I have seen the below drawing of a lance rest equipped brigandine (from Handbuch der Waffenkunde by Wendelin Boeheim as it turns out) floating around the internet for a long while but never bothered to track it down because I figured this thing could not possibly be real since any attempt to actually use the lance rest for it's intended purpose would surely rip the brigandine apart. Recently, however, I came across the below photo and discovered that not only was this thing for real, it originally came with a matching peaked/brimmed celata/sallet. Originally this kit belonged to one Jakob von Ems, a Landsknecht Oberst who was shot while assaulting Spanish field fortifications at Ravenna in 1512 at the head of 5000 Landsknechts in French service who had defied Maximilian I's famous recall order. These were apparently the same bunch of Quislings that were later wiped out by Frundsberg's loyalist Landsknechts at Pavia in 1525 (surprisingly, even in the 16th century, patriotism sometimes won out over mercenary greed). At some point this helmet/brigandine found their way into the Royal Austrian Historic Arms collection. Does anybody know where this helmet and brigandine are located now? Hopefully they were not burned up during a WWII air raid ...


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Hi there,

well, it says here, that this guy gave the armour of Jakob von Ems and his portrait to Archduke Ferdinand II for his gallery at Ambras:

https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz57173.html

Also, according to this entry the brigandine (and the other suits of armour gifted by Jakob Hannibal) are now either in the Neue Hofburg (that is the HJRK) or the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

In Boeheim's Handbuch there is also a view of the back:

https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/boeheim1890/0120

It is listed in Boeheim's guide from 1889 on p. 36, n° 130:

https://archive.org/details/Waffen-sammlung/page/n39/mode/1up?q=embs

I don't have access to the 1936 catalogue right now, but it's not in Thomas' catalague of 1976. I also cannot find it in the concordance.

Can't find it in the database of the KHM, but will have a mosey round the 1936 catalogue and report back.

Best,

Yes, that's what I meant by 'KHM database'. I can't find anything under his name (all spellings I'm aware of), neither is there anything to be found by searching for 'Sturmhaube', 'Brigantine' or 'Korazin'. Also, 'Panzer', 'Harnisch'.

Where did you find the photo? Perhaps, that would give you a clue as to the last date it definitely was part of the collection at least.

So, I have the 1936 catalogue in hand now: Both the brigandine and the Sturmhaube are there at the time, listed under the inventory number A 190.
The short entry mentions that there are armourers' marks (presumably on the helmet), which is why it is tentatively said to be of Florentine manufacture. I have no idea how reliable these attributions are in this period, so do take it with a large pinch of salt.

As to the velvet cover: interesting, though I do believe there are period velvet remnants on a sallet(?) in Munich. In the absence of better photographs of the Sturmhaube, which seems to be either missing or relegated to deep storage at the HJRK, this might be a more promising lead for you to pursue.

Best,

Brigandines with lance rests were, based on textual evidence, not uncommon in the late c15; they were probably for use with a light lance (lancegay) rather than a heavy lance.

This is the one in the BNM I mentioned above. Fabric condition seems almost too good to be true, maybe 19th c 'restoration'?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/98015679@N04/9183447741/in/album-72157634422842815/

Hope this helps.

The 'brigandine of Jakob von Ems' has been published twice with extensive photos and descriptions in:

Paul Post, “Ein Panzerfragment aus der frühzeit der Brigandine,” Zeitschrift für historische Waffen- und Kostümkunde XVI - Neue Folge 7 (1944), pp. 225-239 (Abb. 16a)

Christa Angermann and Martina Poyer, "Konservatorische Bestandaufnahme der Brigantinen im Kunsthistorischen Museum in Wien / Le brigantine del Kunsthistorisches Museum di Vienna: un inventario per la loro conservazione." In Konrad Spindler and Harald Stadler (eds.), Das Brigantinen-Symposium auf Schloss Tyrol, Nearchos Sonderheft 9 (Landesmuseum Schloss Tirol: Meran, 2004) pp. 148-153 (KHM Wien A 190)

I today found out that this brigandine seems to have ended up in the Royal Armouries in the 1980s in quite a horrible state. Someone showed me a pinterest photo of it uploaded by Augusto Boer Bront from Magister Armororum, where he labels it as the III.1665 from Leeds. This is undoubtedly the same brigandine, the overall shape is similar, it contains traces of the lance rest having been removed, and the rivets are all in the same spots. It is also red, as described by Boeheim.

https://www.pinterest.se/pin/294845106869611029/

The RA page itself doesn't have these photos of it, it only seems to depict it in its fragments, so that is why it had slipped my notice until now.
https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-13551.html

It's a shame it ended up in this horrible shape, however at least we know where it is.

here are two pages from the article by Angermann and Poyer which describes the conservation and state of brigandines in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien in 2002:

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Many libraries in Europe should be able to borrow a copy through interlibrary loan.