Part 14

The last entry in the Milanese Archives relating to Antonio refers to his mines and furnaces in a letter to Bona di Savoia, April 20th, 1480. In the MSS. Lib., Trivulziano, is a report of the Venetian Embassy which came to Milan on its way to Germany, written by Andrea de Francesca. This report states that Antonio’s workshops were visited and armour was seen there to the value of 1000 ducats. He seems to have had a son Scabrino, but there are no records of him as an armourer. Antonio died at the end of the fifteenth century and is the last of the family who used the name of Missaglia. His successors reverted to the family name of Negroni or Negroli. The suit No. 3 in the Vienna Collection is stamped with his mark (Plate II), and many helmets of the sallad type and various pieces of armour bear a similar stamp in other armouries, such as the Wallace Collection, the Porte de Hal, Brussels, etc. etc. The close helmet on the “Tonlet suit” in the Tower, II, 29 (Plate X), is engraved with the Collar of the Garter and bears the Missaglia stamp, and a suit in the Musée d’Artillerie, G, 3, bears the same mark.

[Sidenote: _Gasparo Mola_, Rome, _circ._ 1590-1640.]

Mola is the only armourer whom we can identify as having worked in Rome. He was born about the year 1590 at Breglio, where his father was an architect. He came to Milan at an early age and worked there as a goldsmith. In 1607 he made various objects in gold and silver for the Duke of Savoy. In the same year he was summoned by Duke Ferdinand de Medici to Florence, where he worked for two years. In the years 1613-14 he produced medals for Mantua and Guastalla, and about the same time he executed work for Carlo Emmanuele I of Savoy. He committed suicide in 1640. Though we have no data for the theory, it seems not unlikely that it was the studio of Mola which Breughel has represented in his picture of Venus at the Forge of Vulcan. The ruins in the background certainly suggest some of the buildings in Rome, which might have been used for this purpose. There are also many medals and examples of goldsmith’s work shown on this picture in addition to the armour.

He was an expert in enamel-work and made richly decorated pistols, and in 1642 produced a fine helmet and shield which are now in the Bargello Museum, Florence.

[Sidenote: _Philippo and Jacomo Negroli_, Milan, _circ._ 1521-80. Marks 42, 43, 44.]

Philippo and Jacomo Negroli were sons of Bernardino who worked in Rome. It is uncertain whether their father still kept the name of Missaglia, which was used by Antonio and Thomaso Negroni. The earliest known work by these masters is dated 1532. For some years they were assisted by their brother Francesco, who left them about this date and worked alone for the Mantuan Court. Brantome and Vasari both mention Philip as being a craftsman of very high repute. His armour was always very costly, and Brantome states that a morion made by him would cost 40 thalers and that in sixteen years he had amassed 50,000 thalers. He seems to have been ennobled, for Brantome calls him Seigneur de Negroli. He had a house in the Porta Comassina, the wealthy quarter of Milan. His work is always ornate, but does not transgress the craft-laws to such an extent as did the armour of Peffenhauser and Piccinino (Plate XXIX). Work by the Negrolis is to be found as follows: In Madrid, A, 139-46; D, 13, 30, 64. Vienna, 330. Paris, G, 7, 10, 178.

[Sidenote: _Anton Peffenhauser_, Augsburg, 1525-1603.]

We have no details of the life of this craftsman beyond the dates of his birth and death. He is best known as the maker of elaborately decorated armour. The suit made for King Sebastian of Portugal (Madrid, A, 290) is one of the most ornate suits in existence (Plate XIV, also p. 75). His works are found as follows: Madrid, A, 290. Dresden, C, 10, 13, 15_a_, 20; D, 11; E, 6_a_, 10; G, 146. Vienna, 489, 490.

[Sidenote: _Lucio Piccinino_, Milan, _circ._ 1590.]

