The Spangenhelm, or segmented helmet, was a popular

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

European

combat helmet A combat helmet, also called a ballistic helmet, battle helmet, or helmet system (for some Modular design, modular accessory-centric designs) is a type of helmet designed to serve as a piece of body armor intended to protect the wearer's head du ...

design of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

and the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. They are often contrasted with Eastern lamellar helmets.

Construction

The name Spangenhelm is of German origin. ''Spangen'' refers to the metal strips that form the framework for the helmet and could be translated as ''braces'', and ''-helm'' simply means helmet. The strips connect three to six steel or bronze plates. The frame takes a conical design that curves with the shape of the head and culminates in a point. The front of the helmet may include a nose protector (a

nasal Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination: * With reference to the human nose: ** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery * ...

). Older spangenhelms often include cheek flaps made from metal or leather. Spangenhelms may incorporate

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

as neck protection, thus forming a partial

aventail An aventail () or camail () is a flexible curtain of mail (armour), mail attached to the skull of a helmet that extends to cover at least the neck, but often also the throat and shoulders. Part or all of the face, with spaces to allow vision, cou ...

. Some spangenhelms include eye protection in a shape that resembles modern eyeglass frames, and are thus sometimes called "spectacle helmets". Other spangenhelms include a full face mask. The spangenhelm was an effective protection that was relatively easy to produce. Weakness of the design were its partial head protection and its jointed construction. It was replaced by similarly shaped helmets made with one-piece skulls (

nasal helm The nasal helmet was a type of combat helmet characterised by the possession of a projecting bar covering the nose and thus protecting the centre of the face; it was of Western European origins and was used from the late 9th century to at least . ...

s),

kettle hat A kettle hat, also known as a war hat, was a type of combat helmet made of iron or steel in the shape of a brimmed hat. There were many design variations, with the common element being a wide brim that afforded extra protection to the wearer. I ...

s and eventually the

great helm The great helm or heaume, also called pot helm, bucket helm and barrel helm, is a helmet of the High Middle Ages which arose in the late twelfth century in the context of the Crusades and remained in use until the fourteenth century. The barreled ...

or casque.

History

The spangenhelm arrived in Western Europe by way of what is now southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, spread by nomadic

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian tribes such as the

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

and

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

who lived among the Eurasian

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s. By the 6th century it was the most common helmet design in Europe and in popular use throughout the Middle East. However, helmets of the spangenhelm type were used much longer. Some of the nasal helmets depicted on the

Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...

from the 11th century appear to be built as a Spangenhelm construction. The same is true for illustrations of the Morgan Bible from the 13th century. In the Kizil Caves in the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

, knights wearing segmented pear-shaped helmets are depicted. It is thought that these depictions follow the events of 552 Turk uprising and the subsequent Turk expansion, giving a date of the 2nd half of the 6th century AD. These helmets are characteristic pear-shaped segmented helmet of the Turkic type. They immediately follow the use of lamellar helmets, also visible in the Kizil Caves.

Similar helmets

Similar but more simple helmets, the so-called broadband helmets were used in parallel. These helmets may have been used until the 10th century, as depicted in the Leiden Maccabees manuscript from the early 10th century. Related to the Spangenhelm were also lamellar helmets or intermediate Lamellar-Spangen helmets, like the helmet from a 6th-century boys grave, found under the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

.Paul Mortimer: ''Woden's Warriors: Warfare, Beliefs, Arms & Armour in Northern Europe During the 6-7th Centuries''. Anglo-Saxon Books, 2011. A similar construction principle is found in the northern ridge helmets, a group, which includes Scandinavian Vendel Era helmets and

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

helmets, like the Coppergate Helmet or the Pioneer Helmet.

Notes

''Portions of this article were translated from the German Wikipedia.''

References

External links

How to Build a Spangenhelm
{{Authority control Medieval helmets Combat helmets