Arms and Armour

Don Íñigo López de Mendoza, V duque del Infantado, fue uno de los coleccionistas de armas más importantes
de la Europa del Siglo XVI. Este artículo se centra en el estudio de su armería analizando su contenido y explicándolo
para entender los mecanismos y las razones de su creación, así como de su uso y adecuación a lo que hoy
entendemos como coleccionismo moderno.
Don Íñigo López de Mendoza, 5th Duke of the Infantado, was one of the major arms collectors of his day. This
essay deals with the content of his armoury, as well as the reasons and mechanism of its creation in the 16th Century.
Further more, the text focuses on the uses of the arms of Don Iñigo and with the degree of knowledge Infantado had
of what today we understand as modern collectionism.

Résumé
Les fouilles menées sur des résidences élitaires et des fortifications du haut Moyen Âge se sont multipliées depuis quelques
décennies en France comme en Belgique. Elles ont mis en lumière une grande variété typologique, des choix architecturaux
simples mais souvent efficaces et des influences diverses. Malgré ces avancées, une vision très négative de la fortification du
haut Moyen Âge semble toujours prévaloir et les données réunies sur les résidences aristocratiques précoces n'ont pas toujours
été mises en oeuvre pour évaluer la genèse du château des Xe -XIe s.
Ce bilan bibliographique limité aux cinquante dernières années aborde successivement l'évolution des méthodes d'approche, la
défense des chefs-lieux de cités et des castra, l'état de la poliorcétique, quelques grands types de résidences élitaires et l'intérêt
d'étudier la culture matérielle pour mieux cerner les fonctions et la hiérarchie de ces sites.

Abstract
For some decades, excavations on elitarian residences and fortifications from the early Middle Ages have multiplied in France as
well as in Belgium. They highlighted a great typological variety, simple but often effective architectural choices, and various
influences. Despite this step forward, there still exists a very negative vision of early Middle Age defence works, and the data
collected on early aristocratic dwellings has seldom been used to assess the genesis of the castle in the l0th and 11th centuries.
This bibliographical assessment limited to the previous fifty years successively tackles the evolution of the methodological
approaches, the defense of chief towns and castra, the art of siege, some major types of elitarian residences, and the need for a
study of material culture in order to better comprehend the functions and hierarchy of these sites.

To affirm his political regime, Pandolfo Petrucci (1452-1512) took advantage of the potentialities
given by the Camera del Comune. It had been the arsenal of the city of Siena for a long time, but
Pandolfo changed its organization and widened its assignments. The maintenance and production
of weapons was still the principal purpose of this institution of the city. Under Pandolfo the production
of artilleries, ammunitions and the fortification activity was increased, thanks to specialists
like Francesco di Giorgio, Giacomo Cozzarelli and Vannoccio Biringucci, personalities who deeply
influenced the technical and military culture of all Europe. The Camera del Comune also managed
the military intelligence, useful tool to the dissembling politics of the Petrucci, and to the management
of the army. The Army of Siena was composed by a Condotta in Aspetto, which Pandolfo used
to create alliances. But the most important troops were the Provvisionati di Piazza, a professional
infantry faithful to the political regime and depending, both economically and for the supply of
weapons, on the Chamber of the town and the leadership of Pandolfo. The military politics of Pandolfo
Petrucci brought Siena among the greatest European powers of that time but its purposes,
mainly finalized to the maintenance of his own personal power, obstructed a true modernization
of the war apparatus of Siena, which in the following years had been inferior than its adversaries.

published in: Stefan Krause and Matthias Pfaffenbichler (Ed.), Turnier. 1000 Ritterspiele, Vienna (KHM) and Munich (Hirmer) 2017
(http://www.hirmerverlag.de/de/titel-1-1/turnier-1557/)

The publication contains 21 essays by 17 international experts. It is the first publication to tell the story of tournaments from the 11th up until the 21st century.

Authors: Stefanie Hoss / Gerald Volker Grimm / Paul Stockman / Huub Stals / Antoine Prinsen / Bert Zandvoort. Museum Hulst exhibition catalogue of 2018 on the finds from the port of Hulst. Edited by Edie Bogaert, Hanneke Stam and Bert Zandvoort. An unusually high number of militaria were recovered here, most of which can be associated with the respective successful sieges of the town of Hulst in 1452 by Gent and those in the 1590s by the Spanish and the reconquest in 1645 by the Dutch army. In addition to weapons and armour, however, other particularly interesting finds are presented, such as the two almost completely preserved frames of ruffs, and the finds are contextualised in the history of the town. Also published online: https://www.museumhulst.nl/files/exposities/pdf/boekje-bierkaai.pdf.

