Officer's helmet of German/East European type, embossed, blued and engraved steel with original quilted lining in place, stamped maker's mark (Nuremburg), ca. 1630

Officer's helmet of German/East European type, embossed, blued and engraved steel with the original quilted lining in place and a stamped maker's mark (Nuremburg). The nasal is a later replacement.

A light, open-faced cavalry helmet thought to be derived from a Turkish form of burgonet almost certainly introduced to Eastern Europe during the Ottoman incursions of the 16th century. Its popularity spread quickly, and it saw extensive use throughout the continent between 1550 and 1650. An articulated tail and hinged cheek plates provide additional coverage. The long, sliding nasal bar is held in place by a turnscrew and is a later replacement.

Helmets of this type were widely used in Germany and Eastern Europe. This helmet may well have seen action during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) a protracted struggle that began as a localised, religious struggle between Protestant and Catholic and erupted into a dynastic and imperial war of attrition between the house of Habsburg and other European powers.

The lining of this helmet in quilted canvas and silk is a very rare survivor. Good quality armour came equipped with a lining that softened the impact on the body. Inside helmets like this one usually can find traces of the points where leather or canvas liner were fixed but this example survives in excellent condition.

This use of firearms on the battlefield had a marked effect on the production of cavalry armour. Not only were the officers using firearms, they were facing them. Armourers had to create thicker heavier armour and supplement it with extra reinforcing plates. The cavalry officer of the early seventeenth century had to choose between the extra protection of a full armour, or greater mobility with only a breastplate, backplate and open-faced helmet. Armour is often portrayed as declining after 1600 as the increasing lethality of firearms called for heavier and more specialized protection. Only the cuirassiers wore all-over armour. Lighter cavalry wore armour that only protected the head and vital organs: the image of the mid-seventeenth-century soldier in buff coat, breastplate and open helmet is a familiar one.

This open-faced helmet was used for use by light cavalry. It is known as a Zischägge. It probably derives from a Turkish form of helmet introduced to Eastern Europe in the 16th century. It has an articulated tail and hinged cheek plates which provide additional coverage against sword blow to the neck. This helmet may well have seen action during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48). Unusually its lining, of quilted canvas and silk survives in excellent condition.

M.2710-1931