Closed helmet Tudor, Greenwich style, 1.6 mm

Product description

This close helmet is a replica of a 16th-century French example. The original is now part of the collection at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris.

By the late 15th century, the close helmet had evolved from the armet and later versions of the sallet. It closely resembles the armet and, until the early 17th century, stood as a symbol of European aristocracy. Heavily armored cuirassiers wore it in formal portraits, at tournaments, and on the battlefield, armed with rapiers and wheellock pistols. Like the armet, the close helmet fully enclosed the head.

Although the close helmet looked very similar to the armet, it opened in a completely different way. Both helmets followed the contours of the head and neck and narrowed at the throat, requiring a mechanism to open and close. While an armet opened sideways via two large hinged cheekpieces, a close helmet opened vertically using an integrated rotating bevor attached at the same pivot points as the visor. Rotating catches fitting into pierced brackets, or spring-loaded pins, locked the moving parts. A strap kept the bevor closed.

In the early 16th century, a new armor style emerged in England under the Tudors and went on to shape armor across Europe. Henry VIII brought in specialist armorers from France, Italy, and the Holy Roman Empire to collaborate. The result was the Greenwich style — armor that, sometimes richly decorated, followed the shapes of contemporary clothing. Cuirasses and tassets from this period often imitated the fashionable dress of the day.

Full helmets and later burgonets protected the head, sometimes fitted with grotesque visors for parades or festivities. Open helmets like the cabasset and morion also surged in popularity. By the 17th century, armor across Europe reflected this style.

Close helmets in the Greenwich style feature an upward-pointing visor shaped like a ship's prow. Extremely popular among European aristocrats, some examples were elaborately decorated. The crest on this helmet draws from the all'antica style that emerged in Italy in the first half of the 16th century. Renaissance interest in classical antiquity drove new directions in plate armor design. The steel crest stylized the helmet crests of Roman legionaries, letting the wearer connect with that glorious past.

Wear this helmet in battle reenactments or at tournaments. It includes a plume holder, a stylized all'antica crest, and a large visor with ventilation holes.

Fits a maximum head circumference of 61 cm. Made from steel approximately 1.6 mm thick.