Morion

The Morion was an open helmet type without a visor, which in the first half of the 16th century from the form of the Spanish "Cabasets" (Spanish version of the Eisenhut was).

Morion with comb, side view

Swiss guard with black morion (for Sundays and public holidays)

The helmet bowl of the early Morions was conical in shape and surrounded by a wide brim, which was folded up on the front and back of the helmet, tapered to a point and sloping downwards on the sides. In many cases, the helmets had cheek flaps. In the middle of the 16th century, Morions appeared whose helmet bell, like the Spanish models, had a high crest of different heights and shapes. The morion was used until the beginning of the 17th century and was first used by pikemen and later mainly by city guards and body guards . The Swiss Guard of the Vatican still wears morions today. High-quality specimens were forged from a single steel plate and often lavishly decorated. Almost all the famous Plattner presented Morions in artistic quality versions ago, which were manufactured in commissions for the royal and princely houses. Many of these precious specimens are preserved in museum collections around the world. At the Swiss Guard, the metal morions were replaced in mid-2018 by those made of scratch-resistant plastic, which are manufactured using 3D printing .

In the second half of the 16th century, the Morion was transformed into the Cabasset , also known as “Pear Morion”, “Pear Cabasset ”, “Birnhelm” or “Spanish Morion”. This had a flat, narrow brim and a high helmet bell, which in some specimens ended in a short, backward-curved helmet pin. The shape of the helmet bowl resembled half an almond . The Morion Cabasset was a hybrid of the two helmet types. He had the brim of a morion and the helmet bell of a cabasset.

The helmet shape was also adopted in Japan in the 16th century of the Momoyama period , where it was worn with Europeanized armor of the Nanbandō type.

Web links

Commons : Morion - collection of images, videos and audio files

Spanish Cabaset (monkshood) at Christies / London
Ornate morion in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, New York
[1] , [2] , [3] Pictures of a pear morion at My Armory, splendid version, probably made by Pompeo della Cesa, also Ciesa (* 1537 - † March 2, 1610 in Milan)
Nanban-style helmet at Christies / London
Important Morion , attributed to Pompeo della Cesa, Milan 1585–1590

Individual evidence

^ Morion, German, late 16th century, associated with the Munich City Guard
↑ Photo series: New helmets for the Swiss Guard from the 3-D printer. In: www.nzz.ch. June 22, 2018, accessed June 22, 2018 .
^ Ewart Oakeshott: European Weapons and Armor: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution . New edition. Illustrated by Ewart Oakeshott, Boydell Press, 2012, page 218, ISBN 978-1-84383-720-6 .
^ Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kazutoshi Harada: Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 . Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, pages 68-71, ISBN 978-1-58839-345-6 .

[1] Morion, German, late 16th century, associated with the Munich City Guard

[2] Photo series: New helmets for the Swiss Guard from the 3-D printer. In: www.nzz.ch. June 22, 2018, accessed June 22, 2018 .

[3] Ewart Oakeshott: European Weapons and Armor: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution . New edition. Illustrated by Ewart Oakeshott, Boydell Press, 2012, page 218, ISBN 978-1-84383-720-6 .

[4] Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kazutoshi Harada: Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 . Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, pages 68-71, ISBN 978-1-58839-345-6 .