HELM

Around 1475, helms and crests began to be used in Armorial displays.
 
 

"Lake Quest"   

                                        

"Europe" can be divided into sub-regions of a more or less overall cultural continuity. These divisions have a lot to do with dialect and language variations as well as geographical features - where the mountain ranges are, where the highest peaks are, where the fresh water lakes are, where the watersheds and rivers are, the forests and flatlands, etc.

For example, The highest peak in the Sudetes Mountains that run along the division of present-day Germany, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), and Poland is Snezka Peak on the Czech-Polish border. The division between Germany and Poland are the rivers Nysa Klodzka, which originates in the Sudetes and runs north into the Oder River which empties into the Baltic Sea, the paths of which are roughly along the present-day German/Polish boundary.

This border and control of the river trade and ports, the Oder being a large navigatable waterway, have been fought over between a group of Eastern Germanic Slaves, the Polish, and Western Germans since who knows how far back, the river having been in the possession of an early medieval dynasty of Polish kings, previously controlled by the Germans and named by the Germans, Frankfort ob der Oder is the western half of a town that previously was also on the eastern side of the river. The area was settled by Germanics c. 1 BCE, Slovic tribes had previously built a bridge across the river at that location, and other prehistoric tribes had lived there before that. They share most of the river as a boundary line, the Frankfort region in Germany, and the delta and Baltic Sea port is in Poland has the river today.

Even though there were localized regional differences and affiliations, basically all of Europe belonged to the medieval cultural period that prevailed variously from c. 700 to 1600 BCE. Groups of Germanic tribes, from territories approximately where present-day Germany is, began moving into previously unoccupied and also already occupied territories from c. 300 to 700 BCE, reclaiming previous Roman Empire holdings and separating into Iberian, French, Mediterranean, Alp, Slavic, Brit and Galic, and Scandinavian territories much as applicable national boundaries exist today. This is called the Migration Period and is the cultural marker for the beginnings of medieval culture, the first overall distinctive "European" culture, resulting from the spread of these Germanic peoples.

The Roman conquest era was c. 1 - 476 CE. The riff between the haves and the have-nots emerged as some accumulated property, relative wealth, and safety through allegiances while others worked for sustenance level compensation and paid taxes. When Roman retreated from European holdings, the breakdown of society was dramatic. The patchwork of petty rulers was incapable of supporting the depth of civic infrastructure required to maintain libraries, public baths, arenas, and major educational institutions. Cities and merchants lost the economic benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture and intellectual development suffered from the loss of a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging connections.

As it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance, there was a collapse in trade and manufacture for export. The major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain.  Disputes related to land and warfare were ongoing scenarios which led to the tremendous development of the medieval weapons to solve the battlefield problems. These weapons were unusual, contemporary and unique and were mainly used by the armed men.

Between the 5th and 8th centuries, powerful individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralized government. Germanic tribes established regional hegemonies within the former boundaries of the Empire, creating divided, decentralized kingdoms like those of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Visigoths in Hispania, the Franks and Burgundians in Gaul and western Germany, the Angles and the Saxons in Britain, and the Vandals in North Africa.  Medieval Europe entered into a mid-period of castle building, knightly tournaments, industries, and the European feudal system.
                                       
The lists of medieval weapons are endless and varied from simple structured to complex structured designs many of which have become arcane while body armor and helmets have remained in use since pre-classic wars through to the 21st century for military and other uses, including modern-day civilian police, firemen, and sports body armor and helmets.

Q   HERALDRY    HELM    CREST    SHIELD~CHARGES    ORDINARIES     MANTLE~SUPPORTS    KIBLER

"The present rules concerning helmets which hold in Great Britain are that the helmet of the Sovereign and the Royal princes of this country shall be of gold, placed in an affronte position, and shall have grilles. The helmet of a peer shall be of silver, shall be placed in profile, and shall have golden grilles, frequently stated to be five in number, a detail not stringently adhered to. The helmet of a knight or baronet shall be of steel, placed full-faced, and shall be open; whilst the helmet of an esquire or gentleman shall be of steel and in profile, with the visor closed. Within these limits considerable latitude is allowed, and even in official grants of arms, which, as far as emblazonment goes, are very much of a stereotyped style, actual unvarying adherence to a particular pattern is not insisted upon"

Below is a modern assumed personal COA design belonging to an individual known as Black Fox. The gules showing inside the helm is supposed to be due to the inside of the "noble helm" being lined with red cloth. Color plates of authentic COAs do show this coloration.

