Arms and Armor Studies

This article traces the pictorial lineages of images collected in one of the two Thun-Hohenstein albums through comparative analyses of fight books produced in the German-speaking lands, and considers how the representational strategies deployed in martial treatises inflected the ways that book painters and their audiences visualized the armoured body.

To affirm his political regime, Pandolfo Petrucci (1452-1512) took advantage of the potentialities
given by the Camera del Comune. It had been the arsenal of the city of Siena for a long time, but
Pandolfo changed its organization and widened its assignments. The maintenance and production
of weapons was still the principal purpose of this institution of the city. Under Pandolfo the production
of artilleries, ammunitions and the fortification activity was increased, thanks to specialists
like Francesco di Giorgio, Giacomo Cozzarelli and Vannoccio Biringucci, personalities who deeply
influenced the technical and military culture of all Europe. The Camera del Comune also managed
the military intelligence, useful tool to the dissembling politics of the Petrucci, and to the management
of the army. The Army of Siena was composed by a Condotta in Aspetto, which Pandolfo used
to create alliances. But the most important troops were the Provvisionati di Piazza, a professional
infantry faithful to the political regime and depending, both economically and for the supply of
weapons, on the Chamber of the town and the leadership of Pandolfo. The military politics of Pandolfo
Petrucci brought Siena among the greatest European powers of that time but its purposes,
mainly finalized to the maintenance of his own personal power, obstructed a true modernization
of the war apparatus of Siena, which in the following years had been inferior than its adversaries.

published in: Stefan Krause and Matthias Pfaffenbichler (Ed.), Turnier. 1000 Ritterspiele, Vienna (KHM) and Munich (Hirmer) 2017
(http://www.hirmerverlag.de/de/titel-1-1/turnier-1557/)

The publication contains 21 essays by 17 international experts. It is the first publication to tell the story of tournaments from the 11th up until the 21st century.

This engaging book offers an introduction to and overview of armor in Europe from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, focusing in particular on the 16th century when plate armor reached its peak of stylistic beauty and functional perfection. Created by highly skilled armorers, often in cooperation with noted artists and commissioned by wealthy patrons, armor was worn for centuries on the battlefield, in festive tournaments, and for ceremonial events. Through informative discussions of representative works from the Metropolitan Museum’s world-renowned collection, this new addition to the popular How to Read series shows what to look for when examining armor, the pieces that make up a typical suit of armor, how the parts work, the various methods used to decorate armor, and how armor became an important part of so many museum collections today. The book features a wealth of new photography of historically important armor and other works of art from the Metropolitan Museum and select pieces from other institutions.
Available through Yale University Press: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9781588396297/how-read-european-armor

In the year 1948 in the village Sapaniw near Krzemieniec a 191 flints for flintlock guns were
collected. Among them there were both correctly made and failed examples. The collection is kept by the
National Historical and Cultural Reserve in Dubno. 
There are known plenty of the fields in the vicinity of Sapaniw and near Krzemieniec where good
quality flint was found. In the past there were many workshops in the area  producing flints for the army.

A modern, civilian, 17th century spur with leather straps, found as a result of amateur search on a post-excavation heap in Gdańsk, probably from a research trench for future Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre. Rarely preserved till nowadays leather straps were made of cattle leather. The modern period chronology is indicated by formal traits of the spur: flat, U-shaped yoke, D-shaped buckle, and leather straps, in this case made from a wider band than it happened in medieval specimens.

A short term paper for an art history course at the University of New Hampshire, fall 2015. This paper briefly examines the armors in Paolo Uccello's "Battle of San Romano" paintings and argues that the painter did not have a working familiarity with armor and that his depictions are less accurate than has often been argued.

Ульянов О.Г. Оружие «московского дела» в событиях русско-польской войны 1654-1667 годов (по данным описей Государевой оружейной казны) // Война и оружие: Новые исследования и материалы. Труды Третьей международной научно-практической конференции 16-18 мая 2012 г. СПб., 2012. Ч. III. C. 304-320.

http://books.reenactor.ru/?bookid=1925

Книга посвящена эволюции римского декорированного доспеха в эпоху принципата. Это первое масштабное исследование римских доспехов на русском языке, являющееся плодом двадцатилетних изысканий автора.
      Изучение античного оружия и его декора в свете современных подходов не может ограничиваться только рассмотрением эволюции самого комплекса вооружения, но предполагает обращение к таким актуальным общеисторическим вопросам, как древние технологии, кросс-культурные коммуникации, ценностные представления, идеология и религия военнослужащих. Несмотря на довольно значительное количество специальных работ, посвящённых этой категории вооружения, исследования сосредоточены на узкой группе предметов, которые выделяются как применявшиеся только на парадах и в конных упражнениях. Прочее декорированное римское вооружение остаётся вне пристального внимания исследователей, в силу чего декор римского доспеха не рассматривается как целостная семантическая система, связанная с функциональным предназначением предметов вооружения и отражающая идеологию и ценностные представления римских военных. Однако только такое изучение римского декорированного доспеха позволяет уточнить хронологию археологических памятников, провести детальное сравнение сохранившихся артефактов с иконографическими материалами и данными письменных источников, выявить взаимодействие и взаимовлияние различных этнокультурных традиций в истории Римской державы.
      На основе изучения археологических находок выявлена семантика декора доспехов и её связь с религиозно-идеологическими аспектами мировоззрения римских военнослужащих, а также рассмотрены технологические аспекты производства предметов декорированного вооружения.
      Все римские декорированные доспехи эпохи принципата следует рассматривать в комплексе, поскольку большая часть всего защитного вооружения была богато украшена, а также имела общий круг сюжетов, изображавшихся на нём, вне зависимости от его назначения.
      Декор доспехов эпохи принципата был связан с религиозным мировоззрением римских военнослужащих. Его иконографический мир был крайне консервативен и мало изменялся на протяжении I–III вв. н. э. Его консервативность подтверждается устойчивостью образов и стилистикой их воплощения на сохранившихся декорированных доспехах, созданных в течение эпохи принципата. Книга снабжена множеством цветных иллюстраций, а также иллюстрированным каталогом находок, в котором учтены все известные находки римских декорированных доспехов на начало 2018 г.