THE WEAPONRY OF GUILDS IN HERMANNSTADT IN THE 15–16TH CENTURY

By the time of the late middle ages Hermannstadt (Nagyszeben/Cibium/Sibiu) had significant economycal power, in which the local crafts played an important part. In this era the flourishing town faced the threat of raids from the expanding Ottoman Empire. Walls were built and towers were erected: these objects housed the arms, armour and munition necessary for the the defense. Every guild had it’s own tower, where stored their weapons. Several inventories remained from the years of 1478, 1492/93, 1508, 1560, 1567, 1575 and from the second part of the 16th century (without exact date). These lists – espe¬cially the quantities – of weapons and munition can be considered as objective sources, because the defenders had to rely on tthem and to know the accurate number their arms in case of a raid. From these documents the spread of firearms can be thraced from the late middle ages. The town ensured that the guild members can use their weapons properly: in several entries from the account books the magistracy payed for the miliatry trainings (shooting events). There is an example from the 15th century where they use bows for this purpose (bogenschutzen), but later firearms become common. In the inventory of the coach-maker guild in 1508 a target shooting gun (czyl puchsen) can be found. From 1507 and 1509 a target shooting guild (czehis sagittariis cum pixidibus) appears.

The castle of Mur is part of the fortification process of the border lands between
al-Andalus and the Catalan counties. This process was made in parallel to the
repopulation effort produced during the 9th-11th centuries in this zone of
Catalonia. Therefore this castle would work not only as a political element to
structure the territory, but also as a defensive point of the population.

Ульянов О.Г. Оружие «московского дела» в событиях русско-польской войны 1654-1667 годов (по данным описей Государевой оружейной казны) // Война и оружие: Новые исследования и материалы. Труды Третьей международной научно-практической конференции 16-18 мая 2012 г. СПб., 2012. Ч. III. C. 304-320.

http://books.reenactor.ru/?bookid=1925

Книга посвящена эволюции римского декорированного доспеха в эпоху принципата. Это первое масштабное исследование римских доспехов на русском языке, являющееся плодом двадцатилетних изысканий автора.
      Изучение античного оружия и его декора в свете современных подходов не может ограничиваться только рассмотрением эволюции самого комплекса вооружения, но предполагает обращение к таким актуальным общеисторическим вопросам, как древние технологии, кросс-культурные коммуникации, ценностные представления, идеология и религия военнослужащих. Несмотря на довольно значительное количество специальных работ, посвящённых этой категории вооружения, исследования сосредоточены на узкой группе предметов, которые выделяются как применявшиеся только на парадах и в конных упражнениях. Прочее декорированное римское вооружение остаётся вне пристального внимания исследователей, в силу чего декор римского доспеха не рассматривается как целостная семантическая система, связанная с функциональным предназначением предметов вооружения и отражающая идеологию и ценностные представления римских военных. Однако только такое изучение римского декорированного доспеха позволяет уточнить хронологию археологических памятников, провести детальное сравнение сохранившихся артефактов с иконографическими материалами и данными письменных источников, выявить взаимодействие и взаимовлияние различных этнокультурных традиций в истории Римской державы.
      На основе изучения археологических находок выявлена семантика декора доспехов и её связь с религиозно-идеологическими аспектами мировоззрения римских военнослужащих, а также рассмотрены технологические аспекты производства предметов декорированного вооружения.
      Все римские декорированные доспехи эпохи принципата следует рассматривать в комплексе, поскольку большая часть всего защитного вооружения была богато украшена, а также имела общий круг сюжетов, изображавшихся на нём, вне зависимости от его назначения.
      Декор доспехов эпохи принципата был связан с религиозным мировоззрением римских военнослужащих. Его иконографический мир был крайне консервативен и мало изменялся на протяжении I–III вв. н. э. Его консервативность подтверждается устойчивостью образов и стилистикой их воплощения на сохранившихся декорированных доспехах, созданных в течение эпохи принципата. Книга снабжена множеством цветных иллюстраций, а также иллюстрированным каталогом находок, в котором учтены все известные находки римских декорированных доспехов на начало 2018 г.

Determining the difference in military or political function of castles is a topic heavily debated between scholars. Traditionally the military function has been studied through the use of historical documents or archaeological research into the outer and tower wall thickness of a castles. However, there is another source of material that enables to study a facet of the military functions of castles; military material to study the defence of the castle of against a siege. To examine the possibilities of military material as a source, a case-study has been performed on the military material excavated at eight castles in the county of Holland dating between 1250-1450. The eighth studied castles were grouped into three morphological types of castles. The castle types used in the thesis, from large to small: square castles, keep towers, and moated sites. To determine if castle was besieged using military material a theoretical framework is proposed for the deposition of military material during various events with a heightened deposition probability. The expected deposition of military objects during peace is low compared to the deposition of military objects during a siege. There is no expected pattern for the assembly of military objects deposited during peace. While, the expected loss of military objects during a siege would show a higher amount of projectiles, hand arms and polearms, depending on the siege method employed. However, during the destruction of the castle as part of the scorched earth tactic or as punishment high amount of military material is expected as well.
Examining the military material at the eight castle, it can be concluded that during sieges and the destruction of castles large amounts of military material were deposited as proposed in the theoretical framework. Moreover, it is possible to determine the siege method deployed. However, only if there can be differentiated between the destruction of a castle and a siege. Furthermore, it can be concluded that there is a differentiation in military role of the three castle types. However, this differentiation is not induced by the difference in morphological features, but by the wealth of the castle lord owning the castle and his willingness to defend the castle.

