Arms and armour

The targe

The targe is a late development of the cavalry shield, used throughout the 15th century. In principle, it can be said that the more complicated the shape, the later the dating of the targe. It was typically made of lime wood, covered with parchment, linen or a combination of both. The gesso (a mixture of finely ground chalk and glue) was applied to the coating to form a base for painting with tempera paints.

Targies, like other shields, were most often made by specialized craftsmen called shield-makers, who had close ties to painters. In 1348, painters and shield-makers of the Prague towns founded the Brotherhood of St. Luke and also included related craftsmen, such as glaziers, bookbinders, carvers, parchment makers, goldsmiths, illuminators, copper engravers, and others.However, disputes arose early on within the Brotherhood between painters and shield-makers, as evidenced by privileges granted by Charles IV and Wenceslas IV. Shield-makers crafted shields, as well as some saddlery pieces and house signs, including their painted decorations. Painters (magistri pictoriae artis, spiritual painters, geistliche Maler) painted images and altars, but sometimes took over the shield-makers' work and prevented them from displaying and selling their products at the markets in the Old Town (Prague), as shield-makers were based below the New Town (Prague) walls and towers and were supposed to carry out and sell their work there.

The dispute was resolved by a privilege granted by Charles IV on January 16, 1365: shield-makers, settled on the towers of the New Town walls, were – like shooters – exempted along with their servants from all taxes, services, and levies, but were required to serve the king or his marshal when needed (for city defense). Therefore, they were allowed to carry a sword, knife, and armor (harnisch) like the shooters, to defend the city walls. In the dispute with „spiritual painters“, who did not want to tolerate the shield-makers (i.e., bear their obligations to the city), it was decided that painters were not allowed to paint shields. Only shield-makers were allowed to make targies and shields (tarczschen und stechschilt). However, anyone making shield work (schiltwerk) and living in the towers could not sell their work elsewhere than below the towers. The privilege was reaffirmed by Wenceslas IV on January 6, 1380.

The agreements apparently were not observed, and in 1392 the shield-makers again approached the king with a complaint that spiritual painters were still taking their work and painting shield work (schiltwerk), which belonged to the shield-makers and not the painters. Wenceslas IV, by a privilege dated March 30, 1392, reaffirmed the shield-makers' privileges and decreed that painters were not allowed to paint shields, and shield-makers could sell their images (ire bylde) and house shields (ire helme und schilte an den hewsern in derselben stat zu Prage) at the markets of the Great Town of Prague. This clearly resolved the protracted disagreements in favor of the shield-makers, who were now protected in their trade from painter competition and additionally gained freedom to sell their products on the public market.

During the 15th century, the original Brotherhood split into the Old Town guild (which included the Castle, Hradčany, and Lesser Town) and the New Town guild. Some common matters were handled in the „full guild“, where masters from „both Prague towns“ were represented. Despite internal disagreements between shield-makers and painters, all work related to painting fell within the guild’s interest. This is best characterized by the privilege of King Louis from 1523, contained in a confirmation document of Rudolph II from 1595: that no foreign master was allowed to make items belonging to the Prague guild of painters and glaziers, that is,„tabulí, arch, korouhví, praporcův, dekův, svíc pozlacených a dřevěných, dříví jezdeckého malého neb velkého, pavez, terčí i jiných věcí všech, kteréž se barvami dělají“ (tables, arches, banners, flags, gilded candles and wooden ones, small or large horse equipment, pavises, targies, and other items that were made with colors) .

The fact that this was the case already in the 14th century is evidenced by entries in the first book of the Prague painters' brotherhood, both names and accounts of the shield-makers and a record of „malovaném dříví“ (painted wood), although incomplete. The term „malované dříví“(painted wood) refers to horse jousting equipment, i.e., jousting lances (dřevce) intended for tournaments, as mentioned in the privileges of both Charles IV (stechgezewge) and King Louis „dříví jezdecké malé nebo velké“ (small or large horse equipment), which, due to the demanding craftsmanship, was not ordinary saddler's work and belonged to painted goods. Within the guild in the 14th century, it was probably the work of shield-makers rather than masters of „pictoriae artis“.

