Antique Arms and Armor, August 28th, 2021
Lot 162:
Very Rare Excavated GREAT HELM German or English Crusader Knights Helmet ~ Circa 13th-14th C. ~~~ Great Helm : 13th century German great helm with a flat top to the skull. The great helm or heaume, also called pot helm, bucket helm and barrel helm, is a helmet of the High Middle Ages which arose in the late twelfth century in the context of the Crusades and remained in use until the fourteenth century. The barreled style was used by knights in most European armies between about 1220 to 1350 AD and evolved into the frog-mouth helm to be primarily used during jousting contests. ~~~ History : Great helms were worn with cloth and fiber padding on the inside, here shown removed from the helmet. In its simplest form, the great helm was a flat-topped cylinder of steel that completely covered the head and had only very small openings for ventilation and vision. Later designs gained more of a curved design, particularly on the top, to deflect or lessen the impact of blows. ~~~ The great helm ultimately evolved from the nasal helmet, which had been produced in a flat-topped variant with a square profile by about 1180. From this type of helmet an intermediate type, called an ‘enclosed helmet’ or ‘primitive great helm’, developed near the end of the 12th century. In this helmet the expansion of the nasal produced a full face-plate, pierced for sight and breathing. This helmet was largely superseded by the true great helm by c. 1240. ~~~ A later variant with a more conical top is known as a ‘sugarloaf helm’. In Spanish they are called yelmo de Zaragoza, referring to Zaragoza where they were introduced for the first time in the Iberian peninsula. ~~~ Although the great helm offered vastly superior protection than previous helmets, such as the nasal helm and spangenhelm, it limited the wearer’s peripheral vision, and in addition to being heavy, the mass-produced form (flat-topped without ventilation holes) provided little ventilation and could quickly overheat in hot weather. Knights usually wore the great helm over a mail coif (hood) sometimes in conjunction with a close-fitting iron skull cap known as a cervelliere. The later development of the cervelliere, the bascinet, was also worn beneath the great helm; men-at-arms would often remove the great helm after the first clash of lances, for greater vision and freedom of movement in melee combat. The bascinet had a mail curtain attached, a camail or aventail, which superseded the coif. Mail throat and neck defences such as these were made obsolete when plate gorgets were introduced, around 1400. ~~~ The bascinet evolved from its early skull cap form to supersede the great helm for combat. The great helm fell into disuse during the 15th century; however it was used commonly in tournaments where a version of the great helm, the frog-mouthed tilting helm, evolved. ~~~~~~ DEAR BIDDERS, Please View More Detailed Close-Up Images by visiting our website – Sofedesignauctions.com ~ Thank you ! ~~~~~~. Detailed condition reports are not included in this catalog. For additional information, including condition reports, please contact us at [email protected]
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