The emergence of written and illustrated martial arts manuals in the Late Middle Ages coincides with profound changes in European warfare.  In the 14th century, the feudal recall of knights gradually lost its previous significance, whereas mercenary soldiers took on an increasingly important role. In Europe, defensive tactics based on infantry combat were gaining ground, and eventually the use of firearms spread.  In this context, the development of a formalised teaching of martial arts is explained in particular as the endeavor for a more effective military training which ensured survival on increasingly dangerous battlefields at the end of the Middle Ages.

Pojav pisanih in ilustriranih borilnih priročnikov v poznem srednjem veku časovno sovpada z globokimi spremembami evropskega vojskovanja. V 14. st. je fevdalni sklic vitezov postopoma izgubil nekdanji pomen, vse večjo vlogo pa so prevzemali najemniški vojaki. V Evropi se je uveljavila se je pretežno defenzivna taktika, ki je temeljila na pehotnem bojevanju, sčasoma pa se je razširila tudi uporaba ognjenega orožja. V tem kontekstu si lahko razvoj formaliziranega poučevanja borilnih veščin razlagamo predvsem kot prizadevanje po učinkovitejšem vojaškem urjenju, ki je zagotavljalo preživetje na vse nevarnejših bojiščih konec srednjega veka.

In 1672 the Transylvanian goldsmith Thomas Kapustran produced an astonishing sword, using an original Samurai blade and Ottomanized decor elements. Soon after, the sword came into the armoury of the Electorate of Saxony where it was part of the so-called Indian Chamber. In this blog it is used as a material starting point for a bunch of histories. They tell us about the various and far-reaching connections of early modern Transylvania, the migration of goldsmiths in the 17th century, the use of secondhand blades in the Ottoman and Habsburg Empire and the significance of courtly armouries for princely self-fashioning.

This is the first article in series, devoted to the research of historical side-arms, known as a personal weapons of Ivan Mazepa – great Hetman of Ukraine. In this part, the author studied a significant historical sample – the saber, kept in the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). After a thorough study of provenance, morphology, decorations and blade epigraphy, the author concluded that the sample consisted of parts from different eras and can not be treated as an authentic personal saber of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
Кeywords: Ivan Mazepa, saber, Hermitage Museum, historical value, Hussar Karabela.

ENG. This essay aims to clarify what was the craft activity carried out by Florentine armourers (armaioli), enrolled in the Arte di Por Santa Maria and the importance of this profession between the 14th and 15th centuries.The research is mainly based on three archival sources: the Sta-tute of Art, to identify what their work consisted; the lists of ma-triculated, in order to be able to evaluate the number of craftmen present in the city and the trend of their enrollments in the chro-nological period of which we have sources; the Catasto of 1427, through which we will have more information on the Florentine armourers active in this year, as the location of their workshops in the city or their wealth.Finally it will conclude with some hypotheses on why this flourishing commercial and productive activity, disappears from the Florentine craft organizations in the end of Middle Ages.

Roman helmets with face-masks constitute a category of military equipment that is rare and at the same time spectacular. They imitate human heads, bare or helmeted; rich decorations include mythological motives and apotropaic elements. Moreover, they are often made of precious bronze and sometimes even silvered. Those qualities make them focus the attention both of specialists working on Roman military equipment and the wide public.
Several such masks were found on the territory of Roman Dacia. Two were found in the river Olt and are believed to have been washed away from military sites. Another comes from a ditch of the Roman fort Gilău and has been interpreted as having been lost by its owner. All are believed to have been used as parade equipment by Roman cavalrymen. All belong to a rare category of helmets representing female heads.
However, it seems improbable that the loss of an item of that size and value would have remained unnoticed, and that it could be easily washed away by the river - remembering also the scarcity of such finds both within the province and the whole Empire. A study of religious practices of Roman military allows us to propose a re-interpretation of these artifacts. Rather then lost pieces of parade equipment we should probably view them as offerings deposited by members of the military or whole units to ensure the success of their various undertakings. This not only matches their findspots well, but also finds several analogies in the context of finds outside of Dacia.

Elenco nominativo aggiornato degli armaioli (XIV - primi del XVI sec.), tratto da "Armature e armorari nella Milano medievale", pp. 219-229.

Updated name list of Milanese armourers (XIVth - early XVIth century). from "Armature e armorari nella Milano medievale", pp. 219-229.

Ульянов О.Г. Опись Оружейной палаты 1687 г. – Ultima Thule московской оружейной школы XVII в. // Война и оружие: Новые исследования и материалы. Труды Четвертой Международной научно-практической конференции 15-17 мая 2013 года. СПб., 2013. Ч. IV. С. 287-303.