I am trying to figure out if the Close helm replaced the Burgonet for cuirassiers and in general as helmets? if anyone could answer this question i dont know thanks

Close helmets and burgonets seem to have co-existed for a long time. They were both used into the 1600s. English arms manuals for cuirassiers from around the 1620s show close helmets. Many surviving cuirassier's armours from the 1600s have close helmets.

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I would say that "Close burgonets" replaced the close helmet. A hybrid of a close helmet and a burgonet, in other words, a fully enclosing helmet with a visor to protect the face which could pivot upwards, and a brim (peak.) The helmet was in two main parts and fit together the same way a close helmet did. This kind of helmet was used during the last days of full plate armor (the 1630s-1640s.) It was absolutely nothing like the burgonets of the mid 1500s, which were usually worn open faced, had tall combs and long brims. Sometimes these burgonets were worn with a buffe. The falling buffe seems to have been mostly out of fashion by 1600.

When they excavated the site of the Martin's Hundred plantation in Virginia (1620s) they found two helmets which were referred to as close helmets but are more accurately close burgonets:

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I think the term "burgonet" is a little too broad, honestly. I mean, the three helmets below are all called "burgonets", and they are all drastically different.


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I have moved this topic to the Historic Arms Talk forum.

Please note the description for this forum:

"Discussions of reproduction and authentic historical arms and armour from various cultures and time periods"

You're discussing two different types of helmets, which is armour, and so the Historic Arms Talk is the correct place.

Thank you.

Hi Connor. I think that at this point it would be helpful if you clarified the reason behind all of your recent posts about various armor history, and specifically why you seem to be so hung up on the idea of one particular armor style 'replacing' another. I have a hunch that you must be conducting some research on a personal project like a book or a roleplaying game.