Pride belongs to one, Envy is common to others
Anger manifested in battle
Laziness when pleasure replaces prayer.
Greed for the opponent's horse
And his lat, Gluttony at a feast
And the subsequent debauchery.
Robert Manning. "Instruction on Sins" (1303)
Knights and armor. I have always wanted to visit the Vienna Imperial Armory, and finally this dream has come true. That is, just one visit there was worth going to Austria. And why I was drawn there so, it is understandable. After all, the Vienna Habsburg Armory today is the largest and most complete collection of ancient weapons in Europe. The emperor Frederick III began to collect it in 1450. Well, today it contains at least a thousand unique samples of weapons and armor - from Spandenhelm helmets to weapons of the time of Emperor Franz Joseph. The exposition of the armory is housed in twelve large halls in the building of the New Hofburg Castle, and in comparison with it the Knights' Hall of our Hermitage is nothing more than the most ordinary exhibition. However, about the chamber itself and its exhibits a story (and more than one) on "VO" will follow. Moreover, I received permission from the administration of the chamber to use her photographs, which are still much better than my own, as well as information. Nevertheless, a mix of both, it seems to me, will allow to give a very complete impression of the subject - armor and weapons of knightly times. Well, I would like to start with armor for tournaments, since no other museum in the world has such a large number of them!
Here, on "VO", my articles about tournament weapons, written on the materials of the Dresden Armory, have already been published. Today we start a series of materials about tournaments based on materials from the Habsburg Armory from Vienna.
The image of a knightly tournament on the lid of an ivory box from the 13th century. (The State Museum of the Middle Ages - the Baths and the Cluny mansion, or simply the Cluny Museum, a unique Parisian museum in the 5th urban arrondissement, in the center of the Latin Quarter) It is located in the so-called "Hotel Cluny" - a preserved medieval mansion of the 15th century. It contains one of the world's most significant collections of household items and art of the French Middle Ages, and we will definitely tell you about it sometime.
Tournament is "whirling"
The word "tournament" (fr. Turney) came to us from the French language. And this is nothing more than an imitation of a real combat fight, albeit limited by rules that do not allow the case to be brought to the point of murder. The tournament was both a kind of practice before real fights in war, and a way to "show yourself", to win the favor of the ladies and the king, well, and - what is also important, a means of earning, since the rules of war extended to the rules of the tournament, and the loser paid a ransom to the winner if not for himself, then for his horse and weapon is obligatory.
Duke Jean de Bourbon duel with Arthur III, Duke of Brittany. Drawing from the "Book of Tournaments" by Rene of Anjou. 1460 (National Library, Paris) Usually, this is how tournaments are portrayed in textbooks, but one must understand that they did not become such at once, and that the knights never wore anything like that!
It is known that similar military games in Europe were held back in 844 at the court of Louis of Germany, although it is not known by what rules and how they fought then. It is believed that Gottfried of Preya, who died in the year of the Battle of Hastings, that is in 1066, was the first compiler of special rules for tournament games, which were first called "Buhurt". Then in the XII century the word "tournament" began to be used in France, and then it passed into other languages. The chivalry came into use with French terms used in the tournament, as well as Italian and then German, since in the XV-XVI centuries. it was the Germans who began to set the tone and improve the tournament rules in the most serious way. Nevertheless, a duel on the spears of two horsemen has always been considered a classic type of tournament.
A very beautiful exposition with equestrian figures of the participants of the tournament was created in the Arsenal at the Dresden Art Gallery. Moreover, it is constantly being updated. These two figures, for example, have been replaced today by completely different ones. Although not the figures themselves, but what they are wearing. That is, new blankets and cash clothes are sewn there, and only the weapons in the hands of the combatants do not change!
Tournament "chain mail era"
Since the chivalry of the "chain mail era", that is, it existed before 1250, was "rather poor", you need to understand that there was no special armor for the tournament. Knights fought in everything they wore to war, although of course, sharp spearheads were replaced by blunt ones. Most likely, the spears themselves were replaced with lighter ones, drilled inside to reduce the danger to the fighting. Of course, no one forged specially dull swords either, nor did they blunt combat swords, that would be nonsense. Therefore, it can be assumed that if sword fights took place, it was also with the help of military weapons, but under the strict supervision of the organizers of the tournament and "until the first blood", and the ban on many strikes. Or the blades were wrapped in leather, which is also quite possible. However, I would like to emphasize that these are no more than assumptions, although they are quite reasonable.