During the 15th century, the shield-makers and painters merged entirely within the shared guild. Evidence includes an agreement from 1445 between Master Šícha and Jan, son of Master Štefánek, in which Šícha pledged to teach him the art of painting, not only shield-making but also painting pictures. Apprentices were thus introduced to knowledge of both craft branches. Over time, shield-making as an independent trade gradually disappeared. Its painting aspect became the domain of painters – they took over the artistic part of the shield-makers' trade, painting pavises, targies, and jousting equipment, while the craft side of the old shield-making trade remained with other crafts, particularly saddlers and bridlers. By the end of the 14th century, shield-makers (for example, in the privileges of Wenceslas IV from 1380 and 1392) began disappearing from the guild's title, and instead of shield-makers, glassmakers began to be mentioned alongside painters, whose significance grew with the development of medieval production and culture. However, records in the guild book indicate that some painters continued to specialize in making painted pavises. An example is the "targe dues" and the way painters fulfilled their duty to provide a certain number of shields to the city annually, which has an interesting history.

According to the preamble in the 1458 privilege, the Old Town masters of the painting and glass-making crafts were„listy a právy starodávnými vyňati a zproštěni z vojen i ze všech lozunkuov a poplatkuov městských“ (exempted by ancient letters and rights from military service and all city levies and taxes), but„povinni byli každý rok tři štíty nebo pláště branné stojaté veliké k městu udělati ... a k tomu oděncuov branných devět na věže městské nebo k městským branám vydávati.“ (they were obliged to make each year three large standing shields or protective cloaks for the city ... and provide nine armored men for the city walls or gates.)

These „ancient letters“ are more precisely dated in the next sentence of this preamble:„To my važiece a rozumějíce, že město Nové tehdáž nebylo ještě ohrazeno, a skrze to oděnci takoví byli sú, již toho se potřebie nezdá; a místo plášťov již každý rok dělají k městu pavézy.“ (We consider and understand that the New Town was not yet fortified at that time, and thus such soldiers were necessary; instead of cloaks, they now make pavises for the city each year). The founding charter from 1348 set the guidelines for fortifying the New Town, regarding layout, communication network, and gate locations. The fortifications themselves were built between 1348-1350. During this time, the walls between the Old and New Towns lost importance, along with the painters' duty to place nine guards at the towers and gates according to the ancient letters, which therefore must have been issued sometime before the mid-14th century.

However, the Old Town masters only provided the three large standing shields or protective cloaks in the 14th century. At an unknown time, no later than before the Hussite Wars, the arrangement changed so that instead of the three large protective cloaks, they had to provide 10 pavises to the city. This is evident from a record in the Old Town land books dated February 7, 1430, when another change took place. The masters petitioned the Old Town council for relief from this obligation due to poverty and hardship suffered during the war and unrest. The council granted their request and reduced the required number of shields (alias pavises) by two, so henceforth they were obliged to provide only eight shields annually. This was meant to be a temporary measure until they again profited more abundantly from their trade.

Despite this reservation, the relief remained long in place for the Old Town masters. When they presented all their privileges to the city for confirmation in 1458, the privileges included not only the aforementioned „ancient rights“ from the first half of the 14th century but also „jiné kusy popsané, jim a řemeslóm jich příhodné a potřebné“ (other articles described, suitable and necessary to them and their trades). Among these, certainly included was the relief from 1430. The resolution of the Old Town council from November 13, 1458 was therefore a confirmation of the cumulative privileges, both old and new. Thus, it should be understood as the resolution of the Old Town council from November 13, 1458:„... protož my při těch milostech a práviech i svobodách je zuostavujíc, oděncuov těch je zprošťujem, tak aby miesto plášťuov těch velikých, o nichžto svrchu zmienka jest, každý rok vždy o svatém Havle osm pavez malovaných a dobře žilovaných a s obú stranú kožovaných i připravených k městu udělajíc, na rathúz přinesli“ (... therefore we leave them in these graces and rights and freedoms, exempting them from the guards so that instead of the large cloaks mentioned above, they shall always provide eight painted, well-veined, and leather-covered pavises to the city each year on St. Gall's day, and bring them to the town hall).

Shield-makers and painters of the New Town also had a similar obligation to the city. Although records about their guild appear only in the 15th century, it is possible that it existed soon after the founding of the New Town and that it was endowed with privileges under Charles IV. In a dispute involving the shooter Jan Božek, who was accused by New Town painters and shield-makers in 1454 of encroaching upon their trade, the New Town council ruled to protect the rights of painters and shield-makers„from the glorious memory of Emperor Charles and King Wenceslas“. It is unclear, however, whether these rights include the shield-makers and painters’ privileges from 1365, 1380, and 1392, which may have related to a shared guild of Old Town and New Town masters, or whether the New Town masters had their privileges already in the 14th century. In any case, shield-makers were already settled in the New Town by the 14th century, as evidenced by the aforementioned agreement between the Old Town and New Town shield-makers and painters from 1387. By the early 16th century, the size of the New Town guild was comparable to that of the Old Town guild, as evidenced by a reconciliation in 1511, which named eight Old Town masters and seven New Town masters.