Lucio was the son of Antonio Piccinino, the famous sword-smith. It is uncertain whether he actually produced armour himself or whether he was solely concerned with the decoration. Like Peffenhauser he delighted in lavish display of ornament without any consideration to its fitness for armour. His work is extraordinarily minute and the technical skill displayed is extreme. His work is only to be found at Madrid, A, 291-4, and at Vienna, 543.

[Sidenote: _Pompeo della Chiesa_, Milan, 1590.]

The son of a noted craftsman, Pompeo was one of the foremost armourers in the latter years of the sixteenth century. He was Court Armourer to Philip III of Spain, and to the Archduke of Milan, Alessandro Farnese. His work is found in the Armeria Reale, Turin, C, 21, 70; in Vienna, 858, 859.

[Sidenote: _Conrad, Hans, and Jorg Seusenhofer_, 1470-1555. Marks 7, 8.]

The brothers Conrad and Hans at different periods filled the position of Court Armourer to Maximilian I. Conrad was born between the years 1450 and 1460. He was cousin to Treytz, who produced the _Weisz Künig_, that chronicle of the doings and artistic endeavours of the young Maximilian which, while it is amusing in its sycophantic adulation of the Emperor is, at the same time, an invaluable record of the operations of the applied arts of the period and of costumes and armour then in fashion.

In 1504 Conrad was appointed Court Armourer for a period of six years with a further agreement for a pension of 50 fl. afterwards for life. In the same year he received money for enlarging his workshops, but after much correspondence it was deducted from his salary. The young Emperor had theories about the making of armour as he had about every other art and craft, and working in conjunction with his armourer, and, presumably, taking credit for his craftsman’s expert knowledge, evolved the fluted style of plate armour which still bears his name. It was based upon Italian models of the Gothic type which, at the end of the fifteenth century, was distinguished by certain graceful flutings which Conrad and his master elaborated till they covered the whole surface of the armour.

At this time the craftsmen of Brussels were noted experts in the tempering of steel, and both Maximilian and Henry VIII employed ironworkers from this city in their armouries.

Much of the raw material was drawn from Styria, and was exported in such large quantities to England that the supply was in danger of running short; so a monopoly was established and exportation forbidden. This naturally raised the price, and was one of the many causes which combined to keep up a ceaseless friction between Maximilian, his Diet, and his armourers.

Seusenhofer favoured elaborate ornament on his armour, and this did not please the officials who were responsible for the equipment of the army. He was urged to produce plainer and more serviceable work, a suggestion which Maximilian with his love of pageantry ignored. In 1511 we find Seusenhofer complaining that Kügler, the mine-master, was sending him inferior metal, and as he considered that the use of it would be detrimental to the reputation of Innsbruck as a factory of armour, he suggested that it should be classed as Milanese. In 1511 the famous “Engraved Suit,” now in the Tower of London, was put in hand as a present from Maximilian to Henry VIII.

From the State Archives of Innsbruck (Jahrbuch II, reg. 1028) we find that two cuirasses were ready for the King of England, one gilded. There were apparently five others to be made, one of which was to be silvered. This was probably the suit above mentioned.

The whole of the suit is covered with fine engraving representing the stories of S. George and S. Barbara, with foliage and heraldic badges. The designs have been engraved and a detailed description given by Sir S. Meyrick in _Archæologia_, XXII.

The horse-armour is not by the same hand, for the engraving is coarser. It may have been executed in England by German craftsmen to match the rider’s armour (see Plates X, XII, Fig. 67).

There were ceaseless troubles over the payment and delivery of work from the royal workshop. Sometimes Seusenhofer would retain work for which the Emperor had pressing need till payment was made, and on one occasion, when speedy delivery was not made, Maximilian ordered the armourers to be placed in the forefront of the battle, with no armour on, to show them what inconvenience their delay was causing! It is needless to say that the armour was delivered at once. So obsessed with the idea of his omniscience was the Emperor that when, in the _Weisz Künig_, Seusenhofer suggests some secret method of working the metal, he replies: “Arm me according to my own wishes, for it is I and not you who will take part in the tournament.” Again, Maximilian writes: “If you have forgotten the art which I have taught you let me know and I will instruct you again.”

