David defeats the Philistines. Illustration from the Bible of Maciejewski, which clearly shows the pot-shaped helmets of horsemen with reinforcing overlays in the form of a cross, mid-13th century. (Pierpont Morgan Library)
It will be about the so-called topfhelm helmet (slang name tophelm) - "pot helmet", eng. Great Helm - "great helmet" - that is, a purely knightly helmet for horseback fighting, which appeared around the end of the 12th century. As a rule, this helmet was assembled from several, usually five, metal plates, riveted together.
Aquamanila - a water vessel in the shape of a rider in a topfhelm helmet, 1250 Trondheim. (Danish National Museum of Military History, Copenhagen)
Tophelm, mid-14th century. (German National Museum, Nuremberg)
The genesis of this helmet is very interesting and deserves to be told in more detail. Let's start with the fact that at the time of Charlemagne and later all of Europe, including the legendary Vikings, covered their heads with segmental helmets, either sphero-conical or dome-shaped, which once again reminds us of the “embroidered canvas from Bayeux”. But this helmet, even with a metal plate nosepiece, provided poor face protection. And then the crusades began, the European knights had to fight the horse archers of the Muslims and wounds in the face became common. As a result, already in 1100 in Germany, and then in France, helmets with masks with slits for the eyes and holes for breathing appeared. That is, a new detail was added to the old helmets, no more.
Lunet gives Ivain a magic ring. Painting on the wall in the Rodeneg castle. "Ivain, or the Knight with the Lion" chivalrous novel by Chrétien de Troyes, 1170. The knight wears a typical "helmet with a mask".
However, around 1200, in addition to conical helmets, another, completely new and previously unknown type of helmet appeared - the “pan helmet” or “tablet helmet”. The benefits from its appearance were considerable. Firstly, it was much more technologically advanced than segment helmets, since it was assembled from only two parts. Secondly, he did not sit too tightly on his head and although the blows did not slip off him now, at the same time they did not reach the goal, since they fell on the L-shaped edge of the crown of the "pan", which was more difficult to cut through than a smooth plate thickness 1.5 mm. Now all that remained was to enhance the protective properties of this helmet with the help of a face mask, which was done already in the same 1200. And at the same time, helmet-mounted decorations appeared in the form of flags attached to them, palms raised upwards and eagle paws.
Images of warriors in closed helmets from the Speculum Virginum (Jungfrauenspiegel "Mirror of the Virgins"), a 12th century didactic treatise on women's monastic life. The original text dates from the mid-12th century and may have been compiled at the Augustinian Abbey of Andernach, founded by Richard, Abbot of Springsbach, for his sister in 1128.
The second reason for the appearance of face masks was a new tactic of fighting with a spear - kushi, in which it was no longer held in the hands, but was clamped under the arm. Now it only remained to rivet the back of the helmet to this helmet in order to get a helmet completely closed on all sides, which was done already by 1214, when the knights of England and Germany in such newfangled helmets first appeared at the Battle of Bouvin. With the addition of a backside, we see an already fully formed view of the early topfhelm. But images of such helmets are known earlier, namely from the end of the 12th century, in particular, in miniatures from the Aeneid around 1200, on figures from the altar in the cathedral in Aachen, etc.
Almost all the helmets, which are described here, can be seen in the Soviet film 1982 "The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe".
The next step in the development of this helmet was the appearance of a sharp longitudinal rib on its face, so that it has now acquired the shape of an acute angle. This rib caused the tip of the spear to slide to the sides, so that it did not have time to transfer all the energy of the spear strike to the head covered with such a helmet. The rib was additionally reinforced with a cruciform overlay in the shape of a cross, the vertical rays of which went from the forehead to the chin, and the horizontal ones were located in the same place as the viewing slits, and did not allow the spearhead to slip into them. It was customary to design the ends of the rays of the cross in the form of a trefoil or a lily flower. Such helmets are well known from miniatures from the "Bible of Matsievsky" (mid-13th century) and many other images of that time.
It was from such forged plates that the "pot helmet" consisted.
"Helmet from Dargen". Perhaps the most famous among all the "big helmets" that have survived to this day and the most replicated in modern mass culture. It was found in the ruins of Schlossberg Castle, near the German village of Dargen in Pomerania, after which it got its name. Belongs to the second half of the XIII century. On medieval miniatures, similar helmets are found from 1250 to 1350. Average weight is about 2.25 kg. (German Historical Museum, Berlin).
In the heat, one could wear such a hat over a helmet! Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
Surprisingly, already in 1220 in England Tophelm helmets with a visor reclining vertically appeared, and in 1240 the same helmets in France and Germany were equipped with a visor-door, on a loop on the left side and a "lock" on the right. It is a pity that no one showed such helmets in the movies. It would be very funny! Well, since 1250, the classic tophelm has come into fashion in the form of a cylinder slightly expanding upward, and with the front part lowered around the neck. The top was usually flat. The breathing holes were evenly spaced on both sides. To protect against rust, the helmets were painted.
Helmet with a visor-door. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
Visor helmets. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
By 1290, the shape of the "grand slam" had changed. Now its upper part has acquired a conical shape, and the upper plate has become convex. The design of such a helmet gave protection to the head in front, from the sides and behind, the viewing slits were 9-12 mm wide, which is why the view from it was limited at close range. The ventilation openings below the viewing slots could have different shapes. Sometimes they were pierced in such a way that patterns or images were obtained (as was done, for example, on the helmet of Edward of Wales - "The Black Prince", where these holes were made in the form of a crown), but more often just in a checkerboard pattern. On the late version of this helmet, the Kübelhelm, these ventilation holes were already located exclusively on the right side in the XIV century, so as not to weaken the metal on the left side, which is most susceptible to blows from enemy spears.
