In a number of articles published here on VO, the issues of knightly defensive weapons were considered in sufficient detail. But as it turned out, the question of the evolution of such an important piece of armor as the cuirass was not considered. That is, the second most important after the helmet is the protective detail of the military suit of bygone eras.
Breastplate by Giovanni Paolo Negroli, c. 1513 - 1569 Milan, Italy. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The question of how people in general came up with it is no less intriguing than the questions of how all the other details of the weapons appeared. However, in some cases we have a hint in the form of archaeological finds and ethnographic data. For example, the discovery of the oldest bow in a swamp in Spain is known, which made it possible to postpone its appearance in the Paleolithic era, the finds of spearheads, the fracture on which made it possible to determine the approximate age of the appearance of throwing spears, since before them they acted with a spear only by holding it in their hands, and etc. We know that the earliest ancestor of the shield was the “parrying stick” with a hole for the hand in the middle, since it, like the boomerang, was preserved in the arsenal of the aborigines of Australia. But how did the shell appear?
Unique chain mail of the Indo-Persian model of 1816 - 1817, made of steel and copper rings (the inscriptions are made of the latter!). Metropolitan Museum.
Messages have reached us, and the finds of archaeologists confirm this that already the ancient Sumerians used shells made of copper plates, and they were given to the warrior by the piece and in the form of a simple pile of "piece of iron". And already he himself had to tie them all together with leather straps and adjust to the figure. Based on this information, we can conclude that, firstly, there were some quantitative standard sizes of such shells, and the number of plates was issued for a reason, but "according to the growth" of the person who came to the service. And secondly, that everyone knew how to make armor out of them at that time, or he was taught this. Well, the plates were much easier to make than to forge or cast the same shell.
Corinthian helmet, leggings and muscular breastplate. Even the nipples and belly button are modeled as if it matters (or did?). V-IV centuries. BC. Sotheby's auction.
Judging by the bas-reliefs, the Assyrians have sported shells of plates for many centuries, but the Egyptians, apparently, did not have enough money for them, or rather, they did not have enough money for ordinary soldiers, since there are images of pharaohs in armor.
German engraved breastplate 1630. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
But then it is not known: either changes in technology, or the canons of culture have changed in such a way that the oldest cuirass, consisting of two halves, was made on the territory of Ancient Greece. And here the protective purpose of this armor, purely utilitarian in its essence, mixed with the aesthetics of perception of the ancient Greeks, who considered a muscular, proportionally built man to be the ideal of masculine beauty, it is not for nothing that they so often depicted just such men in marble.
"The figure chained in steel" is a typical "Maximilian armor" with grooves. " Arsenal in Duxford, England.
The time of the appearance of such shells is dated differently, but it is obvious that in the VIII century. BC NS. they already existed. This is the so-called "Argos shell" from the burial in Argos, which consisted of two halves with tubes on the right side of the edging and on the shoulders. Pins were inserted there, connecting these two parts, and on the left side of the cuirass was pulled together with straps. A semicircular plate was suspended from the belt so that it protected the groin. The carapace resembles a bell - its lower edge has a funnel-shaped expansion, and a noticeably protruding collar. From the musculature, the muscles of the chest and scapula are somewhat schematically outlined on it, that is, its creators did not shine with knowledge of anatomy, but, rather, did not set themselves the task of showing the human torso with all its details. How typical were these shells and how long did it take to produce them? A very similar carapace is known from Olympia, dating back to around 525, so they have been produced for over 200 years!
Armor of Emperor Charles V, work of Dysederius Helmschmidt, 1543 Historical Museum, Vienna.
Shells of the 5th - 4th centuries. they lost their bell-shaped shape and high collar, but they acquired a well-developed relief of the muscles not only of the chest, but also of the abdomen, and they also lost their inguinal plate. Instead, they began to use leather ribbons - pterygs. It is interesting that a similar type of cuirass was again made from small plates, and then the so-called "linen shells" of quilted or glued fabric appeared, again well known to us from drawings from Greek vase painting.
Achilles bandaging the wound to the wounded Patroclus. Both figures are clad in scale-reinforced linothorax, Patroclus's untied left shoulder strap straightened. Image from a red-figure vase from Vulci, circa 500 BC NS. Altes Museum, Berlin.
By the way, there was nothing rational in these "anatomical" shells. It would be much more rational to make them either completely flat or with a triangular protrusion in the middle, which would play the role of a stiffener, but the ancient Greeks did not pay attention to this circumstance. Although we know of an iron carapace of the type of linen from the so-called "Grave of Philip II" from Vergina. The front part is completely flat and richly inlaid with gold details, but this is most likely a consequence of undeveloped technology. It was difficult to mint such an iron "slab" at that time, that's why they left it like that.
Some believe that this shell belonged to Philip the Great. Museum in Vergina.
The ancient Romans had armor at first exactly the same as that of the Greeks, that is, anatomical shells, but we still see somewhat more rationalism in their protective armor. For example, poor warriors had either a square or a round plate on 3-4 belts on their chests, and that's all, they did not have cuirasses.
Armor of 1485. Attention is drawn to the cuirass, consisting of two parts, and the mercenary on the right has only two lower halves on the torso, worn over the chain mail. Rice. Angus McBride.
Then they had heavy chain mail made of rolled rings, and in the imperial era, loriki of iron strips, overlapping one another. "Anatomical shells" were worn only by commanders, and even then there is a suspicion that only on their own statues ordered by them (see, for example: PR of the ancient shell / https://topwar.ru/100619-pr-drevnego-pancirya.html). That is, the very type of such armor by the Romans was by no means forgotten, but moved into the realm of something ancient and heroic, suitable for wearing only by emperors.
