on the Company up to the end of the reign of Elizabeth, and
continued to suggest that superstitious practices were indulged in
till their demands were met at heavy expense.
The Armourers had, in 1515, absorbed the whole craft of the
Blade-smiths, which seems to have caused much friction with
the Cutlers. The books of the Company are full of appeals and
negotiations before the Court of Aldermen on the question of search
for unlicensed craftsmen and faulty goods, which was one of the
important duties of the Company. These were finally arranged by
a joint search being made by the two Companies. The Company was
from the beginning dedicated to S. George, who was the patron
of armourers all over Europe. His statue by Donatello, formerly
outside the gild-church of Or San Michele in Florence, is well known.
The figure of S. George appears on the charter granted by Henry VI
in 1453, and also upon the matrix of a seal of about the same date.
The registered mark of the Company was “A,” surmounted by a crown,
and this was ordered to be stamped upon all weapons, armours, and
guns supplied by the Company when tested and approved.
There are many interesting details dealing with the apprentices
of the Company which, although they do not bear directly upon the
craft of the armourer, are nevertheless worth recording as typical
of the craft laws and regulations as practised in England.
In most craft-gilds it was considered sufficient for an apprentice
to serve for seven years before he was free of the gild; but in
the Armourers’ Company we frequently find entries of apprentice
bonds for nine years, and in some instances ten and fourteen.
There are records of misbehaviour of one of the apprentices, who
is ordered “honest correction as that a Servant shall be used.”
This correction was sometimes administered in the Hall before the
Gild-Court, and is described as being “indifferently well” carried
out. The case of the Sussex smith who produced unworkmanly armour
has been referred to above. In a letter from the Lord Mayor in
1560 we read that the apprentices are not to use “swearing and
blaspheming, haunting evil women or Schools of Fence, Dancing,
Carding, Dicing, Bowling, Tennis play, using of Ruffs in their
shirts, Tavern haunting or Banqueting, and if any shall be found
faulty the same be forwith punished by whipping openly in your Hall
in the sight of other Apprentices, and ye shall give in charge
that the said Masters shall not permit nor suffer any of their
Apprentices to wear in their hosen any cloth of other colours than
are here expressed, that is to say, White, Russet, Blue, Watchet,
and the said Hosen to be made without great Breeches in most plain
manner without stitching of Silk or any mannar of Cuts.”
The most valuable of the possessions of the Armourers’ Company from
the technical point of view is the suit of armour made by Jacobe,
who is now considered to be the same as Jacob Topf, an Innsbruck
craftsman who was Master Armourer at Greenwich in 1590. The design
for this suit appears in the _Almain Armourer’s Album_, which
is noticed under the heading of German Armourers. There is also
a “locking-gauntlet,” which is sometimes erroneously called the
“forbidden gauntlet,” by the same craftsman (Fig. 32).
The Company at one time possessed a model suit of armour made
in 1567 by John Kelk, a naturalized German member, which, when
completed, was brought into the Hall with much ceremony and laid
upon the high table. It was intended to be a pattern of the armour
made by the Company. There are various entries in the Company’s
Records of payments for repairing and keeping up this “Mannakine,”
as it was called. It has since disappeared; but Hewitt, the noted
authority on medieval armour, seemed to think that it was in the
Tower in 1855 (II, 52).
FOOTNOTES:
[132] Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
[133] William Pickering was Master of the Company 1608-9.
[134] In September, 1575, “Hopkins, a maker of coining irons in the
Mint, has also been making calivers and great iron pieces.”--State
Papers, _sub ann._
LISTS OF EUROPEAN ARMOURERS
The following short notices give what details are known of some of
the more important armourers. In many instances they are only known
by their works, and no details are forthcoming about their private
or professional lives. The dates given are those of the earliest
and latest mention of the individual in contemporary chronicles.
ENGLAND
(K.A., Q.A. = KING’S OR QUEEN’S ARMOURER)
Albert, Hans. 1515.
Ashton, John. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Aynesley, Edward. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Baker, Thomas.[135] 1547. Armourers’ Co.
Basyn, John. 1524-44. (Naturalized Norman.)
Bawdesonne, Alen. 1547. King’s Armourer, Westminster.
Blewbery, John. 1511-16. (Yeoman of the Armoury at Greenwich, 1515.)
