Posts: 64
Sat 04 Jul, 2015 12:19 am
Well, unless I'm mistaken, the close helm was used in the 16th century as part of armours for tournaments on foot as well as for mounted combat. I've several photos of close helmets and their respective suits from 1540-1610. Some are definitely for use on foot. For foot combat in tournaments, heavier additional plates were often fitted to one side of the armour and the armour was only half length as the combat was fought at a waist-high barrier.
Another thing to consider is that important people often had garnitures of armour which several different options for field and tournament. Cavalrymen often wore open-faced (with optional falling-buff)
burgonets in the mid-late 16th century instead of close helms. Diagrams of these garnitures, for example one by Michel Witz the Younger (1560), shows that the close helm was used on foot and for tournaments, while the burgonet was used on horse in the battle. Of course, for non-knightly soldiers, morions and other helmets were common on foot.
Here's an album of mainly 16th century harnesses with close helms, dating from 1540-1610. 1500-1540 they wore armets, which are admittedly quite similar. When in the 16th are you most interested in?
Imgur album, 1540-1610
Attachment: 123.22 KB