The date of Conrad’s death is unknown, but it was, as far as can be ascertained, about the year 1517.

He was succeeded as Court Armourer by his younger brother Hans, and he in turn gave place to his nephew Jorg, who produced the suits which exist at the present day in Paris, G, 41, 117; Vienna, 283, 407. The only authentic work of Conrad is in the Tower of London, II, 5.

[Sidenote: _Jacob Topf_, Innsbruck, 1530-90.]

We have but little information respecting Topf, in spite of the minute researches of the late Dr. Wendelin Boeheim. From civic records at Innsbruck he appears to have been one of three brothers. David, the youngest, was in service with Archduke Ferdinand at Ambras and died in 1594. In 1575 we find Jacob working for the Archduke at Innsbruck. Boeheim discovered in his investigations that Topf was absent from Germany between the years 1562 and 1575 and was probably employed in Italy, England, and elsewhere. There are no records of his employment in England except in a letter written by Sir Henry Lee in 1590, where mention is made of “Master Jacobe,”[145] who is now considered to be Topf. We have, however, a most valuable record of work which was in all probability his in the _Almain Armourer’s Album_, now in the Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

This book consists of large drawings in ink and water-colour (17 in. by 11½ in.), thirty-one in number, which show twenty-nine suits of armour with details of extra pieces for the joust.

On No. 14 is the signature: “These Tilte peces made by me Jacobe,” but the name Topf does not occur in the Album.

In the year 1790 the book was in the possession of the Duchess of Portland, at which time Pennant engraved the second suit of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, for his _History of London_. Strutt also engraved the suit of George, Earl of Cumberland, in his _Dresses and Costumes_ (II, Plate CVLI). The library of the Duchess of Portland was sold in 1799 and the Album disappeared till the year 1894, when it passed into the Spitzer Collection. At the Spitzer sale it was bought by M. Stein, of Paris, and on the advice and through the personal efforts of Viscount Dillon, the present Curator of the Tower Armouries, it was acquired for the nation.

Several of the drawings have been carefully reproduced by Mr. Griggs in a book, edited by Viscount Dillon, under the title of _An Almain Armourer’s Album_, and it is by the courtesy of the editor and publisher that the accompanying illustrations are reproduced in the present work.

The following list gives the complete series of plates in the Album and shows which of the suits illustrated in the original are now in existence.

DRAWINGS SUITS IN EXISTENCE (None complete in all parts.) 1. The Earle of Rutlande. 2. The Earle of Bedforde. 3. The Earle of Lesseter (1st suit). 4. The Earle of Sussex The gauntlets were in the Spitzer Collection. 5. Duke John of ffineland Prince of Sweden. 6. Ser William Sentle. 7. My Lorde Scrope. 8. The Earle of Lesseter (2nd suit) A portion of a suit in the Tower of London (II, 10) is of very similar design--evidently by the same hand. 9. My Lord Hundson. 10. Ser George Howarde. 11. My Lorde Northe. 12. The Duck of Norfocke. 13. The Earle of Woster A portion of this suit in the Tower (II, 9). At Windsor Castle a burgonet, buffe, breast, back, placcate, gorget, bevor, taces, lance-rest, sollerets. 14. Ser Henry Lee (1st suit). 15. Sur Cristofer Hattone (1st suit) Windsor Castle. The gorget is a restoration (Plates XXV, XXVI). 16. The Earle of Penbrouke Wilton House. 17. Ser Cristofer Hattone (2nd suit) The suit of Prince Henry at Windsor was copied from this and from No.17 by W. Pickering (see Plate XX). 18. Ser John Smithe Tower, II, 12. This suit has brassards which are not shown in the sketch in the Album (Plates XXVI, XXVIII). 19. Sr. Henry Lee, Mr. of tharmerie Armet in the Tower (IV, 29). (2nd suit). Locking-gauntlet in the Hall of the Armourers’ and Braziers’ Co., London (Plate XIII, Figs. 32, 68). Burgonet, buffe, and leg-armour at Stockholm. 20. The Earle of Cumberlande Appleby Castle. 21. Sr. Cristopher Hatton (3rd suit). 22. Mr. Macke Williams. 23. My L. Chancellor [Sir Thomas Bromley]. 24. My L. Cobbon. 25. Sir Harry Lea Mr. of the Armore Hall of the Armourers and Braziers’ (3rd suit). Company, London. On each side of the breast in the band of engraving are the initials A. V. (Fig. 69), which probably stand for Anne Vavasour, natural daughter of Sir T. Vavasour and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth. The _Nat. Dict. of Biog._ states that she was Sir Henry Lee’s mistress. 26. My Lorde Cumpton Portions of this and of the next suit were formerly at Home Lacy and are now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. 27. Mr. Skidmur [John Scudamor]. 28. My Lorde Bucarte Wallace Collection, 435. 29. Sr. Bale Desena.

