European Armour
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 17 near-complete and composite armours which date from 1438 to 1680. This collection contains armours that have been designed for both war and the tournament. Items range from the spectacular ‘Avant’ armour of c.1440 which is one of the oldest near-complete armours in existence to an English cavalryman’s armour of c.1680, a type used in the British civil wars of the 17th century. It comprises 10 armours from the 16th century including three fine war armours in the fluted Maximilian style and a composite armour made for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. This armour was made for a tournament in Vienna in 1560 by Franz, son of Wolfgang Grosschedel of Landshut, one of the finest armourers in one of the most renowned armour-making centres. As a young man Wolfgang worked at the Royal Workshop set up at Greenwich by Henry VIII. The garniture for the field (war armour with additional reinforcing pieces for different fighting purposes) of Sir William Herbert, earl of Pembroke of c.1557 is one of the finest products of this workshop. It is also the only Greenwich armour to survive with its complete horse armour. The 17th century saw the introduction of the lighter cavalryman armed with firearms – the ‘harquebusier’ – while the heavy cavalryman continued in the form of the ‘cuirassier’. The beautifully decorated cuirassier armour of Count Annibale de Capodilista of c. 1640 was most likely made in Brescia and is an excellent example of the armour of a wealthy nobleman.
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