Boreman, W., also called Alias Hynde. 1599-1609. (Appointed
armourer at Greenwich, 1599. Will dated 1645.)
Brande, Rauffe.[136] 1520.
Baltesar Bullato. 1532. Milanese, King’s Armourer.
Carter, William. 1534. Ludlow.
Clere, Hans. 1530. K.A., Greenwich.
Clynkerdager, Hans. 1542-4. K.A., Greenwich.
Clynkerdager, John. 1525.
Copeland. 1529. London.
Cooper, John. 1627-9. Keeper of the King’s Brigandines.
Cowper, Thomas. 1559. K.A., Greenwich.
Coxe, Wm. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Croche, Francis. 1528-9. K.A., Greenwich.
Crochet, John. 1515-20. K.A., Greenwich.
Crompton, John. 1544. Southwark.
Crouche, Wm. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Cutler, Richard.[137] 1520.
Dael, Thomas. 1515. K.A., Greenwich.
Daniele, Edmond.[138] 1547.
Daniele, John.[138] 1547.
Darwin, William. 1613. Yeoman of the Armoury at Greenwich.
Dawson. 1515. K.A., Greenwich.
Dedikes, Dirike. 1530. Yeoman of the Armoury at Greenwich.
Dericke or Diricke, Mathew. 1559-74. K.A., Greenwich.
Dericke or Diricke, Robert. 1524.
Diconson, John. 1528. K.A., Greenwich.
Faulkenor, Roger.[139] 1625-31.
Fevers, Peter. 1512-18. K.A., Greenwich.
Foster, Rowland. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Franklin, John. 1633. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Fuller, James. 1559. Yeoman of the Armoury, Greenwich.
Garret, John. 1559-1601 (date of will). Q.A., Greenwich.
Gurre, Wm. 1511-38. Brigandarius.
Halder, Jacob. 1574. Q.A., Greenwich.
Halore (?), Jacob. 1559. Q.A., Greenwich. (Possibly the same as
Halder.)
Harford, Richard. 1590. London.
Herste, Martyn. 1574. Q.A., Greenwich.
Hill, Johan. 1434. Armourer to Henry VI. See page 173.
Horne, Geofrey. 1516-18.
Hotton, Richard. 1592.
Hunter, Hans.[138] 1547. Westminster.
Jacobi or Jacobe.[140] 1530-90. Master Armourer, Greenwich.
Kelte, John. 1559-74. Q.A., Greenwich.
Kemp, Jasper. 1544. K.A., Greenwich.
Keymer, Roger. 1571. Q.A., Greenwich.
Kirke, John. 1577. Master Armourer at Greenwich.
Kirkener, Erasmus or Asamus. 1519-93. Brigandarius, 1538; Chief
Armourer, 1544.
Kornelys. 1515. K.A., Greenwich.
Lasy, John. 1533. Nottingham.
Lincoln, Thomas. 1604-8. Yeoman of the Armoury at Greenwich.
Mare de la, Will. K.A., 1672.
Marshall, Nicholas. 1533. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Martyn, “Old.” 1544. K.A., Greenwich.
Mightner, Hans. 1559-74. Q.A., Greenwich.
Oliver, Jermyn. 1514-44. (Naturalized Norman.)
Pellande, Richard. 1520.
Pellysonne, Frances. 1524-44. (Naturalized “from the domains of
the Emperor.”)
Pickering, William. 1591-1630. Master Armourer at Greenwich, 1604-14.
Pipe, Nighel. 1559. Q.A., Greenwich.
Pitwell, Giles. 1516-44. (Naturalized Gascon.)
Polston, John. 1552. K.A., Greenwich.
Pounde, John de. 1520.
Poyes, Francis. 1525-44. (Naturalized Norman.)
Purday, John. 1562.
Sewell, John. 1590-1.
Sherman, Nicolas. 1629. Chief Armourer at Greenwich.
Spirarde, Carries or Tarys. 1574. Q.A., Greenwich.
Spyltherup or Speldrup, Francis.[141] 1532.
Stephens, Thos. 1626. K.A. and Armourers’ Co.
Stile, John.[142] 1524. K.A., Greenwich.
Stone, Benjamin. 1636. Sword-smith, Hounslow.
Ureland, Peter van. 1515. Gilder and Graver, Greenwich.
Watt Copyn Jacob de. 1512-26. K.A., Greenwich.
