Each strived to be in a new way
To go out into battle in clean clothes.
The tower on the shield shines like gold.
There is a lion, there is a leopard and a fish in the military emblem.
The peacock's tail serves as an ornament to another.
And someone decorated the helmet with a flower as a consolation …
There the black mourning of the rider crowns the flag, The other has a white, blue and green mark.
At the third surcoat it is crimson, it shines with lilies, And someone, seeing this, trembles inwardly …
(Poem of the XIII century "Galeran". Author's translation from English)
Tournament of knights, illustration from the German medieval book by an anonymous author "Venus and Mars", 1480. Edition 1997 Munich.
A drawing from the Swiss Codex Manes (circa 1300) shows us two warriors in a duel in the presence of watching ladies who applaud them. The weapons of those competing on the lists are clearly dull swords.
In the code of the "Ceremony of Duels" you can see that the knights wear lamellar solid-forged armor, and their heads are protected by tournament helmets of the armé. They wear heraldic robes over their armor, and so do the blankets of their horses. Then, by the middle of the 15th century, the armor for the "old German foot battle" changed significantly. It has become fashionable to use various types of weapons. As can be seen in the illustrations from the book about the tournaments of Emperor Maximilian I, at that time they began to use not only traditional swords, but also such, let's say, not typical for the tournament types of weapons, such as mace, alshpis, kuz, ax, various pikes and daggers, club, dussac, ax and even a battle flail.
Duel with bucklers. Johann von Ringgenberg. "Manes Code". (Heidelberg University Library)
The armor has changed accordingly. The helmet is a tournament arm with a visor, which has a spherical shape and a significant volume. It was screwed or tightly tied with belts to the bib and back. The purpose of such a device, as in a special helmet for a tournament on clubs, is to prevent the knight's head from contacting directly with the helmet itself. The shoulders began to protect the armpits well, so they increased in size and began to reach the middle of the chest. Bracers of traditional shape, in the fashion of the time. Gloves with pointed gaiters are also in keeping with the traditions of this era. The knees are protected by knee pads. But the shoes are already just leather and without spurs, by 1480 they acquired wide and blunt noses, similar to rough peasant shoes.
One of the varieties of a tournament helmet from 1420 -1430. Weight 7399 g. Italy or France. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The weapons for hand-to-hand combat, which spread at that time, primarily include fist shields. A number of shields had a steel hoop around the edge, which was a trap for the blade. In battle, they tried to fence with this shield so that the tip of the alshpis or the blade of the sword was in the gap between this hoop and the shield and wedged. Well, in the meantime, taking advantage of this, one of the fighters struck another on the head, or on the side of the blade, in order to break him and thereby disarm his opponent. Sometimes, several of these traps were attached to some fist shields. The umbons of the fist shields were of various shapes. There is always a handle inside for grabbing it with the left hand; and in the upper part of the shield there could be a long hook for a sling. In addition to fist shields, in those competitions where spears were not used, wooden hand shields of tarchi, covered with canvas, with the coats of arms of their owner painted on them, were used. The difference between the spear tarch and the tarch for foot combat is immediately striking. On the first there was always a hole for the spear shaft.
Typical tournament tarch from the Dresden Armory.
Tarch weighing 2737 g. 1450 - 1500 g. Germany. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Tarch 1450 from Germany, height 55, 88 cm and width 40, 64 cm. Made of wood, covered with leather, linen, then covered with a layer of putty and painted with oil paints. It belonged, judging by the coat of arms, to the Terrigel family from Franconia. The motto on the coat of arms is: "Take me as I am!" The reverse side shows the figure of St. Christopher, who defended against sudden death. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Another tournament tarch 1500 Germany. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Whatever it was, but by the 16th century, the "German foot battle" gradually lost its former attractiveness. A more spectacular foot tournament, somewhat similar to the old group stage, has gained popularity. The difference between the second and the first was only in the fact that its participants fought through the barrier. Therefore, blows to the legs and, consequently, the armor covering them, were excluded!
This is how this new hiking tournament at the Dresden Armory is presented. As you can see, three pairs of knights are fighting - "red" against "blue". Armament is mixed: two pikes and four heavy swords. Since the fighters were separated by a barrier, it became impossible to hit them below the belt.
Draws on the perfection of the armor for this walking duel. In particular - covering the armpits with shoulder pads, plate gloves and tournament helmets with very narrow viewing slits. That is, it was very difficult to somehow hit your opponent, dressed in such perfect armor (yes, this task was not set!), So victory was awarded to the least tired fighter (s) in points, that is, in the number of hits missed.
Fashionable shoes "on the platform" for the participants of this tournament had blunt noses!