Naturally, the theme of tournaments, which was extremely significant in the Middle Ages, found its reflection among the numerous miniatures adorning strange manuscripts … Here we have a duel of French knights. Miniature from Froissard's Chronicles. 1470 (British Library, London)
Again, all sources report that until the 14th century, tournament participants used the same armor and weapons that they wore in battle. A description of one such armor of the era of mixed chain-plate armor is found in the "Song of the Nibelungs". It included a battle shirt of Libyan silk (most likely Spanish); armor made of iron plates sewn onto some, most likely leather, base; helmet, with chin ties; shield, whose belt - gug - was decorated with gems. The shield itself was large, with a gold ornament along the edges and a thickness of three fingers directly under the umbilicus.
And here is the same miniature close-up.
By the way, the above-described shield, although it was very cumbersome, turned out to be fragile, since it could not withstand the blow. In the poem, mentions of shields pierced through and even with spearheads stuck in them are very frequent. The riders' saddles were adorned with precious stones and - for some reason - golden bells. All these details point rather to the middle of the XII century, and not to the beginning of the XIII century, when this poem was written down and edited, since then the knights used lighter shields, but the spears themselves, on the contrary, became heavier and stronger. The fact is that the "Songs of the Nibelungs" describe too thin spears of an early time, therefore, in the first parts of the poem, the cases when a rider is knocked out of the saddle with a spear are not described. It is written that fragments of spear shafts fly into the air and no more. Only in the very last part, where the battle between Helpfrat and Hagen takes place, the last one was almost knocked out of the saddle by a blow of the spear, and the first, although at first held on, but did not cope with the horse, and then he threw it off. That is, all this time there was a process of both strengthening the armor, and at the same time the specialization of the copies themselves, which over time became very different from the combat ones. Moreover, as in the case of any technical design, their creators - spear masters - needed to solve two mutually exclusive tasks. The javelin for the tournament had to be strong so that it could knock the opponent out of the saddle, and at the same time not too heavy for the rider to still use it. Also, special spears appeared, which were supposed to fly apart from impact into chips. And to come up with and make such, it took a lot of ingenuity and skill.
The building of the Armory of the New Hofburg Castle. It's great that tourist buses stop right in front of him, you just need to cross the square, tram lines, enter the gate, turn right and you … are at your destination!
And here is what Ulrich von Lichtenstein wrote about this …
Let's turn to such an excellent source of information about tournaments as "Adoration of the Lady" written by Ulrich von Lichtenstein (1200 - 1276), although most likely not by himself, but under his dictation. He distinguishes between a duel between two participants and a tournament in the form of a competition between two squads. However, in both cases, their equipment and weapons differed only very slightly from the combat ones. For example, worn over armor and decorated with coats of arms, cash clothing - surcoat - was also worn in a combat situation, but before the tournament it was sewn again, or at least washed. Horse blankets were made of leather and could be covered with colored velvet. But chain mail horse armor and solid-forged armor were not used in tournaments. What for? After all, no one would direct a spear at a horse anyway. He is your potential prey, why destroy or disfigure him? The shield at the time of Ulrich von Liechtenstein had a triangular shape, and, perhaps, it was slightly smaller than the combat one. The knight put on a heavy pot-shaped helmet on his head only at the very last moment before the fight with the enemy. The spear already had a small stop disc for the hand. In the book "Adoration of the Lady" such discs are called spear rings. It is curious that during the duel in Tarvis, the knight Reinprecht von Murek, who fought with Ulrich von Lichtenstein, held a spear under his arm - the most traditional way, but Ulrich put it to his thigh. That is, the techniques of holding a spear in the 13th century could still differ in some variety, while at a later time, holding a spear, that is, holding it under the arm, became the only one allowed in horse fights.