Whetstone. 1628.
White, Thomas. 1416. Master Armourer.
Wolf, John. 1538-42. K.A., Greenwich.
Wollwarde, Thomas. 1530-41. K.A., Greenwich.
Woode, Richard. 1590. London.
GERMAN ARMOURERS
Aldegraver, Heinrich. 1502-58.
Brabenter, Wilhelm, Solingen. Sixteenth century.
Colman, Coloman. 1470-1532. Augsburg. Mark No. 40. See page 133.
Colman (Helmschmied), Desiderius. 1552. Mark No. 40. See page 134.
Colman (Helmschmied), Lorenz. 1490-1516. Mark Nos. 2, 23, 41. See
page 133.
Frauenpreis, Matthaias. 1549. Mark No. 38. See page 135.
Frauenpreis, Matthaias, the younger. See page 135.
Grofsschedl, Franz. Landshut. 1568. Mark No. 39.
Grünewalt, Hans. Nuremberg. 1503. Mark No. 54. See page 135.
Hopfer, Daniel. 1566. See page 136.
Jövingk, Jakob. Dresden. 1650-9.
Knopf, Heinrich. 1604.
Lochner, Conrad. Nuremberg. 1567. Mark No. 46. See page 136.
Obresch, Heinrich. Grätz. 1590. Mark No. 47.
Peffenhauser, Anton. Augsburg. 1566-94. Mark No. 48.
Ringler, Hans. Nuremberg. 1560. Mark No. 49.
Rockenberger or Rosenberger, Hans. 1543-70. Dresden.
Rockenburger, Sigmund. 1554-72. Mark No. 79.
Rotschmied. Nuremberg. 1597. Mark No. 6.
Seusenhofer, Conrad. Innsbruck. 1502-18. Mark No. 7. See page 141.
Seusenhofer, Jorg. Innsbruck. 1558. Mark No. 8. See page 141.
Seusenhofer, Wilhelm. Augsburg. 1547.
Siebenburger, Valentine. Nuremberg. 1547. Mark Nos. 20, 74.
Sigman, George. 1560. Mark No. 76.
Speyer, Peter. Dresden. 1560. Mark No. 60.
Speyer, Wolf. Dresden. 1580.
Topf, Jacob. Innsbruck. 1530-90. See page 143.
Treytz, Adrian. Innsbruck. 1469-1517. Mark No. 15.
Veit. Nuremberg. Sixteenth century. Mark No. 16.
Wolf, Sigismond. Landshut. 1554.
Worms, Wilhelm (father and son). Nuremberg. 1539. Mark No. 17.
FRANCE
Petit, M. Seventeenth century. Mark No. 83.
NETHERLANDS
Merate, Gabriel and Francesco. Arbois. 1495. Mark Nos. 18, 51, 53.
See page 136.
Voys, Jacques. Brussels. Fifteenth to sixteenth century. Mark No. 56.
ITALY
Campi, Bartolomeo. Milan. 1573. See page 132.
Camelio, Victor. Brescia. 1500. See page 131.
Cantoni, Bernardino. Milan. 1500. See page 133.
Chiesa, Pompeo della. Milan. 1590.
Missaglia, Antonio. 1492. Mark Nos. 24, 25, 26. See page 138.
Missaglia, Petrajolo. Milan. 1390. Mark Nos. 27, 78.
Missaglia, Tomaso. Milan. 1468. Mark Nos. 27, 78. See page 137.
Mola, Gesparo. Rome. 1640. See page 139.
Negroli, Philip and Jacopo. Milan. 1530-90. Mark Nos. 42, 43, 44.
See page 140.
Piccinino, Lucio. Milan. 1550-70. See page 140.
FOOTNOTES:
[135] At funeral of Henry VIII.
[136] Sent to Flanders in this year to provide armour, etc., for
the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
[137] Sent to Flanders in this year to provide armour, etc., for
the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
[138] At funeral of Henry VIII.
[139] Made sundry petitions for inquiry as to the state of the
Armouries, S.P.D. Car. I, xiii, 96, etc.
[140] Now considered to be the same as Topf. Only mention as
armourer in England, 1590.
[141] Appropriated gold intended to gild armour, also clipped money.
[142] Died by burning in this year.
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF NOTABLE ARMOURERS
[Sidenote: _Hans Burgmair_, Augsburg, 1473-1531.]