Helmet The helmet bears the crest and differs according to rank. It also can be used as a charge.  (colorized image from Fox-Davies)
(1) Royal Helm and Crest
(2) Peer's Helm
(3) Baronet's and Knight's Helm
(4) Mulbery's Helm, 15th cent.
(5) Close Helm 16th cent.
(6) Barrel Helm 14th cent.

 

Here's a link to a pop-up window to Fox-Davies book online for easy access:  CLICK HERE  This is a highly functional online reference text. This link goes to the main INDEX.
 

              Sallet 1550          Barrel Helm 1100       Pignose 1300           Anglo-Saxon   700             
 

             Mulbery 1400s                       Burgonet 1500s                 Maximillian                          
 

 Burgonet 1500s

 Emperor Ferdinand I (1549) royal armor

 SEE A FULL SUIT OF ARMOR
SEE A DIAGRAM OF A FULL SUIT OF ARMOR

 below: Her Majesty the Queen of England's Coat of Arms
 

The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy, and was centered in Germany with Glutenberg's printing press, 1440, Martin Luther's publications, 1517 and standardization of the German language, and Conrad Celtis, from 1550, who led the literary and academic renaissance focused on pre-Christianized European culture, ideas, and history. From the late 1400s, the Italian resurrection of Classical Mediterranean arts and sciences spread in Europe as well. This combination prompted a French Renaissance, English Renaissance, Renaissance in the Netherlands, Polish Renaissance and other national and localized movements, each with differing dates and characteristics.

German Gothic (suit)

1450 Italian "Frogmouth" (helm)

 

THE MIGRATION

Archaeologists put the geographical origin of the Germanic peoples in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany. There, they developed a warrior culture that was essentially democratic in character. As they migrated south and east, this democratic warrior society developed into a kingship and, as they came in contact with the Romans and Romanized Celts, they developed further aristocratic classes among the warriors and nobility.

The most significant aspect of the Germanic social structure was the comitatus, a term invented by the Roman historian Tacitus. The comitatus was a retinue of warriors that attached itself to a lord or king voluntarily. Through oaths of loyalty, the comitatus protected militarily the lord or king who, in his turn, granted individuals the protection of the comitatus and rewarded them with wealth. The Germanic tribal economy was more or less identical to most tribal economies—it was primarily based on reciprocity rather than trade. In a reciprocal economy, goods and services are distributed as gifts in an expression of the social relationship and mutual obligations inhering between members of the group. The comitatus was a sophisticated military organization built entirely on the economic logic of reciprocity.

They were most likely a people derived from the Celts, but they have much in common with other European cultures, such as the Illyrians and the Veneti. For the most part, the term "Germanic" is almost entirely a linguistic rather than a cultural term—it refers mainly to the tribal groups in Europe that spoke similar languages, Germanic, that had been derived from pre-Celtic sources. Germanic languages probably came into existence around the second century BC—that is, they became distinct from a mutually used pre-Celtic language. In both Celtic and Germanic, the word, "German," means something like "the fierce men" or, contrarily, "the friendly men".

The first great wave of European migration was the migrations of the Celts in the sixth and fifth centuries BC; the next great wave, of far greater importance, was the migration of Germanic tribes beginning in the second century AD. Most crucially, the migrations of Germanic tribes eventually resulted in the conquest of the western Empire.

This is an odd chapter in history, for the population of Italy was exponentially larger than the population of migrating Germans. The Visigoths, one of the largest of the German tribes, probably did not number more than 100,000 people and could field probably no more than 25,000 soldiers at any one time. This is in comparison to the 60 to 70 million people living in the Empire and a standing army that outnumbered the entire population of Visigoths. Still, the Visigoths managed to enter Rome and assert administrative control over much of the western Empire.

These migrations are more responsible than any other factor in the creation of Europe. After the conquest of Rome and a feeble attempt by the some Germanic tribes to continue Roman culture and institutions, the face of Europe was gradually transformed by a remarkable diversity of Germanic tribes. From these people would arise most of the major cultural and political groups of the later Middle Ages: the English, the French, the Scandinavians, Icelanders, and, of course, the Germans themselves. From their diverse cultures and their polar responses to classical culture would arise the singular idea of "Europe" and European culture.     (from discussion by Robert Hooker, WSU)

Q   HERALDRY    HELM    CREST    SHIELD~CHARGES    ORDINARIES     MANTLE~SUPPORTS    KIBLER
 

Music: anonymous, 6 flute pieces of the Renaissance
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