There were two leading kinds of this head armor: the helm was either one piece, or the front was provided with a moveable ventail. The term helm will be used to designate the new type of headpiece, while the helmet will designate a piece of diminished completeness, the non-closed casque. From now on, the Middle Ages helmets can be classified in two categories: helms and helmets. The great casque came into use towards the end of the 12th century. In the second half of the century, the round topped coif was more usual.Īn important change in Medieval armor construction is marked by the development of the great Medieval helm, the casque enclosing the whole head of the knight. The shape was flattened at the top of the head. A still more abundant provision occasionally was acquired by opening the ventaglia, constructed with hinges at the sides.Īt the beginning of the 13th century, the continuous coif is still part of the hauberk of chain-mail. The helmet had a grated-ventail by which a better supply of air could always be obtained. In some cases, the cylinder swells, taking the barrel form. The term cylindrical must not always be understood literally. In its earliest examples, the casque was of one piece, having two horizontal clefts for vision, and being strengthened by bands crossing each other over the face and on the top. In the 13h century it became very common. The helmets without nasals were chiefly conical, round and flat-topped.Īmong the most characteristic helmets of the Middle Ages was the cylindrical or flat-topped helmet, which came into fashion towards the end of the 12th century. The hood of mail will eventually be separated from the hauberk in the 13th century. It is shown also in many seals of the 12th century, and in vellum paintings of this time. In others we do not have such clear connections, but they help us to see the Bulgarian warrior from another point of view that represents him more „western” than was thought before.As a main piece of defense, the continuous coif, named this way because it was continuing the hauberk, is seen constantly in the Bayeux tapestry. Some of the presented armour can be connected to particular historical events. Available data lead us to think of weapon trade, foreign mercenaries, military clashes with enemies using Western European tactics, and in the end of the period with Crusades againt the Ottomans. Weaponry with western origin appeared in Bulgaria in different ways. This is typical for the 14th c., but we have indications for it in the second part of 12th c., even before the resurrection of the Bulgarian Kingdom. Obviously the eclectical warfare of the Bulgarian state characterised as a mixture of Balkan and Steppe military traditions was wide open for arms and armour with western origin. The conclusion is that armour and other weapons with Western European origin have far important appearance in the Second Bulgarian Kingdom than it was thought before. found in the fortress of Nicopole, and also mail „bishop’s mantle” and chapel de fer helmet from the first half of 15th c., found in Northeast Bulgaria. from the museum of Kardjali, coat of plates found in the Royal Palace of Tarnovgrad, dated from 20s to the 40s of 14th c., another coat of plates, probably from the first decades of XIV c. The presented finds include helmet from the fortress of Pernik from the second half of 12th c., helmet of the bascinet type found near Uzana from the second part of XIV c., a visor from another bascinet, kept in the Historical museum of Tyrnovo from the end of XIV c., helmet’s visor from the first half of XV c. These materials have analogies in museum collections, archaeological finds and art works from Central and Western Europe. In this article is presented foreign armour found on the territory of present-day Bulgaria.
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