Spanish Arms and Armour / Being a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Armoury of Madrid

by Albert Frederick Calvert

The armour worn in the latter half of the fifteenth century is remarkable for its symmetry, simplicity, and graceful line-forms. From the beginning of the century the Missaglias, a family of famous armourers, had been settled at Milan, and the style they designed soon became fashionable all over Europe. Fortunately for art, a rival appeared in Nuremberg, in the person of Hans Grünwald, who died in 1503. The competition between the Italian and German masters of the craft resulted in the production of what are, perhaps, the most beautiful pieces of armour ever forged.

The suits numbered A1 to A8 in the Catalogue of the Armoury belong to the last decade of the fifteenth century, and were the ordinary war-harness of the Spanish man-at-arms of the period. They do not differ materially, and consist of the following pieces: armet, breastplate and backplate, taces, tassets, espaliers or espalier-pauldrons, hauberk of mail with short sleeves reaching to elbows and showing at the armpits, coudes, vambraces, gauntlets—in most cases without articulated fingers—cuisses, genouillères, jambs, and square-toed sollerets, or shoes of mail. In some cases heavy reinforcing pieces only used for the tilt have been added, such as heavy elbow-gauntlets and the “grande-garde,” or extra piece for the left arm. The armets or helmets merit close attention (plate 14). That of the suit A1 has a comb and a reinforcing piece over the forehead; visor sharply pointed; large side or cheek-pieces covering the chin, hinged above the ears, and secured at the nape of the neck by a small rondel; and beavor of two plates, with attachment to breastplate. In A5 the armet has, in addition to the beavor, a tippet or skirting of mail; the beavor is of one plate only; and the neck is protected by a gorget. The helmet A9, belonging to the early part of the sixteenth century, and worn by the Duque del Infantado has no beavor, and is of the “sparrow-beak” type, like that of A7, where the occularium is the interval between the crownpiece and visor.

The horses’ bards, for the most part, belong to a later period than the riders’ suits. The barding (A3) probably dates from the last years of the fifteenth century. It is composed of large plates of burnished steel, and comprises: chanfron, mainfaire (mane-covering), croupière—with wide hangings attached by thick tags of silk—flechières, and poitrel with hinges and pins, allowing free play to the horse’s shoulders.

The marriage of the third child of the Catholic Kings with Philip, heir to the houses of Habsburg and Burgundy, in 1496, drew closer the relations of Spain with the rest of Europe. The going and coming of foreign princes, ambassadors, and statesmen rapidly familiarized the Spaniards with the customs, fashions, and products of other countries. Native art had new models, and began to lose some of its individuality. The earliest example of foreign armour we find in the Madrid Collection is the half-suit (A11-15—plate 15). It is of Flemish make, and, thanks to the investigations of the Conde de Valencia, may be attributed with certainty to Philip the Handsome, afterwards Philip I. of Castile. The constituent pieces are the following:

Breastplate, with lance-rest, and over-breastplate; taces, placed over the last-named to prevent the adversary’s lance finding an upward opening; backplate with garde-rein (loin-guard) placed under it; hauberk of mail with short sleeves covering rere-braces; espaliers; rondels protecting armpits; coudes; vambraces; gauntlets; mentonnière, or beavor-gorget, in three plates; peculiar steel hat, or caperuza, with wide brim, turned upwards and outwards, of the shape of the cloth or velvet caps worn in Flanders at the period (plate 16). The neck defences are strengthened with mail.

The suit is decorated with gilding and engraving. On the breastplate we note the emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which Philip was Grandmaster, and the inscription, JESVS NASARENVS REX JVDEORVM. On the backplate, O MATER MEI MEMEM; on the left rondel, the angelic salutation in old Flemish, WEEST GHEGRVT MARIA VOL VAN GRACIEN DE HER ES METV ... GHEBEN D; on the right rondel, the same in Latin. On the right coude, IHES NASARENVS REX; on the left, O MATER MEI MEMENTO MEI. On the right gauntlet, AVE MARIA ... GR.... IHES NASAR ..., and on the left, IHS MARIA RENVS REX JVD ... On the brim of the caperuza, JESVS MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM BENEDICTA TV-IN MVLERE (sic).

The two-handed sword bears the device of Philip, and the decoration is in German style; but the mark is the same as that of the sword GI, belonging to Ferdinand and Isabel, proving that the blade is of Spanish make.

The Armoury contains a variety of pieces dating from the end of the fifteenth century (plate 17 et seq). By using odd pieces of the ancient stock in the Armoury, others from the dispersed collection of the Dukes of Osuna, and particularly a series of Aragonese brigantines, acquired, like the preceding, by Alfonso XII. in 1882, various types of Spanish soldiers have been formed, such as pike-men, mace-bearers, and other infantry of the fifteenth century—copying at C1 and C2, sculptured figures decorating the portal of the Church of St. Paul at Valladolid, and the choir seats of Toledo Cathedral carved by the master, Rodrigo (1495), representing the then recent victories gained by the Catholic Kings over the Moors of Andalusia.

D86 is a leather Moorish light cavalry shield, probably a trophy of the Conquest of Granada (plate 161). The inside is bound in linen, embroidered, especially the clasp, with floral and other devices in coloured silk. Forming a band, which extends round the circumference, and repeated on eight oval medallions, is an Arabic inscription which reads, “And only God is conqueror.” On a like number of circular medallions, smaller than those mentioned, may be read, “Happiness for my master.”

The more interesting of the other objects of the same period are of foreign make. The helmet D12 (plate 123), formerly attributed to Boabdil, is certainly the work of the famous Missaglias of Milan, who began to be known by the name of Negroli about this time. The decoration exhibits a skilful blending of the Renaissance and Oriental styles.