Topfhelm and its device. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
Then, by the beginning of the XIV century, the shape of the "grand helmet" changed again. It became even larger, as they began to put it on over another, small helmet - a servillera, and then a bascinet helmet. The fact is that it was very difficult to be in a fully closed helmet for a long time and the knights found a way out: “just in case” they began to put on a hemispherical servillera and a conical bascinet, and just before the attack they hoisted tophelm on their heads. Such pot helmets of the second half of the 14th century are called kübelhelms.
The most common helmets from the 14th century. Rice. Graham Turner.
From the beginning of the XIV century, the crown of the helmet began to be made conical, and often one-piece forged, and attached to the lower base, assembled from a pair of plates. At the same time, the pre-face plate and the back plate now descend from the front and back in the form of a wedge to the chest and back. On it, at the very bottom, there are cross-shaped holes for the button at the end of the chain, the second end of which was fixed on the chest. About chains at one time on the VO was the material "Armor … and chains" (https://topwar.ru/121635-dospehi-i-cepi.html), so there is no point in repeating in this case, but it should be emphasized that, undoubtedly, the purpose of these chains was not only decorative.
Reconstructor wearing a topfhelm helmet. (Danish National Museum of Military History, Copenhagen)
For example, there is an opinion that, for example, they did not allow the helmet to be ripped off the owner's head in a hand-to-hand grip, although in my opinion, on the contrary, they helped to do this. Although, yes, indeed, images of a similar capture by one knight for the helmet of another, in order to rip or displace it on the head to the side to deprive its owner of the view, were repeatedly depicted in scenes of medieval battles, including the famous "Manes Code".
Ivanhoe from the 1982 film wearing a typical helmet from Viollet le Duc's book. I wonder what the point was in this visor, which only covered … the mouth ?!
As always, there were … well, let's just say: "strange people" who ordered the masters helmets with a visor, and a small one. By the way, such a helmet with a visor covering only his mouth is worn by Ivanhoe in the Soviet film of 1982, "The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe" - a film where all types of helmets named in this article are specially shown, so it makes sense immediately after it read it that evening to revise it …
Warriors in a variety of helmets from the Holkham Bible, (about 1320 - 1330). (British Library, London)
They finally abandoned this helmet at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, when the outcome of the war was decided not only by the field battle and the battle of equestrian men at arms, but during long military campaigns, where the rider required high mobility and the ability to fight both on horseback and on foot. … The main enemy of the heavily armed cavalry was now more and more often the infantry, archers and crossbowmen began to act, and the knights themselves more and more often dismounted to fight the infantry. Under these conditions, bascinets with a movable visor turned out to be more convenient, since they made it possible to easily survey the battlefield, opening and closing the visor, without letting go of the weapon and without resorting to the help of a squire.
Seal of Sir Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, 1344 Helmet - head of a swan.
And here is another "swan helmet", testifying to the popularity of this particular heraldic figure. Miniature from the manuscript "The Novel of Alexander" (1338-1344) (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)
In such a helmet, Baron Reginald Fron de Boeuf was driving around in the movie about Ivanhoe …
And this is downright illustration for one of the novels in the "Cursed Kings" series.
So the "big helmet" exhausted its capabilities and completed its evolution as a means of protection on the battlefield, but was still used in tournaments, and where in the 16th century it was replaced by the so-called "toad helmet" or "toad's head" helmet, which became the final result and the result of its development.
"Grand Slam" of the XIV century, used in tournaments. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
"Sugarloaf Helmet" is a popular name among reenactors, but not an official one. Essentially the same topfhelm, but with a pointed tip. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
And its internal structure …
And this is an image of similar helmets, and in large numbers, in miniature from the Chronicle of Colmariens, 1298 (British Library, London).
The history of the "Grand Slam" is most inextricably linked with medieval heraldry. At first, namely in the first half of the XIV century, these helmets, along with various helmet decorations, were introduced into the knightly coats of arms in Germany, and then the fashion for the inclusion of these helmets in its coat of arms spread throughout Europe.
Helmet with a crown. Illustration from the book by Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
When the topfhelm itself was already out of use, they began to use the color differentiation of these helmets as another means of identification. So, the gilding of individual parts indicated a high noble rank and nobility of the owner of this coat of arms, but if the helmet was gilded entirely, this meant that it belonged to the royal family. Many royal, county and baronial coats of arms had a helmet in the upper part of the shield, moreover, as a rule, they were crowned with a crown of the corresponding shape, had a helmet mark on it and were decorated with feathers and a coat of arms.
A page from the Zurich Armorial, 1340. (Library of Zurich, Switzerland)
Among the most famous helmets of this type is the "Bolzano helmet" found in the tower of the city of Bolzano in Italy. Also known as the "helmet from the city of Bosen" (the name of the city of Bolzano in German). Dated to the beginning of the XIV century. Weight - 2.5 kg. (Castle of St. Angela, Rome). Then - "helmet from the castle of Aranas", Sweden. Dated to the beginning of the XIV century. The weight of the helmet is about 2.34 - 2.5 kg. (State Historical Museum, Stockholm), and, of course, a helmet from the collection of the Tower of London. Dated to the second half of the XIV century. Approximate weight - 2, 63 kg. (Royal Arsenal, Leeds). All of them are of great value and therefore, naturally, are very expensive.
Also the very famous helmet of Albert von Pranck from the 14th century. (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
