Different suits of armor, including a shield and horse armor made for Henry II of France. Henry loved jousting, and eventually died in a horrific jousting accident at the age of 40, an incident which contributed jousting going out of fashion
by Nero2t2
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>In June 1559 a tournament lasting several days was held in Paris to celebrate a peace treaty between France and Spain. King Henry was to enter the lists before a glittering audience of lords and ladies, including Queen Catherine, Diane de Poitiers and Mary, Queen of Scots. Henry had started suffering giddiness after physical exertion and Catherine tried to persuade him not to joust. Yet he acquitted himself well, sporting Diane’s colours as usual, until the young Count of Montgomery, of his Scottish Guard, almost unseated him. Queen Catherine, the Duke of Savoy and other friends tried to persuade the king to leave the lists, as the day was virtually over. Henry, however, insisted on another contest with Montgomery, who did his best to refuse. Montgomery’s lance struck the king’s helmet and a long splinter pierced Henry’s eye and penetrated his brain.
>The king reeled in his saddle and gentlemen close by rushed to help him off his horse and out of his armour. Bleeding profusely and almost unconscious, he was carried to his apartments in the Château des Tournelles. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, the English ambassador, who was watching, wrote: ‘I noted him to be very weak, and to have the sense of all his limbs almost benumbed, for being carried away, as he lay all along, he moved neither hand nor foot, but lay as one amazed.’
>Montgomery hurried to kneel before the king and asked to have his head and hand cut off in punishment, but Henry magnanimously told him that it was not his fault and he had carried himself bravely and well. The royal doctors removed the splinter from the king’s eye and others that had pierced his head and throat and bled the patient who relapsed into unconsciousness. It was hoped that the loss of the eye was the worst that would happen, but even though the royal surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was joined by another celebrated medical man, Andreas Vesalius, sent from Brussels by King Philip of Spain, Henry’s condition grew worse.
>Catherine took command, kept watch by her husband’s bedside and refused to allow Diane de Poitiers into the room. On July 9th the last rites were administered and the king died early in the afternoon of the following day. He was 40 years old.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/henry-ii-france-dies-tournament-wounds
I believe the armor he was wearing during the accident didn’t survive, so its not one of these suits, but part of the cause of the accident is because according to eye witnesses, he was too eager to rush into the match and didn’t make sure to secure his visor properly
People tend to view parade armor as non-functional armor that wasn’t intended to ever be used outside of just wearing around, which isn’t strictly true. This kind of armor existed, and some points, but armor was overwhelmingly meant to be used, even in the case of extremely expensive, artistic armor.
To understand the mindset of armor from a more historical sense, think of it like this: They had access to nearly limitless money at a time when showing off how rich you were as ostentatiously as possible was very much en vogue. Imagine what people like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk would afford if they were thorough integrated into cultural norms that rewarded, even demanded, ostentatious use of wealth.
With that in mind, the only thing more ostentatious than a $200 million suit of armor to wear for a parade is a $200 million suit of armor that you’re going to intentionally fuck up over the course of a lavishly expensive tournament and then get a new one for next time.
Fascinating
God damn Horse Armour ruined everything.
I couldn’t imagine wearing those suits of armor on a horseback while trying to stab someone with a giant poker
That second one, with the silver filigree on gold and the red material, is about as close to sex as a suit of armour can get.
Movies/Games will have you believe you can’t have realism and style, but Henry clearly disagreed.
Such beautiful armour. I wish those were still in fashion.
Although… they are expensive Id probably not have one lol
Fashion Souls.
I’m a mover by trade and sometimes the people I work for are interesting to say the least. Today I helped move a person with a very interesting collection of art, curios and collectibles. While not a piece of armor he had a 1300 CE samurai sword and when I showed some interest he just handed it to me and told me to unsheathe it. It’s smaller then I thought it would be and very light. The idea that it was made so long ago was mind blowing considering the craftsmanship and detail. I just felt like sharing my experience as the history of our craftsmanship as a species never stops to amaze me.
The protruding parts above the eyes of the horse “helmet” kinda makes me scratch my head. Like if that was on a horse while jousting. Wouldn’t that not be ideal and cause the probability of the horse getting eye gouged to go way up? Or maybe they’re trained to point their head straight down, or like really away from the other rider at the point of impact… I’m just struggling to think of why hoods over the eyes would be useful. Like even if it’s not specifically jousting horse armor. In what situation would hood scoops above the horses eyes be useful and not a detriment.
Is it really considered an “accident” if you get injured while jousting?
What are the enchantments on that shield?
That is some crazy craftsmanship. I wonder how much it would cost to make a full armor with that kind of detail today?