[stag_toggle style=”normal” title=”Piece details” state=”closed”] TOURNAMENT EQUESTRIAN ARMOR (MAXIMILIAN TYPE)
German workshop, ½ 16th century
steel; wood; leather; plaster; textile; horsehair; bone[/stag_toggle]
Derived from tales of knights on horseback and damsels in crinolines, jousting originated in the Middle Ages and has always been a competition in which the bravest man emerged victorious, who was always our favorite. Based on the use of the lance by heavy cavalry, jousting became a sport towards the end of this period, remaining popular only among the nobility of England and Germany during the 16th century. In France, this confrontation between knights was interrupted for a period of time, after the accidental death of King Henry II in 1559.
If at first tournaments represented a harsh method of training for war practiced by cavalry, in the 12th and 13th centuries, with the development of "chivalry", tournaments are considered the greatest expression of manhood and honor of a knight, who thus had the opportunity to demonstrate his fighting skills and physical strength, both to his masters, but especially to their ladies, in the hope of obtaining favors.
Organized in teams of combatants, or individually, between two knights, the competitions were held according to a certain code, which imposed a whole ceremonial and rules established with the same rigor as the code of chivalry. These confrontations took place on the occasion of important events, becoming the biggest attraction of the day, until the 16th century.
Tournaments between two mounted knights (equestrian tournaments), moving towards each other at the highest speed, are a competition in which the aim is to defeat the opponent by penetrating the armor or knocking him off his horse with the help of a lance. To win such a contest, there had to be a perfect combination between the strength and skills of the rider, the training and training of the horse, all in a perfect symbiosis, sometimes becoming lethal.
The tournament weapons were those used in battles: swords, lances and maces which, at first, were not sharp, but later, to give drama to the competition and to test the courage of the knights, they were prepared as for a real war. Most of the time, the competition involved the gradual use of weapons: the first competition between mounted knights took place with the use of lances; if these were destroyed in the first confrontation and the forces proved to be equal, the competition was moved to mace competition; if one of the combatants fell from the horse, he lost the fight, but if both fell from the horse and were not seriously injured, then the fight continued with swords (pedestrian tournaments), until one of the competitors was injured.
The tournament armor used at the beginning was the combat armor, manufactured from metal plates and braided metal chainmail guards, "tailored" to the size of each combatant, intended to protect his body from the blows of the opponent. As the weapons used in competitions became increasingly sharp, from the 15th century more effective armor was needed, consisting of metal plates, molded on the body and covering almost the entire fighter. The armor made during this period, as well as in the 16th century, was used exclusively for parades and tournaments, as it had become obsolete on the battlefield after the appearance of firearms.
The armors were made in such a way as to allow them to be worn easily, as well as mounted on a horse, without any help, which meant a very good overlap of the component metal plates, especially in the areas corresponding to the joints. The weight of a knight's armor is between 25-30kg, but being distributed over the entire surface of the body, it is not as difficult to wear as it seems at first glance. The knight's tournament armor provides that the plates that protect the left side of the body, considered more vulnerable in competitions between right-handed knights, be larger and thicker, and a hook-shaped support is provided on the breastplate, to support the lance at rest.
Horse armor protects the head and front of the body, consisting of multiple narrow plates that are connected together with leather strips fixed with rivets, allowing them to slide while walking. The cuirass, which is placed under the rider's saddle and towards the horse's rump, is made of textile material usually printed with heraldic motifs.
The ceremonial armor is ornamented with various decorative motifs: floral, geometric, heraldic insignia, or characters, using specific metalworking techniques: pressing (au-répousse), engraving, niello, etc. Made to special order, for crowned heads, they are personalized and particularly decorative, without neglecting functionality.
Often, various accessories were attached to the knights' complete outfits (handkerchiefs embroidered with silk and pearls, colored armbands, etc.) in honor of the ladies they fought for, or to disguise themselves, since in the Romantic period, the love and saving the honor of a lady from high society represented serious reasons for which knights were worth risking their lives.
The making and assembling of armor was a particular concern during this period, which benefited from the financial support of the great leaders of states and empires, thus contributing to the emergence and then development of a true art. The most sophisticated and impressive armors were made for historical figures such as Maximilian I (1493-1519) – Holy Roman Emperor of Germanic origin), Henry VIII (1491 –1547) – King of England, Charles I (1600-1649) – King of England, Francis I (1494-1547) – King of France, Wladislaw II Jagiello – King of Bohemia and Hungary, died in 1516. The most famous armorers were those in Germany (Augsburg, Nuremberg, Passau), England (Greenwich) and Italy (Milan), and the most skilled craftsmen, who created a true art of this craft and a unique style in their execution and decoration: Kolman Helmschmid from Augsburg and Lucio Piccinino from Milan.
Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) occupies a special place in the evolution of armory both for the development of manufactures and for the innovations in armor making, which determined the creation of a “Maximilian style”. A great admirer of the tournament, Maximilian transformed this sport into a competition dedicated to the elite, himself participating in 64 royal competitions, carrying the art of this knightly combat until the 16th century, thus remaining known in history as “The Last Knight”. Having this experience and wanting to theorize this sport, the Emperor set out to write a book entitled “Freydal”, which remained unfinished. The most important innovation in the making of armor (for the knight, but also for the horse) is the presence of ribs on the surface of the component plates, intended to deflect the opponent’s weapon and at the same time increase the resistance of the material. During his reign, two renowned craftsmen were appointed "Court Armorers" by Maximilian I, namely Kolman Helmschmid from Augsburg in 1491 and Konrad Seusenhofer from Innsbruck in 1504.
The equestrian tournament armor from the collection of the Peles National Museum is supposed to have been brought by King Carol I from his father's collection, from Sigmaringen Castle, and appears in the catalog of weapons compiled by the Austrian Julius Scheűrer, in Chapter II, dedicated to European weapons – “Harness”. Hired by the king for this purpose, Julius Scheürer elaborated around 1914, Verzeichnis der Waffenssammlung Seiner Majestät König Karl I von Rumänien, a work that remained in manuscript, which includes several folders that follow the traditional division of the collection: parade weapons, hunting and combat weapons, firearms, edged weapons and knightly armor. The cards are each accompanied by a pen drawing, which meticulously reproduces all the details of the pieces. As an appendix to the catalog, Scheürer also wrote a Register zum Inventar der Waffenssammlung in dem Rumänischne Königsschloße Pelesch (Vienna 1913).
The equestrian tournament armor consists of knight armor and horse armor, along with a tournament lance and a mace, according to the Scheürer catalog. The entire ensemble is mounted on mannequins, made of wood for the knight and plaster for the horse.
The knight's armor is complete and includes a "armet" type helmet to protect the head and body armor, which includes a wide neckguard, made up of two flared steel plates, a cuirass made up of a breastplate and a back with rolled edges, which has stopping ribs (grooves) on the entire surface, and on the right side of the breastplate is riveted a hook-shaped support for holding the lance in the charge.
To protect the upper part of the knight's body, the armor is provided with two poachers fixed to the cuirass, two tassets consisting of five movable blades, two symmetrical spars, with a smooth surface, with rolled and riveted edges, two complete brasards, consisting of arm armor and forearm armor, and two rounded elbow pads, with articulated plates. A left-hand glove, with separate fingers, composed of small, articulated plates and with a long cuff, ensures hand protection.
For the rider's lower limbs, two semi-cylindrical thigh armors are provided, along with two rounded, convex knee pads, ending with two fins to protect the joint; to protect the calf, leggings and greaves are provided, semi-cylindrical in shape, articulated with hinges, ending with "bear's foot" type clogs, formed of plates articulated with rivets and leather.
The belt for the lance holster is worn over the knight's waist, and is made of thick leather, cylindrical in shape, and worn on the right side (for right-handed people) or the left (for left-handed people).
The horse armor includes a forehead made of four steel plates, fixed together with rivets, the lateral ones being cut out on the contour of the horse's head and two holes for the ears, with metal protections, as well as two hemispherical, gridded visors; the neck guard is made of metal plates articulated with rivets and leather, "crab tail" type.
The chest guard is composed of three trapezoidal-shaped, curved steel plates, fastened with rivets, and with rolled edges, and the croup guard is massive, shaped to the contour of the horse, formed of several steel plates.
The saddle is made of thick leather, has two high metal arches and is lined with leather that extends outside the saddle and has cut-out ends, with geometric motifs and a stylized heraldic lily. The bridle is made of thick leather and partially covered with metal protections.
According to the Scheürer catalogue, the equestrian armour is approximately 500 years old and was probably used in tournaments, as the metal shows mechanical deformations, from time immemorial, caused by sharp or blunt objects. The ensemble is characterised by the precision and accuracy of the production of each component part of the knight and horse armour, but especially by their assembly, forming a unitary whole and with continuity of the stopping ribs; the edges, edged with rivets and rolled, ensure an aesthetic finish to the armour, but also an additional reinforcement; the metallic component parts, with a smooth surface, are decorated simply and soberly, au-repoussé, with floral motifs (the trellises); the leather that lines the saddle has extensions cut out with vegetal motifs and a stylized heraldic lily, giving it a decorative but also functional aspect, thus giving added value to the piece as a whole.
The Maximilian-type equestrian tournament armor is restored and is exhibited in the Great Hall of Armor, on the ground floor of Peleş Castle.