As you know, the shape of a helmet to protect the head was created not even for centuries - for millennia. And during this time, people have come up with many different types of "head cover". However, no matter how hard they try, at the heart of the helmet there has always been and will remain a certain container, which just covers its part. It is clear that the helmet can cover the neck, the back of the head, and the face. But … he cannot close his eyes, this is, firstly, and secondly, the helmet must have holes for breathing. Over time, the main forms of helmets have developed: hemispherical (with and without fields), sphero-conical (with or without a visor, with or without a mask on the face) and cylindrical, again with or without a mask. The last helmet, the well-known tophelm, originated from the pill helmet and was a popular helmet for knights. Well, hemispherical helmets became the basis for the servilera helmet-comforter, on the basis of which the Bundhugel, bascinet or "dog helmet" appeared. Moreover, its popularity was very high. For example, in one document of 1389 it was written: "Knights and soldiers, citizens and armed men had dog faces."
1. Morion - the most famous helmet of the Renaissance and modern times. No film about that time is complete without soldiers with such helmets on their heads. A scene from the film "The Iron Mask" (1962)
2. Morion at the end of the 16th century. depicting scenes of the battle of spearmen, arquebusiers and horsemen. Flanders. Copper, leather. Weight 1326 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The pinnacle of the development of knightly armor, as you know, was the "white armor", which had an armé helmet, arranged so that its metal parts smoothly flowed around the head, which, however, never came into contact with its metal. But the development of firearms required the removal of the visor from the helmet, since it was impossible to load it in a helmet with a visor (as well as to shoot from it!).
3. Morion, about 1600, Germany. Weight 1224 g. Decorated with engraving. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
This is how a bourgionot or burgonet appeared, a helmet, like an armé in everything, but with a visor in the form of a lattice, or even just three rods. Such helmets, called "pot" ("pot") or "pot with a lobster tail," were actively used during the Civil War in England and the Thirty Years War on the continent. Experts note their oriental, that is, oriental origin. Since 1590, all oriental helmets of this type appeared under the name "shishak", and in Europe they remained until the 17th century.
4. Fully enclosed Savoyard bourguignot helmet approx. 1600-1620 Italy. Steel, leather. Weight 4562 kg. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
But if it was a good helmet for a rider, then the foot soldiers needed something simpler. And, of course, cheaper in cost, but just as effective.
5. In the East, for a long time, helmets made of plates were preferred. For example, a Mongolian or Tibetan lamellar helmet of the 15th-17th centuries. Iron, leather. Weight 949.7 g (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Morion became such a helmet. Whether this name comes from the Spanish word morro (meaning "cranial dome" or "round object") or was based on the word More ("Moor") is still unclear. It was also called the Moorish helmet, but be that as it may, it was Morion who supplanted all other types of helmets that were used by infantrymen in the 16th century. It appeared in France around 1510, and was mentioned by the royal ordinances of both Henry II and Charles IX, that is, between 1547 and 1574.
6. Morion 1575. Italy. Steel, copper, leather. Weight 1601 g.
The first morions were distinguished by a low dome, which had a hemispherical shape and a not very high crest on it. It should be noted that the ridges, which at first were absent on the arm, began to appear little by little. Of course, their presence made the helmet stronger and increased its protective properties. But it is not possible to typologize the morion by the shape of its dome, as well as by the gradual increase in its volume. The only thing that was revealed is that a clear tendency towards its increase can be traced at the crest of the morion. True, at the end of the 16th century. many morions were made, which had both a low dome and a small ridge. But the general tendency is still the following - the crest on the morion got bigger and bigger over time!
7. An engraved morion just with a very large crest. Northern Italy, presumably Brescia. OK. 1580 - 1590 Steel, bronze, leather. Weight 1600 (Art Institute of Chicago)
There are a lot of morions in European museums, and their high-quality manufacture means that they were very popular among European infantrymen. The spread of morion was very rapid and widespread. His main advantage was his open face. At the same time, two visors, in front and behind, did not make it possible to inflict a chopping blow from above to the owner of this helmet. In addition, the comb gave it such strength that it could not be cut with a transverse impact.
Morion was used by even the most senior officers, including the colonels, and even the generals themselves. At the same time, they put it on in battle against the infantry. Such helmets were often gilded, decorated with carvings and with a lush plume of feathers. Morion could usually protect against a bullet from an arquebus, and his average weight could be about two kilograms.
