DEFENSIVE ARMOUR, 1540–1620, AND TO THE END.
Defensive armour experienced another change a little before the
middle of the sixteenth century, viz., in the casting aside of fluted
armour, for the reasons already stated, and the resumption of plain
steel. Suits became generally lighter, and the form of the breastplate
changed, with a hump over the stomach or the abdomen. During the
second half of the century the cuisse and tasset tend to combine in
a series of laminated plates to the knee, and sollerets were smaller
and more the shape of the foot; indeed, greaves and sollerets began
to be replaced by leather boots. This period was specially remarkable
for profuse and artistic ornamentation. Armour was engraved by hand
and manipulated with aquafortis, as well as embossed and damascened
with gold, in a manner that has never been surpassed in any work of
the kind whatever. There is a very fine suit of the period, 1550–60,
at the Königliche Zeughaus, Berlin, made by the elder von Speyer; and
though the armour is enriched, it has been described in this section
by way of showing a typical harness of the period in its order. It was
undoubtedly made by Peter von Speyer in 1560 for the Kurfürst Joachim
II. of Brandenburg, and is thus historic. The letters P. V. S., with
the year, appear several times on the armour, and the Brandenburg
arms decorate the breast. The helmet is the burgonet, the cuirass is
shorter than the fashion immediately preceding, while the rim of
the breastplate stands out sharply beyond the tassets. The breastplate
projects a little below the centre, and the shoulder-pieces and general
pose, with the before-mentioned features, are all characteristic of
the year of make. The ornamentation in repoussé work is very fine.
This suit has been fully and ably described by Dr. Edgar von Ubisch
in the _Hohenzollern Jahrbuch_ of 1899. (See illustration, Fig.
26.) Descriptions in detail and illustrations are given of various
suits of the second half of the sixteenth century. During this half
century (sixteenth) defensive armour may be said in some respects to
have reached its highest point of excellence; but towards its close
unmistakable signs of decadence began to appear, and cap-à-pie suits
fell gradually into disuse. This was caused by the inability of the
armour to resist the then more penetrating firearms, or perhaps even
still more, because the newer tactics demanded lighter cavalry and
fighting more in masses, and less from individual efforts hand-to-hand.
A style of demi-armour, called the “Allecret,” largely prevailed during
the second half of the sixteenth century. The name is a corruption of
“allekraft” (all strength). The peculiarities of this fashion will be
shown in an example from the author’s collection (Fig. 27), which will
be fully described later in these pages. This half-armour was often
worn by light horsemen, household troops, and leaders of companies.
It is very common to find, especially in family collections, some
particular suit or suits ascribed to a great ancestor, but this is
nearly always romance. It is an uncommon advantage to find a harness
dated with the year, as some few are. There is a suit of this kind in
the National Museum, Munich, with the date 1597 inscribed, and others
at Nuremberg and Berlin. The more that is seen of armour, 1560–1600,
the greater is the difficulty in many cases of fixing any approximate
date, or arriving at any standard for suits covered by the period.
Many suits were restored again and again, and this naturally gives
rise to great perplexity. With this period closes the pre-eminence in
the field of the knightly order, as such.
[Illustration: Fig. 26.--Suit by Peter von Speyer of Annaberg, dated
1560.]
The decline of armour may be said to have already commenced
contemporaneously with the period of its greatest elaboration, in the
sense that half-armour began to be freely worn early in the second half
of the sixteenth century, indeed, a figure of a Swiss halbardier, given
in Holbein’s “Costumes Suisses,” of the first half of the century wears
merely a light sallad, with cuirass and taces; and the rank and file of
pikemen, billmen, and harquebusiers generally bore a similar equipment.
Even the “Allecret” description, which is half-armour, was greatly
used by the leaders of companies and mercenaries generally; while what
might constitute a battalion or combined body of troops was often under
the command of a captain belonging to the knightly order, still armed
cap-à-pie. The fact is, that full armour could not be constantly worn
during a long campaign as then conducted without injury to health,
and its use became more and more restricted to the knightly order and
men-at-arms, who were not generally exposed to the same hardships as
the common soldier. The man-at-arms of the sixteenth century became the
pistolier and cuirassier of the seventeenth, and then wore half-armour.
The example of demi-armour (Fig. 27), sometimes called “Allecret,”
dates from late in Queen Elizabeth’s reign; but a demi-harness, with
other details, was worn much earlier, and notably by the German
Landsknecht and the Swiss. The main features of this suit are that
there are elbow gauntlets, a fashion adopted from the Asiatics; and
that the gorget and épaulières are riveted together. The specimen under
discussion is probably of English make. A shirt of mail was possibly
worn beneath it, but this defence was generally dispensed with by the
end of the sixteenth century. The “Triumph of Maximilian” shows
leaders of footmen wearing half-armour. Black and white demi-armour
was very common at this time, and an interesting example of this
description is given in Fig. 28. Its general characteristics are as
follows:--The burgonet is open, and the gorget, which is riveted to
the épaulières, has two laminations at the neck, around the highest
of which is a corded rim. The breastplate is short, with a projection
over the navel. The taces are riveted to the tassets, which descend to
the knee. There are no brassards, but short elbow gauntlets protect
the hands and lower arms. The figure has jackboots, and is of early
seventeenth century date.