In the 14th century, however, the productive capacity of the New Town shield-makers and painters was significantly weaker than the scope of production in the Old Town. This is evidenced by records of their annual obligatory supply to the city. In the 1380s, an agreement between them and the New Town council settled longstanding disputes over levies and taxes, stipulating that shield-makers„kteříž pod věžemi sedí“ (sitting below the towers) without prejudice to their rights „každé léto po vánocech k novému letu dávali počty, jednu pavézu pánuom a městu ku potřebě a ke cti i k kráse, tak dlúho, jakožby jim a nám se líbilo a dobré zdálo a jim a městu našemu líbezné se bude zdáti“ (shall annually, after Christmas, present accounts, giving one pavise to the lord and city for use, honor, and beauty, for as long as it pleases both them and us, and as seems fitting and pleasing to them and our city). The pavise given by the New Town painters and shield-makers was to be adorned on the front side with a painted decoration as fine as the eight„malovaných, dobře žilovaných a kožovaných“ (painted, well-veined and leather-covered) pavises of the Old Town.

The delivery of obligatory pavises to the Old Town and New Town councils was thus an ancient duty of Prague painters and shield-makers, maintained until the early 16th century. This obligation was apportioned among guild members, who contributed to the shields by paying a fee called „targe dues“. Such contributions can be found in the oldest guild book. An entry from the late 14th century mentions „half a schock per shield (or for shields)“. In a member list from around 1410-1420, there is a note: „Mykesch ostawa dluzen u pawessy“ (Mykesch remains in debt for the pavise), which is interpreted as a record of overdue „targe dues“ on pavises.

As is evident, Czech historical scholarship has focused, understandably, on pavises, while targies remain largely overlooked and, if discussed, it is mainly concerning their possible influence on the development of pavises. However, it can be assumed that Czech targies from the second half of the 15th century did not differ significantly from targies in neighboring areas of the Empire. A common motif on targies from the German-speaking regions is a lady holding a full coat of arms, including the heraldic shield, helmet, crest, and mantling, as seen in the following examples from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In two cases, the lady is accompanied by a ribbon with a motto, which has no heraldic significance and is more of a humorous pun.

Reconstruction

Since we have not been able to find any surviving targe from the Czech territory, I chose for reconstruction the following targe from 1440 - 1460, probably from Nuremberg, which is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As we know, Bohemia had a strong trade relationship with Nuremberg, and Jošt himself owned firearms made in Nuremberg. A targe with similarly stylized scroll-like edges is depicted by Jan van Eyck in his painting “The Knights of Christ”, which is part of the left panel of the Ghent Altarpiece of 1432. The shield was first repainted around 1500 and its current appearance is the result of a 17th-century Baroque repainting, when it was painted for funerary purposes and bearing the coats of arms of the Nuremberg patrician families Haller and Imhof. The original shield is 55.6 cm high, 52 cm wide and has a bend of 23 cm. It weighs 2880 grams.

Since the original painting of the targe has not survived, we decided to create an original but period-appropriate motif for it. The background of the shield is black, with a decoration of silver scrolled leaves, as on the German shield from fig. 3. St. Dorothy from the left wing of the altar from Jeníkov, dated to 1460, was chosen as the model for the lady. The coat of arms she holds on the shield is based on the oldest known depiction of the Týřovský coat of arms from the tombstone of the church in Jince. The armorial figures are stylized according to the Book of Arms (Wappenbuch), which was created and donated to Emperor Frederick III by the patrician Konrad Grünenberg of Konstanz in 1483. The heraldic shield, divided into quarters, shows a black imperial eagle (i.e. with two heads) with golden armour (talons and beak) on a silver background in the 1st and 4th fields, while in the 2nd and 3rd fields there are three white quills joined together by spikes on a blue field. The left leaning shield is surmounted above the right corner by a helmet, the same as that on the targe in Fig. 1, and bearing, in addition to the jewel and red coverts with silver lining, also a gold crown. In the jewel is a red Tartar hat with silver lining and black lips. The banderole with the inscription „Pomny na mye ma myla wyerna pany“ (Remember me my dear faithful lady), which is taken from a contemporary spur, is placed in the same way as on the targe of Fig. 2. On the inside is a simplified drawing of Saint Christopher, who was supposed to protect against sudden death.

Corpus

The corpus, like most shields of the time, is made of lime slats glued together with bone glue. This block is then shaped with tools until it is final. The author of the body is František Poch.

