Elegant burgonet, made for an officer, Nuremberg circa 1570

Weight: 1.44 kg.
Height: 30 cm.

Dossier as PDF

Summary
The elegant shape combined with the helmet’s decoration strongly suggests that the burgonet was made for a high ranking officer to be used in the field. Both ornament, shape and the Nuremberg mark argue for a dating of circa 1570. With its armourer’s stamp and against the background of the good state of preservation the helmet is an interesting piece for the scholarship about the history of the armourer’s craft in Nuremberg.

Background
The burgonet had developed at the beginning of the 16th century from the sallet and soon became a very popular helmet worn in many parts of Europe by infantry and later cavalry units. A clear advantage of this helmet is unifying a good protectoral function against cut and thrust weapons with a free sight field, unhindered ventilation and wearing convenience, due to the small weight and the fact it is worn independently from an armour. Besides the morion the burgonet is the most popular helmet of the 16th century for field use. more