8. Morion of the Guards of the Duke of Saxon Christian I, c. 1580 The work of the master Hans Mikel (Germany, 1539 -1599), Nuremberg. (Art Institute of Chicago)
Morions were not only worn by soldiers. They were worn, for example, by the papal guard, as well as by the officers - lieutenants and captains who commanded the pikemen. Moreover, truly luxurious specimens have come down to us, which cannot but cause admiration for the subtlety of the decoration and the variety of techniques with which they were decorated. And here we can see one amusing phenomenon, namely, the convergence of the appearance of officers and soldiers, which achieved a great moral and psychological unity. Indeed, before that, the armor of a knight and an ordinary infantryman differed like heaven and earth. But now the fighting technique has changed. Now both the nobleman and the peasant soldier used the same weapon and wore the same armor. It is clear that the nobles immediately tried to decorate their armor with chasing, engraving, etching, and chemical crushing. But … the shape of the same morion did not change at the same time! And, by the way, this process was going on not only in Europe. In Japan, the helmets of the nobility of kawari-kabuto would not even occur to an ordinary ashigaru to be worn by an ordinary ashigaru. But now the ashigaru received muskets and jingasa helmets. So what? Not only did the samurai themselves at first not disdain to shoot from them, but then they, up to and including the shogun, also began to wear helmets of ordinary infantrymen, although in the shogun's palace, of course, it was customary to wear old ceremonial helmets.
9. The same helmet, side view. But from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
But the greatest miracle of that time should be considered the unsurpassed skill of the blacksmiths-gunsmiths, who knew how to forge these "headdresses" from one piece of metal, including even a comb. Such morions are known, and they are most strikingly different from the rough products of several metal parts, riveted and also covered with black paint. For conspiracy theorists, these morions are a godsend. “How was it done at the time? Even now it is impossible to repeat! " The documents of those years for their production, of course, are fake, but they were all made at the latest in the middle of the last century and put in museums to increase their attendance …all fakes of yesteryear. All around there is a complete deception and conspiracy of historians! By the way, about cabassettes …
10. Morion Cabasset. 1580 Northern Italy. (Cleveland Museum of Art)
Although the morion was a comfortable helmet in all respects, and its comb gave the head good protection, technologically it was not the easiest product. And also metal-consuming …
11. Morion-Cabasset XVI century. Italy, Steel, bronze, leather. Weight 1410 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Therefore, simultaneously with the classic type of morion, a hybrid appeared - morion-cabasset, which was often called the Spanish morion, from which it differed in that this helmet lacked a crest. The protective function of this element was compensated by the large height of the dome and the presence of lancet outlines, against which edged weapons were powerless.
12. Equestrian set 1570 - 1580 Milan. Steel, gilding, bronze, leather. Shield - rondash, diameter 55, 9 cm; horse shaffron, cabasset (weight 2400). (Art Institute of Chicago)
It should be considered that the Morion Cabasset was more often used by horsemen than by infantry, since they fought with melee weapons, in which a swinging blow could touch a high ridge and even knock it to one side. And then in the cavalry they always preferred to use more compact helmets, such as, for example, bourguignot.
13. Ceremonial armor: shield and helmet morion. (Dresden Armory)
14. Ceremonial armor: shield and helmet cabasset. (Dresden Armory)
Finally, in addition to this hybrid, the cabasset helmet is also known, similar to the bottle calabash gourd, from which it most likely got its name. Cabasset, or "birnhelm", that is, in German "helmet-pear", together with the morion, became widespread in Germany.
The Cabasset was usually the helmet of the infantry, both pike spearmen and arquebusier marksmen. For the latter, he was the only protection, since, due to their rather heavy equipment and weapons, they could not even afford armor. As for the musketeers, who, instead of a more or less light arquebus, were armed with a heavy musket, a fork-stand - a support when firing, and a sling with cartridges, they quickly abandoned even cassettes and wore wide-brimmed hats. The fact is that neither the musketeers nor the arquebusiers were afraid of cavalry attacks, since in the event of a cavalry attack, they could always escape from it under the cover of pikemen.
15. Cheap soldier morions. Note that the left one is made of two one-piece stamped halves, held together along a ridge. (Meissen Museum)
16. A very rude, but originally arranged morion with opening headphones. (Dresden Armory)
Cabinet at the end of the 16th century. began to be mass-produced in a factory way, and it soon lost its best protective qualities. Having lost its ribs, and then its elongated dome shape, it turned into the very “household utensils” that it looked like the most, like a pot, that is, “sweat”.