Cover

The corpus is covered with linen using bone glue. Before coating, it needed to be finely caulked. The finishing and coating of the corpus was done by Zdeněk Sedláček and Daniel Richter.

Painting

The coated corpus was then painted with gesso, a mixture of glue and crushed Bologna chalk, which had to be carefully sanded. This created a smooth white surface, onto which a material called bolus could be applied in the areas intended for future silvering and gilding. Red bolus is used under gold, and black bolus under silver. Here, due to the small extent of gilded areas, only black bolus was used. Leaf gold and silver were then applied to the bolus. The final painting was done with egg tempera. The painting was executed by Mgr. Markéta Poskočilová.

Armour

Development of Armour

The earliest evidence of our ancestors' armour is provided, alongside sparse archaeological finds, traditionally by written sources. References to armour can be found, for example, in Arabic sources — Ibn Rusta states of Prince Svatopluk that: „He has good, strong, precious armour“. The Annals of Fulda describe how in 849, during a German incursion, the Czechs stripped armour from defeated Germans: „…For the enemies, having gained the upper hand, slaughtered and pursued them to their camp, and stripping the armour from the slain before their eyes without care, filled them with such fear that they completely lost all hope of escape…“. In 936, Widukind describes how the Germans in turn stripped armour from fallen Czechs. This well documents one of the favourite methods of acquiring equipment and weapons. In the 10th-century Legend of Christian, armour is mentioned in connection with a planned revolt against Prince Bořivoj — his opponents came to the diet wearing „cuirasses under their garments“, but so did his own men. Armour is also mentioned by Cosmas in the 11th century and the Monk of Sázava in the 12th century. The Canon of Vyšehrad describes how at the Battle of Chlumec in 1126, the princely chaplain Vít, „clad in armour and helmet like Achilles…“, served as the standard-bearer for the Bohemian army. Armour is mentioned by Vincentius and other 12th-century authors. From the aforementioned sources and reports, the widespread use of quality arms and armour is quite evident, at least in the milieu of professional warriors of princely retinues.

These earliest armours were most commonly mail (Old Czech brň), but scale, lamellar and faleristic armour (rings sewn onto a backing) are also assumed. From the end of the 12th century, however, only mail armour was used exclusively. Its principle — mutually interlinked rings — was known already to the ancient Celts, from whom the Romans adopted it, and as spoils of war it often reached far beyond the borders of the empire (e.g. to Denmark, where a find of armour from Vimose is dated to the 2nd–3rd century AD). After the fall of Rome, the technology of producing these armours was practically forgotten in the West and survived only in Byzantium and the sphere of Byzantine influence, subsequently also in the Arab world. Through trade contacts or as spoils of war, it later reached Scandinavia, the Frankish Empire, Britain and our lands. The import of finished armours was gradually followed by the mail-making technology itself.

At that time, the only plate-armour work was helmets. The earliest conical helmets were riveted from four and later two pieces. In the 9th century, conical helmets forged from a single piece appeared, which was more technologically demanding because a larger intact piece of sheet metal was needed for such a helmet. In general, armourers throughout history were limited primarily by the size of the starting sheet metal material. The most famous such helmet is the so-called Helmet of St. Wenceslas.

During the 13th century, joints began to be covered with anatomically shaped metal plates.

During the 15th century, the covering of all body parts with anatomical plates on heavy cavalry definitively prevailed over mail (Old Czech brní), which continued to be used only as a supplement. Armour also gradually differentiated according to its intended use into field armour, preserving the wearer's mobility to the greatest possible extent, and tournament armour, where the emphasis was primarily on passive protection. During this century, the use of plate armour (often only partial) spread among urban and mercenary infantry, which played an increasingly important role in battles. Thanks to disciplined collective fighting methods, it managed over the years to defeat even heavy cavalry with increasing frequency.

