A barbute (also termed a barbuta, which in Italian literally means "bearded", possibly because the beard of a wearer would be visible) [1] is a visorless war helmet of 15th-century Italian design, often with a distinctive T-shaped or Y-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth.
The name 'barbuta' when applied to a helmet is first recorded in an inventory made for the Gonzaga family of Mantua in 1407. The helmet can be considered as a specialised form of the sallet, both types of helmet being ultimately derivations of the earlier bascinet. The barbute resembles classical Greek helmets (most strikingly the Corinthian) and may have been influenced by the renewed interest in ancient artifacts common during this period. [2] [3]
This type of helmet has been described as an example of formal beauty being the result of functional efficiency. [4] The defining characteristic of the barbute is the forward extension of the sides of the helmet towards the mid-line; this gives protection to the sides of the user's face below the eyes. Regardless of the form of the combined vision and breath opening, T-shaped, Y-shaped or arch-shaped, this characteristic is always present. The edge of the T- shaped opening is almost always reinforced by a riveted-on iron rim, usually extending to the lower edge of the helmet. [5] The Y-shaped form often incorporates a distinct projection to guard the nose, which otherwise would protrude from the combined ventilation and vision opening. At least one example exists incorporating an extremely elongated nasal, which is hinged. The barbute could be worn with a plate gorget. [6] However, the barbute was often worn with a stiffened mail collar, termed a "standard", which protected the throat and neck. Some examples of the barbute, as in a number of Italian sallets, were covered in a rich decorative fabric, typically heavy velvet. A number of surviving barbutes incorporate a keyhole-shaped hole at the apex of the skull for the attachment of a decorative crest. A contemporary painting commissioned by Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, shows a barbuta surmounted by a crest in the shape of a heraldic eagle. [7]
Unlike the sallet, the barbute seems to have enjoyed little popularity outside Italy.
Barbutes were most commonly raised from a single sheet of metal; however, modern metallurgy has shown that many Italian Renaissance helmets were essentially of iron faced with steel, which was annealed and quenched to give it the desired characteristics of a hard outer surface, with a ductile inner layer which prevented shattering. [8] Many barbutes feature a low front-to-back ridge, raised from the top of the helmet's skull; this served to strengthen the helmet without adding a significant amount of weight.
Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of plates worn over mail suits during the 14th century.
The sallet was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal.
The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at the rear and sides to afford protection for the neck. A mail curtain was usually attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A visor was often employed from c. 1330 to protect the exposed face. Early in the fifteenth century, the camail began to be replaced by a plate metal gorget, giving rise to the so-called "great bascinet".
White armour, or alwyte armour, was a form of plate armour worn in the Late Middle Ages characterized by full-body steel plate without a surcoat. Around 1420 the surcoat, or "coat of arms" as it was known in England, began to disappear, in favour of uncovered plate. Areas not covered by plate were protected by mail sewn to the gambeson underneath.
The armet is a type of combat helmet which was developed in the 15th century. It was extensively used in Italy, France, England, the Low Countries and Spain. It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head while being compact and light enough to move with the wearer. Its use was essentially restricted to the fully armoured man-at-arms.
A kettle hat, also known as a war hat, is a type of helmet made of iron or steel in the shape of a brimmed hat. There are many design variations. The only common element is a wide brim that afforded extra protection to the wearer. It gained its common English language name from its resemblance to a metal cooking pot. The kettle hat was common all over Medieval Europe. It was called Eisenhut in German and chapel de fer in French.
The burgonet helmet was a Renaissance-era and early modern combat helmet. It was the successor of the sallet.
The lobster-tailed pot helmet, also known as the zischägge, horseman's pot and harquebusier's pot, was a type of post-Renaissance combat helmet. It became popular in Europe, especially for cavalry and officers, from c. 1600; it was derived from an Ottoman Turkish helmet type. The helmet gradually fell out of use in most of Europe in the late 17th century; however, the Austrian heavy cavalry retained it for some campaigns as late as the 1780s.