This celebrated engraver was the son of Hans Burgmair or Burgkmair.
There is some confusion between the father and son, but the former
seems to have worked either as a maker or a decorator of armour.
The family were neighbours of the famous Colmans, the armourers,
who lived in the Lange Schmiede gasse, while the Burgmairs had a
house close by in Mauerburg. In 1526 Coloman Colman left his house
to live with Hans Burgmair the elder, while Hans the younger took
Colman’s house. The two families seem to have been on most intimate
terms. S. Quirin. Leitner considered that the bard of A, 149,
Madrid, which represents the labours of Hercules and Samson, was
designed by Burgmair, and Wendelin Boeheim[143] also inclined to
this view. His principal works were the Triumph of Maximilian and
the illustrations of the _Weisz Künig_, both of which show such
endless varieties of armour and weapons that we cannot but feel
that the artist must have had a very practical knowledge of the
craft of the armourer.
It would enlarge the present work beyond its original scope if
mention were made of all the artists who designed armour and
weapons, for in all ages the painter and sculptor have been
employed in this direction. It will be sufficient to note that
designs of this nature are to be found in the sketch-books of
Donatello, Giulio Romano, Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Benvenuto
Cellini, and Albert Dürer. Reproductions of two drawings by the
latter are given on Plate XXXI.
[Sidenote: _Vittore Camelio_, Venice, _circ._ 1450-1509.]
Camelio was born either at Venice or Vincenza. He was a fine
engraver and medallist, and is considered by Nägler to have
invented the process of striking coins and medals from steel dies.
He was especially noted for light steel armour of high temper. He
was granted a patent or concession for the sole working of his
invention by the Senate of Venice from 1509 for five years.
[Sidenote: _Bartolomeo Campi_, Pesaro, Venice, Paris, 1573.]
Campi was born at Pesaro, but the exact date of his birth is
unknown. He was a goldsmith, and engraver and maker of arms and
armour of such merit that they elicited the highest praise from
Pedro Aretino in his letters from Venice to Bartolomeo Egnazio
in 1545. About this date he made a magnificent pageant suit
of pseudo-Roman armour for Guidobaldo II, Duke of Urbino, who
presented it to Charles V. The cuirass is superbly modelled on
the human torse and is decorated with a Medusa’s head and bands
of gold with silver flowers. The shoulder-pieces are of blackened
steel in the form of masks with golden eyes, and the lambrequins
hanging from the cuirass end in medallions and masks. The helmet
is decorated with a crown of golden leaves. On the cuirass is the
inscription: “BARTOLOMEVS CAMPI AVRIFEX TOTIVS OPERIS ARTIFEX QVOD
ANNO INTEGRO INDIGEBAT PRINCIPIS SVI NVTVI OBTEMPERANS GEMINATO
PERFECIT.” If this inscription is not an exaggeration, it is little
short of miraculous that this suit should have been made in one
year. It is now at Madrid (A, 188). In 1547 Campi directed the
fêtes held in honour of the marriage of Guidobaldo II and Vittoria
Farnese at Pesaro. He was military engineer to the Republic of
Siena, to that of Venice, and to the King of France between the
years 1554 and 1560. He assisted the Duc de Guise at the siege
of Calais in 1562, and in 1568 served with the Duke of Alba in
Flanders, where he was given a commission as chief engineer of
fortifications at a salary of 500 escudi. The Duke, writing to the
King on June 3, 1569, says: “I tell your Majesty that you have a
good man in Captain B. Campi, because in truth he is a soldier and
has art, although not so well founded as Pachote ... and he is the
best man I have met with since I have known men--I do not say only
engineers, but men of any sort--very happy and steady in his work.”
Campi was killed by an arquebus shot at the siege of Haarlem on
March 7th, 1573, to the great grief of the Duke and the whole army.
His brother was an armourer about 1555, but we have no records of
his work. The magnificent specimen of Bartolomeo’s work at Madrid
is the only example of his craft as an armourer that has come down
to us (Plate XIV).
[Sidenote: _Jacopo and Bernardino Cantoni_, Milan, 1477-1500.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64. Cantoni’s mark on a brigandine, C, 11,
Madrid.]