But this helmet just for such a fight weighing 5471 g (!) Was made in Milan in 1600 (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
It is clear that since the cost of knightly armor was already prohibitive, so-called headsets appeared, including several details. By changing them, it was possible to use the same armor in several types of duels, both in horseback and in foot. So, for example, Emperor Maximilian I had armor that could be worn in an equestrian tournament, and fought in a traditional foot duel. For the latter, a “skirt” was invented on them with a bell, but in order for the rider in it to sit in the saddle, front and rear arcuate cutouts were made in it. In addition, armor for fighting through the barrier had especially wide shoulder pads, the already mentioned bell-shaped skirt and did not have a support hook for a spear.
Armor of Emperor Charles V with a "skirt" for a walking tournament, with two cutouts, covered with removable sheets. (Imperial Hunting and Armory Chamber in Vienna)
The silver and engraved armor of Henry VIII also has a "skirt" and a cutout on it to fit into the saddle. OK. 1515 (Royal Arsenal, Leeds)
We emphasize that the knight's equipment for a duel on spears did not differ from the combat one for a long time. Only in the XIV century, the design of the helmet and tarch was improved specifically for participation in this tournament. From the middle of the 14th century, the left side of the helmet received an additional riveted steel plate, equipped with a felt pad. But since the knights in the tournament did not want to die at all, in the 15th century the armor for a duel on spears was completely modified. The new armor was given the name shtekhtsoyg - from the actual designation of this fight - geshtech - stab. In different countries, the armor had its own national differences. In particular, there are German and Italian shtekhzeug.
In the material "Armor for Knightly Fun" (https://topwar.ru/111586-dospehi-dlya-rycarskih-zabav.html) there was already a photo of the "toad's head" helmet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This is the most recognizable and most frequent example of such a helmet in the information space. There are several of them in this museum. Here is a lesser known and lighter specimen weighing 6273.7 g from the late 15th century from Germany.
The German shtechzeug received the well-known today “toad's head” helmet, similar to the old pot-shaped tophelm, but with a different device. The lower part of it covered the face to the eyes, as well as the back of the head and neck, the parietal part of the helmet was flattened, and the front side had a wedge-shaped shape. The observation was carried out through a narrow viewing slit. On both sides it had paired holes that served for attaching helmet decorations, and for attaching a comforter. The helmet turned out to be truly a godsend. Slightly tilting the torso, the knight, rushing at his opponent, had a good view through the viewing slot of the helmet. However, it was necessary to bend more before the collision or, on the contrary, to straighten up, as the blow of the enemy's spear could in no way damage him. In the first case, it falls on the flat top of the helmet, and in the second, on its wedge-shaped part. That is, the viewing slit was out of reach from the chips of the spear and its tip that flew away from the blow.
German shtechzeug from the Dresden Armory.
The helmet was attached to the cuirass with three screws or a special clip, so that it turned into one piece with it. The connection of the helmet with the cuirass on the back is carried out using a vertically located bolt, and it went down to the very back of the saddle, on which it rested, which made it easier for the knight to land. And of course the rigidity of all joints was absolute! On the right side of the cuirass, a massive hook for the spear was fixed, and on its rear part there was a bracket for fixing the spear. It was envisaged to fasten the tarch on the chest, so that it was no longer necessary to hold it with your hand. Legguards made of tile-like metal strips provided protection for the legs. It should be noted that it was customary for shtekhtsoig to wear a skirt made of expensive fabric, decorated with luxurious embroidery and lying with beautiful deep folds.
Crown tip for a tournament javelin weighing 1360.8 g. XV - XVI centuries. Germany. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The spear for this fight was made of soft wood, had a standard length of 370 cm and a diameter of about 9 cm, with a crown tip. The crown had a short stem with three to four teeth. The spear had a protective disc for the hand.
Spur 1400 g. Weight 198.45 g. The diameter of the sprocket is 7.03 cm. Catalonia. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Spurs were of the same design for all types of tournaments. They were made of iron, the outer surface was often covered with brass. The spur is Y-shaped, usually with an asterisk-shaped wheel. This shape of the spurs allowed the rider to easily control the horse.
The Italian shtekhzoig was intended for a javelin tournament called "Roman". It differed from the German one, firstly, in that the helmet on it was attached to the chest and back parts of the cuirass with screws. On the right side of the helmet, a wide rectangular door was provided, something like a window for access to fresh air. The shape of the cuirass was also changed, but the main thing was that it began to be covered in front and behind with a thin damask cloth and embroidered with heraldic emblems. On the left side of the cuirass, a massive ring was attached to tie a quadrangular tarch. But on the right, on the belt, there was a leather glass, also covered with cloth. A spear was inserted into it before entering the lists. In terms of weight, it was lighter than that used in German armor, so the need for a rear bracket to support the spear in it disappeared.
The French shtechzeug was identical to the Italian one. But the helmet was slightly less in height, and was attached to the cuirass in front with a belt and brace, and at the back with belts with buckles.
Horse saddle with metal-bound bows. (Armory in Dresden)
The English shtekhzog had a very close resemblance to the battle and tournament armor of the XIV century, since in England the process of updating the knightly tournament equipment was slower than on the continent.