Maximilian armour is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German plate armour associated with, and possibly first made for the Emperor Maximilian I. The armour is still white armour, made in plain steel, but it is decorated with many flutings that may also have played a role in deflecting the points and blades of assailants and increasing the structural strength of the plates. It is a transitional stage in the decoration of armour, after the plain steel surfaces of 15th-century armour and before the elaborate decoration and colouring with etching and other techniques of Renaissance armour. The armour is characterized by armets and close helmets with bellows visors; small fan-shaped narrow and parallel fluting—often covering most of the harness ; etching; work taken from woodcuts; sharply waisted cuirasses, and squared sabatons.
A bevor or beaver is a piece of plate armour designed to protect the neck, much like a gorget.
Traditional African masks play an important role in ceremonies, rituals, and masquerades across West, Central, and Southern Africa. Ceremonies in which masks are worn include harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings, and coronations. In some societies, masks and masquerades are also used to settle disputes and communal conflicts.
A lame is a solid piece of sheet metal used as a component of a larger section of plate armor used in Europe during the medieval period. It is used in armors to provide articulations or the joining of the armor elements. The size is usually small with a narrow and rectangular shape. Multiple lames are riveted together or connected by leather straps or cloth lacing to form an articulated piece of armor that provides flexible protection. The armor worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan used lames in the construction of many of their individual armor parts. The Japanese term is ita, which can both refer to the lame or its borderings.
The Imperial helmet-type was a type of helmet worn by Roman legionaries. Prior to the Empire, Roman Republican soldiers often provided their own equipment, which was passed down from father to son. Thus, a variety of equipment, from different eras was present in the ranks. Even as the professional Imperial army emerged, and short-term service citizen soldiers became rare, useful equipment was never discarded. So when the improved Imperial helmet appeared, it replaced what remained of the very old Coolus type, which was largely superseded at the time by improved versions of the Montefortino helmet type, which continued to serve alongside it for a time. This constituted the final evolutionary stage of the legionary helmet (galea).
A morion is a type of open-faced combat helmet originally from the Kingdom of Castile (Spain), used from the beginning 16th to early 17th centuries, usually having a flat brim and a crest from front to back. Its introduction was contemporaneous with the exploration of North, Central and South America. Explorers such as Hernando de Soto and Coronado may have supplied them to their foot soldiers in the 1540s.
The close helmet or close helm is a type of combat helmet that was worn by knights and other men-at-arms in the Late Medieval and Renaissance eras. It was also used by some heavily armoured, pistol-armed cuirassiers into the mid-17th century. It is a fully enclosing helmet with a pivoting visor and integral bevor.
Filippo Negroli was an armourer from Milan. He was renowned as being extremely skilled, and may be considered the most famous armourer of all time. Working together with his younger brothers Giovan Battista and Francesco in the Negroli family workshop headed by their father Gian Giacomo Negroli, Filippo was specialized in repoussé of armour, whereas his brother Francesco was renowned for his damascening skills. Filippo's pieces are considered especially remarkable because they were wrought in steel, rather than the more-easily worked iron that was the traditionally assumed medium.
Kulah Khuds were used in ancient western Asia for battle and as decorative head pieces.
The Emesa helmet is a Roman cavalry helmet from the early first century AD. It consists of an iron head piece and face mask, the latter of which is covered in a sheet of silver and presents the individualised portrait of a face, likely its owner. Decorations, some of which are gilded, adorn the head piece. Confiscated by Syrian police soon after looters discovered it amidst a complex of tombs in the modern-day city of Homs in 1936, eventually the helmet was restored thoroughly at the British Museum, and is now in the collection of the National Museum of Damascus. It has been exhibited internationally, although as of 2017, due to the Syrian civil war, the more valuable items owned by the National Museum are hidden in underground storage.
The Witcham Gravel helmet is a Roman auxiliary cavalry helmet from the first century AD. Only the decorative copper alloy casing remains; an iron core originally fit under the casing, but has now corroded away. The cap, neck guard, and cheek guards were originally tinned, giving the appearance of a silver helmet encircled by a gold band. The helmet's distinctive feature is the presence of three hollow bosses, out of an original six, that decorate the exterior. No other Roman helmet is known to have such a feature. They may be a decorative embellishment influenced by Etruscan helmets from the sixth century BC, which had similar, lead-filled bosses, that would have deflected blades.
A standard, also called a pizaine, was a collar of mail often worn with plate armour.
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