[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Plain Demi-suit, in the Author’s Collection.]
[Illustration: Fig. 28.--Black and White Demi-Suit, in the Author’s
Collection.]
[Illustration: Fig. 29.--Late Suit at Munich, 1590–1620.]
Cap-à-pie harnesses tended to become lighter as time wore on, and in
the last quarter of the century the tasset and cuisse became combined
in a series of light overlapping plates, directly attached to the
cuirass and riveted on to the genouillières; which in their turn become
attachable to the jambs by an adjustable screw. A representation is
given of a late suit of armour of this description in Fig. 29, where
the helmet is the collared burgonet, which is characteristic of the
end of the sixteenth and early in the seventeenth century. The cuirass
has three horizontal laminations over the abdomen, while the upper
leg and thigh armour is the combination already referred to. The
elbow gauntlets of the suit are very characteristic of the period.
The harness dates from very late in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, or
possibly even later.
Many writers lay far too much stress on the use of firearms as the
main cause of the gradual disuse of armour. Coming easy to hand, it
was eagerly adopted by many writers on the subject, but like most
generalisations it is misleading. That it was a potent factor in this
direction is certain, but it was only one of the many causes which
have been already touched upon in these pages. The general demand for
cap-à-pie armour languished from the end of the sixteenth century
forward, and with it vanished the taste and skill of making and
decorating it; for we have very little more of the exquisite work of
the “renaissance,” the vigour and force of which had spent itself.
Here and there a fine suit is met with, usually made for royalty, but
always lacking finish in the details; the majority are sadly inferior
in material, workmanship, and decoration--indeed, the character of the
work is coarse in every particular, and became more so as time moved
on. The change in armour during the first half of the seventeenth
century was very great. The breastplate became flat and very short, and
open helms were much worn. The representation (Fig. 30) of a very early
seventeenth century suit is from the armoury at Brancepeth Castle,
Durham. This suit probably dates from very early in the seventeenth
century. The helmet has an umbril over the eyes. Immediately under the
peak is the ocularium of two very broad slits--the visor is grated. The
suit is freely studded over with rather large-headed rivets, the gorget
is pointed, cuirass short with lance-rest, but no garde-de-reine. To
a broad rim at the bottom, tassets, consisting of nine lames, are
attached by straps and buckles. The coudières are sharply pointed at
the elbow. The most remarkable and distinctive feature in connection
with this suit is the protection given to the inner arm by a series
of small and very mobile laminated plates, attached to the rerebrace
and vambrace by rivets; another example with a similar arrangement may
be seen in the Tower. Cuisse and jamb have a high ridge running down
the centre in front, the genouillières having a thicker projection,
bevelled at the sides, in a line with the ridge on the other two pieces.
Plate armour fell into discredit during the seventeenth century and
gradually disappeared, the pikeman being the last of the foot soldiers
to use it. The cuirass was the last piece generally worn, and this in
time gave place, except in the case of the cuirassiers, to the buff
coat and jerkin.
[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Late Suit at Brancepeth Castle.]
Among the great armour-smiths who worked from 1540 to the end of the
century may be mentioned Kunz Lochner of Nuremberg, who was perhaps
the greatest artist in steel of the German “renaissance.” A suit made
for Duke Johann Wilhelm of Weimar about 1560–65, at Dresden, is very
typical of his time. The comb of the burgonet is high, the neck-piece
consists of three lames; the breastplate is short and “peascod”; while
the cuisses exhibit an early instance of coming to the knees. This suit
is referred to under the heading “Enriched Armour.” Anton Peffenhauser
of Augsburg began somewhat later, and worked up to the end of the
century. A notable example of this master may be seen at Madrid, in an
enriched harness made for Don Sebastian of Portugal in 1576 (Fig. 39);
and there are others at Dresden. Sigmund Rockenberger of Wittenberg;
the von Speyers of Annaberg in Saxony, and the two Wilhelms von Worms,
and Heinrich Knopf of Nuremberg; Giovanni Battista Serabagio, and Lucio
Piccinino of Milan, were all great artists of their time; and examples
of their work may be seen at Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin. Mention of
the work of Jakob Topf of Innsbruck first appears about 1575, and an
attempt has been made to identify this armour-smith with the “Jacobe”
of the South Kensington Album, but with very slender foundation in
point of evidence, as it seems to us. Some further sifting of the
matter would be interesting.