-14th century ( Upper Austrian State Museum , Linz)
- Archaeological find from Küssnacht am Rigi : mid-14th century, heavily restored (Zurich, Swiss National Museum )
- Archaeological find from Tannenberg Castle : 2nd half of the 14th century. Reconstructed from 9 found individual parts and synthetic resin. The reconstruction should not quite correspond to the original condition. ( Darmstadt , Hessisches Landesmuseum ).
- Funeral helmet and crest of Edward of Woodstock , the "Black Prince" : 2nd half of the 14th century ( Canterbury Cathedral ).
- Probably funeral helmet : 2nd half of the 14th century ( Leeds , Royal Armories)
- Richard Pembridge's funeral helmet from Hereford Cathedral : 2nd half of the 14th century ( Edinburgh , Scottish Museum)
- Funeral helmet of the von Pranckh family : 2nd half of the 14th century ( Vienna , Kunsthistorisches Museum )
- Archaeological find from Lebus on the Oder : 2nd half of the 14th century ( Copenhagen , Tøjhusmuseet)
- Funeral helmet of the Rieter von Kornburg family from the All Saints Church in Kleinschwarzenlohe : end of the 14th century (Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum )
- Nicholas Hawberk's funeral helmet : late 14th century (Cobham Church)
Occasionally, other alleged soil or river finds are offered at auctions and in the antique trade. Most of these helmets are believed to date from the 19th century. At that time, medieval armor parts or replicas were popular props for furnishing villas and especially men's rooms . The reproductions were initially made in often excellent craftsmanship. If such decorative helmets are artificially damaged and aged, they can only be distinguished from the medieval originals by qualified experts. An indication of authenticity are the flaking layers of material from high medieval pieces. The replicas mostly consist of the rolled iron sheet of the 19th century, which has a much more even material structure.
Some museums also show other allegedly original helmets, the authenticity of which is doubtful. Sometimes the authenticity of some of the specimens listed above is also questioned.
literature
- Claude Blair: European Armor, circa 1066 to circa 1700. BT Batsford, London. 1959.
- François Buttin: Du costume militaire au Moyen Âge et pendant la Renaissance (= Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona. Volume 12, ZDB -ID 222637-6 ). Real Academia de Buenas Letras, Barcelona 1971.
- Liliane Funcken , Fred Funcken : armor and military equipment of knights and mercenaries. 15th - 16th century. Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-570-02167-X (numerous later editions, partly as: Historical weapons and armor. Knights and mercenaries from the 8th to the 16th century. ).
- Ortwin Gamber: The armament of the Staufer period. In: Reiner Haussherr (ed.): The time of the Staufer. History - art - culture. Volume 3: Articles. Cantz, Stuttgart et al. 1977, pp. 113-118.
- Brigitte Klein, Winfried Wilhelmy: The Crusades. No war is sacred. Edited by Hans-Jürgen Kotzur . von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3240-8 (catalog of the exhibition in the Mainz Cathedral Museum).
- Ulrich Lehnart: Clothing and weapons of the early and high Gothic. 1150 - 1320. Karfunkel-Verlag, Wald-Michelbach 1998, ISBN 3-9805642-2-3 .
- Paul Martin: Arms and Armor. From Charlemagne to Ludwig XIV. Umschau Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1967.
- Hans Müller-Hickler: About the finds from Tannenberg Castle. In: Journal for historical weapons and costume studies. New series Vol. 4 = Complete series Vol. 13, 1932/34, ZDB -ID 202580-2 , pp. 175-181.
- Jacek Pierzak: Medieval pot helmets on Polish soil with a view to Western Europe. In: Recherches Archéologiques. NS 1, 2009, ISSN 0137-3285 , pp. 629-640.
- Jacek Pierzak: Średniowieczne hełmy garnczkowe na ziemiach polskich. Na tle zachodnioeuropejskim (= Rocznik Muzeum Górnośląskiego w Bytomiu. Archeologia 16, ISSN 0068-4635 ). Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, Bytom 2005.
- Wolfgang Steeger: A pot helmet from the early 14th century from the ruins of the Upper Treuchtlingen Castle. In: Ingolf Ericsson , Hans Losert (ed.): Aspects of the archeology of the Middle Ages and the modern times. Festschrift for Walter Sage (= Bamberg writings on the archeology of the Middle Ages and modern times. Vol. 1). Habelt, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-7749-3140-2 , pp. 400-408.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Seeau Foundation, Pranckh zu Pux
- ↑ Count Franz von Meran, Der Pranckhher Helm from Seckau Abbey