Spanish Arms and Armour: Being a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Armoury of MadridCalvert, Albert Frederick
History
Spanish Arms and Armour: Being a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Armoury of Madrid
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Arms and armor -- Spain; Real Armería de Madrid
The horse’s barding appears to have been the work of Daniel Hopfer of
Augsburg, who co-operated in many instances with Colman. All the
component parts are gilded, and etched by means of aqua-fortis, the
decoration consisting of imbrications or overlapping of festoons, in
open-work or relief.
Each imbrication encloses two cherubim in the attitude of striking with
sparkling flint bars, and in each festoon is a rose and three
pomegranates surrounding it. The first are emblems of the Golden Fleece;
the rose alludes to one of the seigneuries of the Emperor; and the
pomegranates are a favourite device adopted by the children and
grandchildren of Ferdinand and Isabel, in memory of the triumph over the
Moors at Granada.
The iron borne by the horseman weighs thirty-six kilos., and the horse’s
bard and saddle as much more: if the weight of an average man be added
the result is about 150 kilos, carried by the horse.
The most notable features of the suit A27 (plates 22, 98, 143), which is
mainly composed of extra or reinforcing pieces, are the helmet, called
celada de infante, with serrated comb, decorative bands, deep pointed
visor forming a strong reinforcing piece, beavor “bellows-pattern” with
alternate ridges and rows of perforations, and laminated gorget plates;
and the target screwed to the left shoulder. This defence was only used
at tilts and tournaments. It is concave and trellised, and is
beautifully engraved by Daniel Hopfer.
On it may be seen several birds of the same kind (herons?) in the act of
attacking an eagle in the centre, which has one of them a prisoner in
its talons--possibly an allusion to the alliances promoted by Francis I.
of France against Charles V., after the former refused to comply with
the Treaty of Madrid.
The suit A37-42 (plate 23) is a tilting harness of burnished steel,
probably that in which the Prince appeared in the lists at Valladolid in
1518. The most important piece is the tilting-helm, which weighs more
than nineteen kilogrammes. Divided vertically at the sides in two
halves, which are joined by means of six sliding springs, it was put on
by screwing the back part to the backplate and the front part to the
over-breastplate, the tilter remaining thus between walls of steel, with
the weight shared between the shoulders and the waist.
The lance is of the kind called Bordonasa, hollow and fluted. The larger
variety was used to mark the limits of the lists at tournaments. In an
account of Charles’s doings (1523) we read, “Le jour que sa dite Majesté
jousta à la targette, qui’il courut par diverses fois armé à la
bourdonasse.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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