But little definite information is to be obtained respecting
the Cantoni family. They worked for Galeazzo Maria Sforza and
other princes, and are mentioned as “magistri armorum” in the
gild-records of Milan. Bernardino worked for the Emperor Maximilian
I and produced the brigandine (Madrid, C, 11) which bears his
signature (Fig. 64). This is the only work which can be directly
ascribed to this family.
[Sidenote: _Lorenz Colman_, Augsburg, d. 1516. Mark Nos. 23, 41.]
This armourer is also known as Colman Helmschmied. Little is known
of his history except that one of his ancestors was living in
Augsburg in 1377. His father George was also an armourer who worked
in Augsburg in the Harbruc and in the Luginsland, craft-streets
of that city. He died in 1479. The name of his son Lorenz first
appears in the civic records in 1467, and his work must have soon
attracted attention, for in 1477 we find him making armour for
Maximilian I and obtaining the freedom of the city. In 1491 he was
created Hof Platner to the Emperor and established himself in a
house in Innsbruck. From commissions entrusted to him for buying
metal in 1498 he appears to have been still at Innsbruck, and in
1506 the records of Mantua show that he was making armour for
that court. After this he seems to have been employed entirely by
Maximilian, and in 1508 he received a large contract for armour for
his army. His work is marked with a helm surmounted by a cross, and
always bears in addition the pine, the Augsburg city stamp. Armour
from his hand is to be found at Madrid, A, 44, and Vienna, 62,
1005, 1016, 1023.
[Sidenote: _Coloman Colman_, Augsburg, 1476-1532. Mark No. 40.]
Coloman was the son of Lorenz, and with the rest of his family took
the craft-name of Helmschmied, a fact which makes investigations of
records, documents, etc., of some difficulty. This is especially
the case with Coloman, whose name is spelt sometimes with a “C”
and sometimes with a “K.” The first mention of Coloman in civic
documents is in 1507. In 1512 we find him working for Charles V,
and shortly after he entered the service of Maximilian I. In 1516 a
silver suit of armour (steel plated with silver) was ordered from
him by Maximilian, but in 1519 this suit seems still to have been
unfinished, probably owing to lack of payments, a reason which was
and is always being advanced by craftsmen of all kinds for work
delayed at this period. He employed the two Burgmairs, father and
son, to decorate his armour.
Although Charles V frequently urged him to come to Spain, his
numerous commissions at home prevented him. He seems to have
been prosperous in 1525, for he bought the “Schmied haus in the
Karoline strasse” from the widow of Thomas Burgmair. Two portrait
medals were struck for him in 1518, 1532. His clientele extended
to Italy, and in 1511 he wrote a letter to the Marchesa Francesco
di Mantua describing a project for completely arming a horse with
laminated and jointed defences of plate covering head, body, and
legs. A picture in the Zeughaus at Vienna shows Harnischmeister
Albrecht riding a horse armed in this fashion, and a portion of the
leg-piece of such a suit is preserved in the Musée Porte de Hal,
Brussels (see page 9).
The following works bear Coloman Colman’s mark or are known from
documentary evidence to be from his hand: Vienna, 175. Wallace
Collection, 402. Madrid, A, 19; A, 37-42; A, 59; A, 93-107 (Tonlet
suit “The Chase”); A, 108-11; E, 57; E, 59. Dresden, G, 15.
[Sidenote: _Desiderius Colman_, Augsburg, _circ._ 1532. Marks, the
same as No. 40.]
[Illustration: FIG. 65. Detail of Shield by Desiderius Colman
(Plate XXIV).]
Desiderius was the son of Coloman Colman. In 1532 he took over the
workshops in the Mauerburg at Augsburg, which his father had shared
with the Burgmair family. He worked at first with the armourer
Lutzenberger, who married the stepmother of Desiderius in 1545.
In 1550 he became a member of the City Council, and in 1556 he
was made Court Armourer to Charles V. This title was afterwards
confirmed by Maximilian II. Desiderius seems to have used the same
mark as his father, hence there is some confusion between the two
craftsmen. The suits known to be by him are at Madrid, A, 157,
158, 239, 142--the splendid parade suit made for Philip II, which
is signed and dated 1550, and the richly embossed and chased round
shield A, 241, which is also signed and dated 15 April, 1552. It
is upon this shield that he recorded his rivalry with the Negrolis
(Plate XXIV, Fig. 65, also page 16).
