Maximilian armour is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German

plate armour Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...

associated with, and possibly first made for the Emperor Maximilian I. The armour is still

white armour White armour, or ''alwyte armour'', was a form of plate armour worn in the Late Middle Ages characterized by full-body steel plate without a surcoat. Around 1420 the surcoat, or "coat of arms" as it was known in England, began to disappear, in fa ...

, made in plain steel, but it is decorated with many flutings that may also have played a role in deflecting the points and blades of assailants and increasing the structural strength of the plates. It is a transitional stage in the decoration of armour, after the plain steel surfaces of 15th-century armour and before the elaborate decoration and colouring with

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

and other techniques of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

armour. The armour is characterized by

armet The armet is a type of combat helmet which was developed in the 15th century. It was extensively used in Italy, France, England, the Low Countries and Spain. It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head ...

s and

close helmet The close helmet or close helm is a type of combat helmet that was worn by knights and other men-at-arms in the Late Medieval and Renaissance eras. It was also used by some heavily armoured, pistol-armed cuirassiers into the mid-17th century. It ...

s with bellows

visor A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...

s; small fan-shaped narrow and parallel fluting—often covering most of the

harness A harness is a looped restraint or support. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types: * Bondage harness * Child harness * Climbing harness * Dog harness * Five-point harness, a type of seatbelt * Horse harness * Pet harnes ...

(but never the

greave A greave (from the Old French ''greve'' "shin, shin armor") or jambeau is a piece of armor that protects the human leg, leg. Description The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to ...

s);

; work taken from woodcuts; sharply waisted

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

es, and squared

sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armour, body armor that covers the foot. History Sabatons from the 14th and 15th centuries typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following poulaines, f ...

s. According to an alternative version, the name is related to Maximilian II, as the last Maximilian armour was made especially for him in 1557, seventeen years after it passed out of general use. The armour was designed to imitate the pleated clothing that was considered fashionable in Europe at the time. Some armour combined long pleat-like fluting with lines of rectangular shapes imitating contemporary fabrics decorated with slashing or quilting. A trend that developed in 15th and especially 16th-century Europe was to create armour that not only provided the maximum amount of protection, but was also visually pleasing. Maximilian armour combined the rounded Italian style of armour with the German fluted style. Not every armour worn by Maximilian I was Maximilian-style armour. The most famous armour worn by Maximilian was Gothic-style armour, which was worn by Maximilian when he was a young prince and later presented as an honourable wedding gift for his uncle Sigmund. Maximilian I became emperor in 1493 and died in 1519, but classic Maximilian armour is known from 1515 to 1525, and similarly shaped armour with less or different fluting was produced from 1500.

Transitional Schott-Sonnenberg style

Early types of Maximilian armour with either no fluting or ''wolfzähne'' (wolf teeth) style fluting (which differs from classic Maximilian fluting) and could be worn with a

sallet The sallet (also called ''celata'', ''salade'' and ''schaller'') was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also ...

are called Schott-Sonnenberg style armour by Oakeshott. This transitional armour was worn from 1500 to 1520, and true Maximilian armour was worn from 1515 to 1525. Some other historians do not fully separate Schott-Sonnenberg style from Maximilian armour.

Italian "''alla tedesca''" (a la German) armour

Italian "''alla tedesca''" ("a la German") armour is an Italian armour of 1500 to 1515 with fluting and the Maximilan breast shape. Knee-long

tassets Tassets are a piece of plate armour designed to protect the upper thighs. They take the form of separate plates hanging from the breastplate or faulds. They may be made from a single piece or segmented. The segmented style of tassets connected b ...

were often worn with a bellows-visored sallet. This kind of armour is considered by Oakeshott to be a kind of Schott-Sonnenberg Style armour made by Italians for the German market.

Parallels with late (rounded) ''kastenbrust'' armour

Such armour of the first half of the 15th century are separated by Oakeshott from '' kastenbrust'' armour as ''alwite'' armour. However, other historians consider it as a kind of ''kastenbrust'' armour.

Maximilian armour and fluted armour

The terms ''Maximiliansharnisch'' (Maximilian armour) and ''Riefelharnisch'' (fluted armour) have been used interchangeably. There are debates over the connection between Maximilian I and fluted armour. opines that fluted armour was only distributed after Maximilian's death and direct influence of the emperor cannot be proven. Franz Niehoff writes that the emperor did play a supporting role in the invention of the fluted armour and the term ''Maximiliansharnisch'' can be used to highlight the contribution of the Innsbruck armour makers, and the role of artists like

Hans Leinberger Hans Leinberger, sometimes given as Lemberger (c.1475/1480 – after 1531) was a Late Gothic sculptor from Altbayern, who worked in wood, metal and stone. Life and work His exact birthplace is unknown, as is the place and manner of his arti ...

should also be noted. Tilman Falk notes that the armour wore by a captain in

Hans Burgkmair Hans Burgkmair the Elder (1473–1531) was a German painter and woodcut printmaker. Background Hans Burgkmair was born in Augsburg, the son of painter Thomas Burgkmair. His own son, Hans the Younger, later became a painter as well. From 1488, Bu ...

's work (1504) in the Basilica Santa Croce, classified by Weis-Liebersdorf as ''Maximiliansharnisch'', was still in transitional phase in comparison with the later fluted armour style. Larry Silver agrees with Tilman Falk that there was an intimate connection between armour suits depicted in Maximilian's woodcut projects and the armours actually designed for him. Armour designed by the Helmschmieds for Maximilian in particular increasingly favoured a "rounder and simpler form, termed 'classical' by the historians of armor, in contrast to the angularity of the 'baroque Gothic'. Dominated by overlapping, scalelike plates and more regular patterns of decoration, these suits because increasingly regularized and evolved into the ''Riefelharnisch''."

Gallery

File:Maximilan Armour Diagramm (front).jpg, Diagram of Maximilian armour from the front File:Maximilan Armour Diagramm (rear).jpg, Diagram of Maximilian armour from the back File:Kurfurst Otto Heinrich, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg, Sparrow-beak visored Maximilian armour File:Warhammer-r-nagel.jpg, Fluting and imitation slashed or quilted fabrics File:Wallace armor 1.jpg, 1612 Armour in the style of 1510-30. Located in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

. File:Конный рыцарь 2 (Эрмитаж).jpg, Bellows-visored Maximilian armour located at the Hermitage File:Romania-1555 - Weapons are Everywhere (7625184486).jpg, Complete Maximilian

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

harness at

Peleș Castle Peleș Castle ( ) is a Neo-Renaissance palace in the Royal Domain of Sinaia in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914 ...

File:Sabatons evolution by Wendelin Boeheim.jpg, Sabatons evolution by Wendelin Boeheim: File:Saint Maurice MET DP344253.jpg, ''Saint Maurice'' by

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...

(1472–1553), depicted wearing a full silver armour that was either made for Maximilian I(later acquired by Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

) or commissioned by Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg for Charles V to be used in his coronation in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in 1520. File:HJRK B 21 - Racing armour mechanical breastpiece, c. 1490.jpg, HJRK B 21 - Mechanical breastpiece used for ''Bundrennen'', a tournament type which was probably only organized in the Imperial Court, c. 1490. Only three mechanical breastplates remain (one in Paris, two in Vienna). The breastplate was designed to carry a shield that, when hit properly, will be ejected over the jouster's head and burst apart, releasing triangle tin segments.

References