Over time, fights began to be arranged not only between horsemen, but also between knights on foot. For example, a duel on foot between Thomas Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Jean de Montfort, Duke of Brittany. Miniature from Froissard's Chronicles. XV century (National Library of France, Paris)
By the beginning of the 13th century, the very goal of the tournament had finally been precisely defined. Now the main goal of the game was to hit the shield with your spear, on the left shoulder of the enemy, and in such a way that the spear shaft would break at the same time - this was what was called "breaking the spear against the enemy's shield" or even throwing it off the horse … If the riders, having broken their spears, remained in the saddles, this meant that they could withstand a blow with a medium-weight spear, that is, both … in their military business deserve praise. In the second case, it was believed that the knight knocked to the ground was disgraced and subject to punishment for his own clumsiness. And it was expressed in the fact that he lost his horse and armor, which were given to the winner. But to knock a rider out of the saddle required a strong spear. Therefore, already from the XII century, spears began to be made more and more durable. But their diameter was no more than 6.5 cm, so they were still so light that they could be held under the arm without any support. For example, each of Ulrich von Lichtenstein's squires, accompanying him at the tournament, easily held three spears tied together in one hand at once.
Such is the impressive figure of a horse and rider in a full tournament battle of the 16th century. meets you in one of the halls of the Vienna Arsenal. The horse's chest, as you can see, is protected by a huge "pillow", because a horse for such a tournament cost almost as much as our today's tank. The forehead plate is a shaffron, also worn just in case, but the rider's legs are not protected at all. What for? After all, the fight is held with a dividing barrier!
Tournaments as a means of communication and enrichment
In the XIII century, there were two types of tournaments: a marching tournament and an appointed tournament. The "marching tournament" was a meeting of two knights somewhere on the road (well, remember how it was described in "Don Quixote" by Cervantes?), Accidental or deliberate, which ended with their duel on spears. The knight who challenged the enemy to battle was called the instigator, his opponent who accepted the challenge was called the mannador. The same Ulrich von Lichtenstein in his "Adoration of the Lady" tells how a certain knight Mathieu on the road behind Clemune put a tent in the way of Ulrich and challenged him to battle. Here he fought with eleven more knights, so that the whole land was strewn with fragments of shields and spears. There were so many people to watch the battle that Ulrich had to fence off the tournament site with spears stuck in the ground and shields hung on them. For that time, it was a novelty that made the knight Ulrich von Lichtenstein famous.
And here is this pair of riders in helmets of the tournament sallet type (sallet). Legs are protected only by legguards dilje, because below them again covers the barrier. The spears are held at the back by a special lance hook.
The fashion for such a list existed until the end of the 14th century, and in Germany it lingered until the 15th century. Combat weapons were used in the battle, so collisions were very dangerous.
Spandelhelm type helmets, or "segment helmets" (center and right), from the Early Middle Ages. In such helmets, the Frankish nobility and perhaps the legendary King Arthur himself fought. Participants in the tournament at the court of Louis the German could also wear something similar to them and simpler helmets on the left.
The “nominated tournament”, on the contrary, was held not somewhere at the request of one knight or another, but by the decision of the king, duke or count - that is, the owners of certain cities or large castles, where these tournaments were held. Guests were invited in advance and received a reception befitting their position and fame. Therefore, such tournaments were distinguished by great pomp and attracted many spectators. Since many participants in such a tournament came from afar, there was an active exchange of information between them. Knights became familiar with the novelties in the field of armor and weapons, and this is how they spread at that time, not counting the trophies captured on the battlefield. Moreover, by 1350, tournament armor and weapons began to differ a little from combat ones. The reason was that no one wanted to die in games and get injured unless absolutely necessary. Hence, the desire arose to ensure maximum security, even to the detriment of their mobility, which is absolutely necessary in battle.
Say what you like, but photographing through glass is difficult and inconvenient. That is why the fact that most of the exhibits in Vienna are on display in the open and are not covered with glass can only be welcomed. True, such liners made of fabric inevitably, due to their antiquity, have to be kept under glass, but … fortunately, the museum has their separately taken and very high-quality photographs, which can be seen in the following materials.
In the XIV century in southern France and Italy, a group tournament, wall to wall, became popular, during which the knights first stabbed each other with a spear, and then were cut with blunt swords. But in this case, this innovation has not yet brought any special changes in armament. Serious changes began later, at the beginning of the 15th century.
P. S. The author and the site administration would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the curators of the chamber, Ilse Jung and Florian Kugler, for the opportunity to use photographic materials of the Vienna Armory.
