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Introduction
Britain has yet to produce any archaeological finds of helmets from the 9th to
11th Centuries so we are forced to look across the water to the continent for
examples of construction. Unfortunately the archaeological record there is
hardly any better than here with only four published helms nominally dating
from between 950AD and 1050AD.
o
o
o
o
As you can see only the Gjermundbu helm can be accurately provenanced to
the period but would appear to have been made in an old fashioned manner.
The Great Polish and Metropolitan helms are dated purely by style both being
obtained from private collections and now located far from their original possible find location. The Wenceslas helm offers little better information, seeming
to have an antique nasal attached to a latter single-piece helm in a unique
style.
So in summary we have four helms of which none of them would seem to reliably typify the helmets of the period. In light of this we must look at additional
sources:
o Archeological finds before or after the 9th to 11th centuries.
o Pictorial evidence.
o Written sources
The situation is made worse when one asks the questions such as How many
warriors wore helmets? and Were helmets made from other materials other
than iron?
To try and calculate the percentage or kind of warriors that would have worn
helmets from written sources and illustrated manuscripts is neigh on impossible. Having said this a few brave people have tried to do just that. Andrew
Thompson states in his article that Early English warriors usually went into
battle with sword / spear and shield alone and only the privileged few who
could ride to the field of battle wore helm and byrnie.
Fig. 2
Reenactment Helm
1000AD
Fig.3 Single-piece
Wenceslas Helm, 800AD1100AD
Spectacle
Domed
12th Century
1200
11th Century
1150
1100
1050
10th Century
1000
950
900
850
800
9th Century
Coppergate Helm
York Late 7th Early 8th
(650 750AD)
Staffordshire Hoard
Gold Cheek Flap
7th Century
Pioneer Helm
Wollaston, Northamptonshire Late 7th
Ulltuna Helm
?, Sweden
600 800AD
Vendel 1
Vendel 6
Vendel 14 Helm
?, Sweden
Vendel 12 Helm
?, Sweden
600 800AD
Broa Helmet
Gotland, Sweden
600 800AD
Valsgarde 5
Valsgarde 7
Valsgarde 8
Gjermundbu Helm
Gjermundbu, Norway
970AD
Tjele, Denmark
(TWEDDLE 1992)
Kiev, Ukraine
(TWEDDLE 1992)
Metropolitan Style
Metropolitan Helm
From the River Thames
or possibly north France.
1000AD (by style)
Reconstructed nasal
Bremen Helm
Bremen, Germany
800-900 AD
Groningen, Netherlands
800-900 AD
Probably Frisian helmet
Wenceslas Helm
Czech Republic
800AD 1000AD
Prague Museum
MS Cotton
11th
Cleopatra
CVIII
Private B
Antique Arms & Armour, Hunting Antiques, Arts and Crafts
Lot Nr.3350
An Eastern Europe four plate helmet,
11th century. Iron skull of conical form, made of four overlapping riveted plates.
Pierced holes for chin strap fastening on either side. The surface with encrustations and signs of corrosion, restored and secured condition. Height 17 cm.
Helmet of high quality, a similar piece is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York (Acc. No. 29.158.32).
With an expertise by Ian Eaves, F.S.A. from 11.11.2001.
http://www.hermann-historica.com/
Period 3:
1200AD
Norman
Period
Helms
1000-
Olmtz Helm
Czech Republic 1050
1150AD Prague Museum
Possibly also had a hook like
the Augsburg Helm
Augsburger
Maas
Poznan
Kiev Helm
Kiev, Ukraine
Orchowskie Helm
Orchowskie Lake, Poland
1050 1150AD
Hradsko
?, ?
1100AD 1200AD
Lot Nr.204
A knightly nasal helmet
http://www.hermannhistorica.de/auktion/hhm49.pl?f=NR&c=41597&t=temartic_1_GB&db=kat49_A.txt
Selected collectors pieces - antique arms and Armour, works of art including 50 helmets of the famous AXEL GUTTMANN Collection
Kiev Helm
National Museum of the History of the Ukraine
This feature occurs also on the intact helmet from Kiev (Figs.563-4), which is made of
subtriangular plates meeting at the apex where each is fixed by a single rivet to two
oval plates, one inside and one outside the cap. At their lower ends every alternate
subtriangular plate has a bulbous extension to each side with a rivet passing through
it, fixing the plate to its neighbours. Unlike the Gjennundbu helmet, the Kiev helmet
does not even have small concavities in the edge of the cap as pan of the eyeholes,
and there is no evidence for attached facial protection. The only concavities in the cap
edge are for the ears. There was apparently no protection for the neck. 1bis lack of
facial and neck protection suggests that the helmet was worn over a leather or even
mail garment which would have provided this protection. L. c.20Omm. (Tweddle, D.
1992 P.1128).
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Bibliography
ANDERSON, T. "Cranial Weapon Injuries from Anglo-Saxon Dover."
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Vol 6, 1996.
Antique Arms & Armour, Hunting Antiques, Arts and Crafts. May 2, 2011.
GRAHAM-CAMPBELL. Viking Artefacts, A Select Catalogue. British Museum
Publications, 1980.
HAMMOND, Brett. "Norman Four-Plate Rivetted Spangenhelm Helmet
010572." http://time-lines.co.uk/norman-four-plate-rivettedspangenhelm-helmet-010572-25032-0.html. 2009.
Hermann Historica Munich Auction House. n.d.
Selected collector's pieces - antique arms and armour, works of art including
50 helmets of the famous Axel Guttmann collection. October 19, 2005.
http://www.hermannhistorica.de/auktion/hhm49.pl?f=KAPITEL&c=SCHUTZWAFFEN&t=tem
group_1_GB&start=1&dif=20&db=kat49_A.txt.
SKODELL, Henry. "Schutzausrstung zur zeit der Schlacht von Hastings
(Protective Equipment Present at the Battle of Hastings)."
http://www.reenactment.de/reenactment_start/reenactment_startseit
e/diverses/kitguide/kitguide.html. 2008.
Stephenson, I. P. The Late Anglo-Saxon Army. Tempus, 2007.
THOMPSON, Andrew. "Why is Anglo-Saxon armour so rare?" http://www.thaengliscan-gesithas.org.uk/archives/why-is-anglo-saxon-armour-sorare. 2010.
TWEDDLE, Dominic. The Anglian Helmet from Coppergate. YAT, 1992.
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