This research will describe the first major operation launched by an Italian army against a heavily fortified city after the assimilation of the French style artillery into the warfare of the Peninsula. The paper will examine, in particular, the preparations for this “marvellous enterprise,” stressing the difficulties with the procurement of ammunition during the early stages of employment of these new guns.  Data have been gathered from the State Archives of Florence, Pisa, and Lucca. Furthermore, numerous chronicles and several diaries have been useful in highlighting the political, social, and economic background of the campaign.
The article demonstrates that, from the last years of the fifteenth century, the issues with supplying ordnance compelled the Italian regional states to develop the manufacture of pieces, shot, and powder, facing a “revolutionary challenge” in terms of management, commerce, and production.

This article is focused on an arms inventory of Gambara, a noble family of Brescia. The inventory was drawn between 1615 and 1618.
In the first part of the article, this inventory will be pubblished fully. In the second it will be commented. Various topics will be covered: from "lazzarine" barrels to Faustino Ghelfo, a forgotten Brescian swordsmith.

R. Natta Soleri, Decida ai Congressisti
C. De Rham-L. Mühlemann, Les drapeaux des regiments suisses au service du Royaume de Sardaigne (con traduzione in italiano)
A. Ziggioto, Le bandiere degli Stati italiani (I parte)
Lukács Lajos, Az olaszországi magyar légió záslo a torinoi királyi Fegyvertárban (con traduzione in italiano)

Resumen: Este artículo sintetiza uno de los capítulos de la Tesis doctoral del autor: El Ejército del Centro en la provincia de Castellón. Historia militar y arqueología de los campos de batalla, en la Primera Guerra Carlista, (1833-1840). En él se estudian y analizan los proyectiles esféricos documentados en el escenario de la sangrienta batalla de las Useras, ocurrida cuando el general Leopoldo O'Donnell, al frente de sus fuerzas, acudió para socorrer a Lucena del Cid que se encontraba asediada desde hacía semanas por las tropas carlistas. El análisis de la distribución espacial de estos hallazgos permite situar con precisión el suceso histórico y su desarrollo. Muchos proyectiles presentan peculiares deformaciones que se relacionan con la energía que llevaban en el momento de impacto. De este modo se identifican gran cantidad de disparos a corta y muy corta distancia que ayudan a esclarecer las causas de la derrota que sufrió el líder rebelde, Ramón Cabrera, frente a las tropas del Ejército del Centro. Palabras clave: campos de batalla, proyectiles esféricos, guerras carlistas, detector de metales. AbstRAct: This article summarizes one of the chapters of the author's doctoral thesis: The Center Army in the province of Castellón. Military history and battlefields archaeology, in the First Carlist War, (1833-1840). This article examines and analyses the spherical projectiles documented in the scene of the bloody Battle of the Useras, which occurred when general Leopoldo O'Donnell, at the head of his forces, came to the aid Lucena del Cid who had been besieged for weeks by the Carlist troops. The spatial distribution analysis of these findings allows the historical event and its development to be precisely located. Many projectiles present peculiar deformations that are related with the energy they were carrying at the moment of impact. In this way, they identify a large number of shots at short and very short distances that help to clarify the causes of the defeat suffered by the rebel leader, Ramon Cabrera, in front of the Center Army troops.

Monografia 1. Brygady Pancernej im. Bohaterów Westerplatte autorstwa Kamila Anduły, to pierwsza od lat publikacja poświęcona jednostce tzw. ludowego Wojska Polskiego. Napisana z dzisiejszej perspektywy i pozbawiona balastu ideologicznego, na ponad 500 stronach opisuje powstanie, organizację i szlak bojowy tej niezwykle ciekawej formacji. Autor korzystał w niej obficie z polskich, niemieckich i sowieckich materiałów archiwalnych. Tekst zobrazowany jest ponad 100 zdjęciami, kilkudziesięcioma oryginalnymi szkicami i oleatami oraz obsadą personalną.

In 1672 the Transylvanian goldsmith Thomas Kapustran produced an astonishing sword, using an original Samurai blade and Ottomanized decor elements. Soon after, the sword came into the armoury of the Electorate of Saxony where it was part of the so-called Indian Chamber. In this blog it is used as a material starting point for a bunch of histories. They tell us about the various and far-reaching connections of early modern Transylvania, the migration of goldsmiths in the 17th century, the use of secondhand blades in the Ottoman and Habsburg Empire and the significance of courtly armouries for princely self-fashioning.

This is the first article in series, devoted to the research of historical side-arms, known as a personal weapons of Ivan Mazepa – great Hetman of Ukraine. In this part, the author studied a significant historical sample – the saber, kept in the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). After a thorough study of provenance, morphology, decorations and blade epigraphy, the author concluded that the sample consisted of parts from different eras and can not be treated as an authentic personal saber of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
Кeywords: Ivan Mazepa, saber, Hermitage Museum, historical value, Hussar Karabela.