Dressing in armor of the 15th century. Moreover, both a two-part cuirass and a four-part cuirass are shown.
After the collapse of Great Rome, the same, for example, British historians consider the genesis of the defensive weapons of Western Europe according to the following scheme: the era of the "dark ages" (476 - 1066), then follows the "era of chain mail" (1066 - 1250), then comes The "transitional period" of the spread of chain mail "armor" (1250 - 1330) with relatively small plates, then large plates are used, and the chain mail only supplements them (1330 - 1410), and finally, armor of "white metal ", the era of which ended in 1700, but cuirasses continued to be used until the beginning of the First World War!
Spanish and Portuguese knights of the era of chain mail armor. Right: Don Alvaro de Cabrera Jr., buried in the Catalan church of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de Las Avellanas in Lleida. Rice. Angus McBride.
And this is his preserved effigy, which made it possible to restore his appearance in detail. But the helmet is missing …
However, until the end of the Hundred Years War, knights in Europe did not wear solid-forged cuirasses. Oriental Faris knights also used plate cuirass worn over chain mail. It is known that they were heavy and thundered very much, so at night they were not worn for reconnaissance. Judging by the documents, the first plate armor was used as early as 1290, but was not massive. There is an effigy from Pershora Abbey in Worcestershire 1270 - 1280, on which a breastplate fastened with straps is visible in the slots of the surcoat. The effigy is also known at the end of the 13th century. from Temple Church in London, attributed to Giobert Marshal, on which, in the cuts of the surcoat, a cuirass made of two halves is barely visible. But, of course, it is impossible to say whether it is metal or made of "boiled leather".
Again, judging by the effigies, cuirasses of two halves appeared already at the beginning of the 15th century, both made in Milan and of German production. They had one interesting feature: their chest and back parts each consisted of two plates - lower and upper, overlapping one another. And they were both fastened to it with the help of belts or two rivets, which allowed them to at least somehow move relative to one another. It was possible to wear only the upper part or only the lower one! But the most significant change in the cuirass of the Milanese armor underwent in 1440-1455, when its lower part stretched so much upward that by the end of the century it practically covered the entire upper plate to which the helmet was attached. Sometimes there could be two belts in front, but then they were on the sides of the cuirass on the left and right.
Armor of King Henry II of France (1547–59), made ca. 1555 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
His cuirass is in front.
His cuirass is in the back.
As a rule, these cuirasses did not have any anthropomorphism, but they had a pronounced rib in the middle. Periodically, however, this rib disappeared, and the cuirass in front acquired a globular shape. Then the skill of the gunsmiths reached its peak (or their rationalism prevailed, who knows ?!), but at last cuirasses appeared, consisting of only two parts. And then out of nowhere, the fashion for everything antique came again, so that as a result, Emperor Charles V wore chased armor with zoomorphic shoulder pads and … an anatomical cuirass, similar to the lorica of the ancient Roman generals and made in the best traditions of Roman armourers, in 1546, in which, undoubtedly, the art of the Renaissance showed itself. It is interesting that the pterygs were also copied in them, only they were made not of leather, but already of metal!
Armor of Charles I of 1546 by Filippo Negroli. Milan.
In Germany, the globular shape of the breastplate was popular until 1530, but then it was replaced by a cuirass with a median rib. A number of shells from the 60s - 70s. XVI century for their shape received the name "pea pods", since their lower part in front descended almost to the very groin area.
One more appeal to the antique theme "The Set of Hercules". Historical Museum in Vienna.
Referring to the manuscript "Shahnameh" from Gulistan, dated 1429, we will see on its miniatures warriors in armor made of large rectangular plates, which were called charaina ("four mirrors") and represented … a cuirass of four flat plates fastened on the sides ! This armor was very popular in the East throughout the 16th century. and even later.
Charaina. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Indian armor of the late 18th - early 19th centuries Among the plate oriental armor, armor is known and quite amazing, in which the chest plate was divided in two on the chest and connected with laces, which made it possible to wear such armor like a jacket or jacket. But it's strange that the strings were on the front. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
It is interesting that in the collection of the Royal Arsenal in the Tower there is also an armor of the 17th - 18th centuries, brought from North India, and consisting of a purely oriental helmet-misyurka and … a cuirass, very similar to the European one, but decorated with local floral ornaments. Moreover, it is in India that we find many quite European type of cuirasses, but, of course, made by local craftsmen. That is, they saw the samples and copied them for their local nobility!
Indian Breastplate from Hyderabad, 1620 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Indian Breastplate from Deccan - material - wutz! Mid-19th century Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
But again, in the later era of the Middle Ages, we nowhere see a massive return to "muscle cuirasses". The ceremonial armor of Charles V, of course, does not count. This means that the slowly but surely developing rationalism eventually dominated external aestheticism, and even the Renaissance could not impose on people long-obsolete forms of protection, although, as we know, barbut helmets, like the ancient Corinthian ones, were approved by the knights and the infantrymen. And although at one time the anatomical "muscular cuirasses" were popular for many centuries along with ancient culture, they did not succeed in returning their former positions at a new stage of historical development!
Painted helmet and breastplate from the mid-16th century. The weight of the helmet is 3400 g. The weight of the cuirass is 2365 g. Magazine of the Metropolitan Museum No. 42 (2007), pp. 107-119.
(To be continued)