[Sidenote: _Matthaias Frauenpreis_, Augsburg. Father, 1529-49. Son,
1530-1604. Mark No. 38.]
The elder Frauenpreis or Frauenbreis was a pupil of the Colman
family (q.v.), and in 1529 married the widow of a helm-smith. He
is first heard of as an independent workman in 1530. The following
works are ascribed to him or his son:--
Madrid. A, 198. A brassard forming part of the suit A, 190, made
by Desiderius Colman.
D, 68. A shield signed with his name on which the figure of
Fortuna is ascribed to Hans Burgmair.
M, 6. A small shield marked with his stamp No. 38.
Vienna. 950. Field suit of Archduke Maximilian.
397. A white and gold suit bearing the mark No. 38.
Dresden. G, 39. A fine suit of Kurfürst Moritz, bearing the mark
No. 38. Illustrated on Plate VII.
[Sidenote: _Hans Grünewalt_, Nuremberg, 1440-1503. Mark No. 54.]
His grandfather was a bell-founder of Nuremberg, who made the bells
for the church of S. Sebald in 1396. In 1465, after his father’s
death, Hans built a large house and workshop, after much litigation
with the city over his glazing or polishing mills. In 1480 he owned
many houses in Nuremberg, and built the “Pilatus” house near the
Thiergartner-Thor, close to the house of Albert Dürer. He worked
for the Emperor Maximilian I, and was the most serious rival of
the Missaglia family of Milan, who at this time were the most
celebrated armourers of Europe. The mark No. 54 is ascribed by
Boeheim to Grünewalt. Works bearing this mark are to be found in
the Waffensammlung, Vienna, 66, 995.
[Sidenote: _Daniel Hopfer_, Augsburg, _circ._ 1495-1566.]
Hopfer was in the first instance a painter, a designer and maker
of stained glass, and an engraver. He settled in Augsburg in 1495.
According to Heller he died in 1549, but this is not borne out by
the entries in the account books of Maximilian II, who employed
him and his brother. In the Hofzahlantsbuch, under the date 1566,
it is stated that Daniel and his brother George, both of Augsburg,
were ordered by Maximilian II to make 110 new helmets for the
Trabantengarde and to decorate them with engraving. Four were
made in March as samples, and the remainder were to be delivered
in July at a cost of 397 gulden 42 kreutzer. Much of the work
of the brothers Hopfer consisted in decorating armour made by
other masters, of whom Coloman Colman was the chief. In Madrid
are several examples of the work of Daniel: A, 26 and 65 are
horse-armours which are decorated in Hopfer’s style, and A, 27, 57
are jousting-shields which are certainly from his hand; the latter
is signed and dated 1536.
[Sidenote: _Conrad Lochner_, Nuremberg, 1510-67. Mark No. 46.]
In 1544 Conrad, or Kuntz as he is sometimes called, was Hofplatner
to Maximilian II with a retaining fee of 14 florins 10 kronen, and
in 1547 Maximilian gave him a settled yearly pension. He must have
given up his appointment in 1551, for we find Hans Siefert Court
Armourer in this year. He was born at Nuremberg in 1510, where his
father followed the trade of an armourer, and had two brothers who
worked with him, but the names of the Lochners do not often appear
in the royal accounts. Like most of his craft, he was frequently
in money difficulties, and had great trouble in collecting his
debts from the King of Poland. His works are found at Berlin, 116,
a horse-armour; Paris, G, 166, 182, 565, 566; Madrid, A, 243;
Dresden, E, 5 and G, 165; Vienna, 334. He frequently used tritons
and sea-monsters as a motif for his decorations.
[Sidenote: _Gabrielle and Francesco Merate_, Milan and Arbois,
_circ._ 1494-1529. Marks, possibly 18, 51, 53.]
In 1494 the Merate brothers were sent for by Maximilian I and did
work for him personally. They also obtained a contract for three
years, for which they received 1000 francs and 1000 gulden, under
which they pledged themselves to set up a forge, workshops, and
mill at Arbois, in Burgundy. Gabrielle was also to receive 100
francs a year and to be free of taxes, an advantage frequently
granted to master-armourers. For this he had to deliver annually
fifty suits stamped with his mark, each suit costing 40 francs,
and one hundred helmets at 10 francs each, one hundred pair of
grandgardes at 5 francs, and one hundred pair of garde-bras at 40
francs the pair.