As early as the beginning of the 15th century, the most important European centres of armour production emerged in northern Italy (Milan), southern Germany (Nuremberg, Augsburg and Landshut) and Tyrol (Innsbruck). In these centres of arms production, stylistically different forms arose which then dominated the entire century, called Italian/Milanese and German armour. In Milan, the Missaglia family became famous for armour production. This branching family, originally named Negroni, obtained its name from a small town in Lombardy, from which the founder of their armouring fame, Pietro, who died before 1429, apparently came. The greatest renown was achieved by his successors Tommaso and especially Antonio (c. 1416–1496), who ran the workshop from 1452 until his death. The Missaglias worked in the 15th century for leading Italian nobles such as the Visconti, Gonzaga and Sforza. Among the famous German armourer dynasties were the Helmschmieds of Augsburg and the Seusenhofers of Innsbruck. The former were active from the second half of the 15th century to the second half of the following century. The first recorded armourer from this family was Georg, active approximately between 1438 and 1490. The greatest renown was then achieved by his son Lorenz, born probably between 1445 and 1450, who worked between 1467 and 1515 and who was appointed Imperial Court Armourer by Maximilian I in 1491. Then Lorenz's son Kolman (1471–1532), known for example for armours for Charles V, and Lorenz's grandson Desiderius (1513–1578), who worked, among others, for the Spanish King Philip II.

In Prague, armourers formed an organisation in 1328. In 1329, an armourer named Klebel obtained Old Town citizenship, and after him 24 more masters registered by 1393. One of them, Henricus, came in 1354 from Italian Como, another from Týnec, Kolín, Beroun or Chrudim. In 1351, Rudl was recorded as the first armourer among the councillors in the Old Town. During the Hussite Wars, the armourer Vůz (1423) and the helmetmaker Jakub (1422) are documented among the Old Town councillors. By 1526, 26 more armour masters were added, of whom one (after 1477) came from Vlašim. In the town books, armourers are not rare and are always found among wealthy burghers, but only 4 from both Prague towns came to take the oath in 1524. We thus have the following armourers documented by name:

• From 1439: Henricus Hemrle, who had a house in Ostrožnická (Platnéřská) Street.
• From the mid-15th century: thorifex Kříž, whose property became an escheat in 1463.
• From 1454: Janek Legát.
• From 1463: armourer Vocásek.
• From 1464: armourer Smetana.
• From 1472: armourer Škoda.
• From 1473: armourer Duchek Popel.
• From 1477: Havel Kabela (Cabela), who jointly with Duchek had purchased an anvil.
• From 1479: armourer Pivce Václav and Jan Dúbek.
• From 1483: armourer Sladký.
• From 1516: armourer Jan Pivce, perhaps Václav's son.

Among armourers who were non-resident inhabitants of the city, Jan Biberka is documented in 1486, who ignominiously fled from the New Town. From 1454, a female armourer named Křížová is also known, probably the wife of Kříž.

Although armourers had their organisation in Prague perhaps as early as before 1328, they brought their statutes for confirmation at the town hall later, perhaps in 1336, and only the articles concerning apprentices and journeymen, which seems to have been a crucial issue for Prague armourers. The statutes state that an apprentice had to pay the master 2 schocks of groschen for training (which was very much compared to other crafts) and the brotherhood 15 groschen. Furthermore, he had to remain in the master's service for 4 years and had to be guaranteed with two schocks of groschen not to flee. If he fled and did not return within eight days, the guarantee was forfeited — half a schock to the magistrate and the guild and a schock to the councillors. According to the so-called Rights of Soběslav (around 1440), armourers marched in ceremonial occasions such as welcoming the sovereign or in processions in third place behind butchers and goldsmiths. They were to carry a green banner on which a warrior in full plate armour was depicted. Under this banner, representatives of other crafts, both independent and organised, marched with them. These were: mail-makers, needle-makers, helmetmakers, spur-makers, brass-workers, saddlers, pewterers, bridle-makers, strap-makers, belt-makers, blacksmiths, purse-makers, pouch-makers, swordsmiths, quiver-makers and locksmiths.

Like other crafts, armouring also differentiated, and so in Prague we find before 1419 also three helmetmakers (galeatores), two from the Old Town, one of whom came from Regensburg in 1343, and one maker of plate gauntlets, called plechowicze (in a charter from 1447).

Head and Neck Protection

The armed man typically wore a mail collar, called obojček or oboječek, on his neck.This was usually followed by a textile hood, by the end of the 15th century typically fitted with tassels, over which the helmet was placed. Among helmets, the iron hat, known in period Czech as kapalín, and the sallet derived from it, known in period Czech as leb or lebka, clearly predominated in the Czech lands. For helmets, the term peklhaub, peklhúbl or piklhaub was also used, which was a corruption of beckenhaube, the German name for the bascinet type of helmet; however, once Czechified, this term was used for any metal helmet. Because neither the iron hat nor the sallet protected the lower part of the face, they could be complemented with a plate bevor, known in period Czech as bart or barth.

Torso Protection

Torso protection was provided by a front and back plate, which together formed the cuirass. In Bohemia, the front plate was called prustplech or prusplech, from the German brustblech, literally „breast plate“.

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