There is also a suit at Vienna (491), made for Archduke Carl of Steiermark, which Boeheim considered to be from Topf’s hands.

Fuller details of the above suits will be found in the reproduction of the Album above referred to, and also in _Arch. Journ._, LI, 113.

FOOTNOTES:

[143] Meister der Waffenschmiedkunst.

[144] _Arch. Jour._, XLVIII.

[145] See page 66.

LIST OF ARMOURERS’ MARKS

The following have been taken from rubbings, drawings, and prints, and the authorship of the marks is that given in the several catalogues. The nationality of the armour is given first as German, Italian, Spanish, or French; following this is the approximate date; and lastly the Museums in which the mark is found with the catalogue number. The Roman figures denote the century to which the mark is ascribed.

A = Athens, Ethnological Mus. B = Brussels, Porte de Hal. Ber = Berlin, Zeughaus. D = Dresden, Johanneum. G = Geneva. L = London, Tower. M = Madrid, Real Armeria. N = Nuremberg. P = Paris, Musée d’Artillerie. S = Stockholm, Lifrustkammer. T = Turin, Armeria Reale. V = Vienna, Waffensammlung. Ven = Venice, Museo civico and Arsenale.

1. XIV. =P=, H, 23. 2. XV. =P=, H, 27. 3. XV. =P=, H, 41. 4. Germ., XV. =P=, G, I. 5. XV. =P=, H, 36. 6. Rotschmied, Germ. 1597. =G=. 7. Conrad Seusenhofer, Germ. 1518. =L=, II, 5. 8. Jörg Seusenhofer, Germ. 1558. =V=, 283, 407. =P=, G, 41, 117. 9. Valentine Siebenbürger, Germ. 1531-47. =V=, 226. 10. Germ., XV. =P=, H, 11. 11. Germ., XV-XVI. =P=, H, 42. 12. It., XVI. =P=, H, 55, 305. 13. It., XVI. =P=, H, 54. 14. Germ., XVI. =P=, G, 23. 15. Adrian Treytz, Germ. 1469-1517. =V=, 66, 1018. 16. Veit, Germ., XV-XVI. =N=, =V=. 17. Wilhelm von Worms, Germ., XVI. =V=, 226, 296. 18. Merate brothers, It. 1495. =V=, 917. 19. Germ., XV-XVI. =P=, G, 18. 20. F. Siebenburger, Germ., XVI. =P=, G, 22, 568. 21. Germ., XVI-XVII. =P=, H, 166. =D=, E, 556 (see also 97). 22. City of Augsburg, XV-XVII _passim_. 23. Lorenz Colman or Helmschmied, 1516. =P=, G, 536; =V=, 1005. 24. Antonio da Missaglia, It. 1492 _passim_ (see also 36). 25. Antonio da Missaglia. 26. Antonio da Missaglia. 27. Petrajolo and Tomaso da Missaglia. 1400-68. =V=, 2, 3, 897; =P=, H, 29 (see also No. 78). 28. Germ., XVI. =P=, H, 158. 29. Germ., XV-XVI. =P=, G, 382. 30. Sigismund Wolf, Germ. 1554. =P=, G, 63, 64, etc.; =M=, A, 231. 31. It. (?), XVI. =P=, G, 36. 32. Germ., XVI. =P=, G, 147, H, 97. 33. It., XV. =A= (possibly a Missaglia mark, see No. 24). 34. It., XV. =A=. 35. It., XV. =M=, D, 14. 36. Antonio da Missaglia, It., XV-XVI. =P=, H, 29. 37. XVI. =P=, G, 84. 38. Matthaias Fraüenpreis, Germ. 1549-75. =V=, 397, 950; =D=, G, 39. 