Opening the text

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth centuryFfoulkes, Charles John

History

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century

Name: The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century
Author: Ffoulkes, Charles John

Ffoulkes, Charles John

Armor -- History; Armorers; Weapons -- History

The family name of Thomaso and his descendants was Negroni, as
is proved by a tombstone formerly in the church of San Satiro at
Milan on which the two names appear. They came from the township
of Missalia, near Ello, on the lake of Como. Petrajolo, the father
of Thomaso, was also an armourer, and worked about the year 1390,
but we have little knowledge of his history. The house occupied
by the Missaglias was in the Via degli Spadari, Milan, and was
decorated with the family badges and monograms (Fig. 66). It was
demolished in 1901 in the course of street improvements, but was
first carefully drawn and described by Sigs. Gelli and Morretti
in their monograph on the Milanese armourers. The heavy work of
the armourers was carried out at a mill near the Porta Romana, for
which the Missaglias paid a rent of one sallad a year to the Duke
of Milan. Thomaso da Missaglia was ennobled in 1435 by Philip Maria
Visconti and was made free of taxes in 1450. There are many records
of commissions to him and of taxes and other municipal matters
connected with the family in the Archives of Milan. He died in 1469
and was buried in the church of S. Maria Beltrade, Milan. The only
known work by this master is No. 2 in the Vienna Collection (Plate
XXX). Baron de Cosson[144] has pointed out the strong resemblance
between this suit, the effigy of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick, in S. Mary’s Church, Warwick, and the picture of S. George
by Mantegna in the Accademia, Venice.


[Sidenote: _Antonio Missaglia_, Milan, _circ._ 1430-92. Marks 24,
25, 26.]

Antonio was the son of Thomaso Missaglia, and was one of the
foremost of the Milanese armourers. As has been noticed in the
Introduction, the style of armour which was evolved by him and his
father seems to have been adopted by German craftsmen. There are
numerous records of payments and letters connected with Antonio in
the Archives of Milan from the year 1450 onwards. He worked for
Galeazzo Maria Visconti and for Bona di Savoia and after the death
of the former became Ducal Armourer. In 1456 he made armour for the
Papal troops, and about this time he enlarged the workshops of the
family in the Via degli Spadari. In 1469 the Duke of Milan gave
him a mill near the S. Angelo Canal. In 1470 he received a lease
of iron-mines near the forest of Canzo, near the Lago del Segrino,
from the Ducal Chamber, and in 1472, in recognition of his services
to the State, he was allowed to purchase the property.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth centuryFfoulkes, Charles John

History

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century

Ffoulkes, Charles John

Armor -- History; Armorers; Weapons -- History

The family name of Thomaso and his descendants was Negroni, as
is proved by a tombstone formerly in the church of San Satiro at
Milan on which the two names appear. They came from the township
of Missalia, near Ello, on the lake of Como. Petrajolo, the father
of Thomaso, was also an armourer, and worked about the year 1390,
but we have little knowledge of his history. The house occupied
by the Missaglias was in the Via degli Spadari, Milan, and was
decorated with the family badges and monograms (Fig. 66). It was
demolished in 1901 in the course of street improvements, but was
first carefully drawn and described by Sigs. Gelli and Morretti
in their monograph on the Milanese armourers. The heavy work of
the armourers was carried out at a mill near the Porta Romana, for
which the Missaglias paid a rent of one sallad a year to the Duke
of Milan. Thomaso da Missaglia was ennobled in 1435 by Philip Maria
Visconti and was made free of taxes in 1450. There are many records
of commissions to him and of taxes and other municipal matters
connected with the family in the Archives of Milan. He died in 1469
and was buried in the church of S. Maria Beltrade, Milan. The only
known work by this master is No. 2 in the Vienna Collection (Plate
XXX). Baron de Cosson[144] has pointed out the strong resemblance
between this suit, the effigy of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick, in S. Mary’s Church, Warwick, and the picture of S. George
by Mantegna in the Accademia, Venice.


[Sidenote: _Antonio Missaglia_, Milan, _circ._ 1430-92. Marks 24,
25, 26.]

Antonio was the son of Thomaso Missaglia, and was one of the
foremost of the Milanese armourers. As has been noticed in the
Introduction, the style of armour which was evolved by him and his
father seems to have been adopted by German craftsmen. There are
numerous records of payments and letters connected with Antonio in
the Archives of Milan from the year 1450 onwards. He worked for
Galeazzo Maria Visconti and for Bona di Savoia and after the death
of the former became Ducal Armourer. In 1456 he made armour for the
Papal troops, and about this time he enlarged the workshops of the
family in the Via degli Spadari. In 1469 the Duke of Milan gave
him a mill near the S. Angelo Canal. In 1470 he received a lease
of iron-mines near the forest of Canzo, near the Lago del Segrino,
from the Ducal Chamber, and in 1472, in recognition of his services
to the State, he was allowed to purchase the property.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century

The armourer and his craft from the XIth to the XVIth century

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