39. Franz Grofsschedl, Germ. 1568. =V=, 989; =D=, C, 1, 2. 40. Coloman Colman or Helmschmied, Germ. 1470-1532. =V=, 175; =D=, G, 15; =M=, A, 19, 59, 73, etc. 41. Lorenz Colman or Helmschmied, Germ. 1516. =V=, 62 (see also No. 23). 42. Philipp Negroli, It. 1530-90 } =V=, 330; =M=, A, 43. Philipp and Jacomo Negroli ” } 139-46; =D=, 13, 30, 64. 44. Philipp and Jacomo Negroli (?). =P=, G, 7, 10, 178. 45. City of Nuremberg, XV-XVII _passim_. 46. Kunz or Conrad Lochner, Germ. 1567. =V=, 334; =P=, G, 182, etc.; =M=, A, 243; =S=, 64. 47. Heinrich Obresch, Germ. 1590. 48. Anton Peffenhauser, Germ. 1566-95. =V=, 489; =M=, A, 290. 49. Hans Ringter, Germ. 1560. =V=. 50. XVI-XVII. =P=, G, 124. 51. Possibly the Merate brothers, It. XV-XVI. =V=, 60; =L=, VI, 28; =M=, A, 3. 52. Germ., XVI. =V=, 9.

53. Possibly the Merate brothers, It., XV-XVI. =V=, 948. 54. Possibly Hans Grünewalt, Germ., XV-XVI. =V=, 66, 995. 55. It., XV. =V=, 5. 56. J. Voys, Netherland, XV-XVI. =B=, II, 39, 40; =M=, A, 11 57. XV. =M=, A, 4. 58. XV. =M=, A, 6. 59. On a mail skirt, XV-XVI. =T=, G, 86. 60. Peter von Speyer, Germ., 1560. =B=er. 61. It., XV. =G=en. 62. It., XV. =G=en. 63. Germ., XV-XVI. =P=, H, 76. 64. It., XV. =G=en. 65. Germ., XVI. =V=, 63. 66. It., XV-XVI. =V=en. Mus. civico. 67. It., XVI. =V=en. Arsenale. 68. On a sallad with Missaglia mark, It., XV. =V=en. Mus. civico. 69. Germ., XVI. =B=, II, 101. 70. Germ., XV-XVI. =V=, 1022. 71. Armourers’ Company, London, XVII. =L=. 72. Germ., XV. =D=, A, 75. 73. Netherlands, XV. =D=, A, 75. 74. Siebenburger (?), Germ., XVI. =B=, II, 92. 75. It., XVI. =M=, A, 147. 76. Jorg Sigman, Germ., XVI. =M=, A, 238. 77. It, XV. =A=. 78. T. and P. da Missaglia, It., 1400-1468. =P=, H, 29; =V=, 2, 3; =L=, II, 29 (see Nos. 24-7). 79. Sigmund Rosenburger, Germ. XVI. =D=, C, 3, 4. 80. City of Augsburg (?), XVI. =D=.[146] 81. City of Augsburg (?), XVI. _passim_. 82. Germ., XVI. =D=. 83. M. Petit. Fr. XVII. =P=, H, 150; =V=, 711; =M=, A, 379. 84. Sp., XV. =M=, D, 24. 85. It., XV. =A=. 86. It., XV. =A=. 87. XVII. =M=, B, 11; =T=, C, 14. 88. XV. =P=, H, 141. 89. Germ., XV-XVI. =L=, II, 37. 90. XVI. =L=, III, 186. 91. Germ., XVI. =L=, II, 3. 92. Sp., XV. =M=, C, 10. 93. Sp., XV. =M=, C, 10. 94. It., XV. =A=. 95. XV. =M=, D, 18. 96. Germ., XV. =B=, II, 170. 97. Germ., XVI. =B=, II, 182; =D=, E, 556 (see also No. 21); =S=, on a crossbow, 143. 98. Germ., XVI. =B=, II, 30. 99. Germ., XVI. =B=, II, 3. 100. Possibly the city of Wittenburg, XVI. =B=, II, 4, 41. 101. Sp., XV. =M=, C, 10. 102. Sp., XV. =M=, C, 10. 103. It., XV. =A=. 104. Germ. XV. =V=.

FOOTNOTE:

[146] A similar mark was used by the Armourers’ Company, London, about 1640.

POLYGLOT GLOSSARY OF WORDS DEALING WITH ARMOUR AND WEAPONS

The meanings of the words in this Glossary are given either from comparison of various scattered entries in contemporary documents or from the following works:--

Boeheim. _Waffenkunde._ 1890. Cotgrave. _Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues._ 1611. =C.= Du Cange. _Glossaire Français._ Edit. 1879. Florio. _A Worlde of Woordes._ 1598. =F.= Gay. _Glossaire Archéologique_, A-G (never completed). 1887. =G.= Harford. _English Military Discipline._ 1680. =H.= Meyrick. _Antient Armour_ (glossary). 1842. Roquefort. _Glossaire de la Langue Romaine._ 1808. =R.= Valencia. _Catalogue of Real Armeria, Madrid._

Where no reference letter is given the meaning given is that generally accepted at the present day.

The names of the different parts of the suit of plate armour are given in English; French, German, and Italian and Spanish are given on pp. 110, 111.

A

_Abzug_, Germ. the trigger of a gun.

_Achsel_, Germ. see pauldron.

_Achselhohlscheibe_, Germ. see rondel.

_Achselschilde_, Germ. see ailette.

_Acroc_, a hook or clasp.

_Adargue_, a heart-shaped buckler, =G=.

_Affust_, } gun-carriage. _Afut_, }

_Agaric_, tinder used with flint-lock gun.

_Agier_, O.F. darts.

_Aguinia_, machines or engines of war.

_Aguzo_, It. the point of the spear.

_Aiguilettes_, tags at the ends of laces for fastening the various pieces of armour.

_Ailettes_, wing-like pieces of plate or cuir-bouilly worn on the shoulders. Very rare and seldom seen on monuments. XIII-XIV cent.

_Aketon_, see gambeson.

_Alabarda_, It. halberd.

_Alaguès_, _Halaguès_, O.F. soldiers of fortune, free-lances, =R=.

_Alarica_, a heavy triangular-pointed spear.

_Alberc_, Germ. see hauberk.

_Alberia_, a shield without armorial bearings.

_Alborium_, a bow of hazel, XI cent.

_Alemèle_, Fr. the lame or blade of the sword.

_Alemella_, It. a knife or dagger, XIV cent.

_Alfange_, Sp. cutlass.

_Alferanna_, Sp. a banner.

_Algier_, O.F. dart.

_Allecret_, a variety of half-armour, end of XVI cent.

_Almarada_, Sp. a stiletto or dagger.

_Almayne rivet_, suit of light half-armour, XVI cent.

_Almete_, Sp. a close, round helmet, armet.

_Alzo_, It. the “sight” of the firearm.

_Amadue_, Fr. see agaric.

_Ameure_, a dagger.

_Amorce_, priming.

_Amorcoir_, Fr. powder-flask.

_Amussette_, Fr. a breech-loading musket, XVIII cent.

_Anelace_, a broad-bladed dagger, early XIV cent.