Head Armor
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Armet
Armet is the name of a type of helmet developed in the 15th century, most likely in Italy. It was distinguished by being the first helmet of its era to completely enclose the head while being compact and light enough to move with the wearer. The typical armet consisted of four pieces: the skull, the two hinged cheek pieces which lock at the front, and the visor. A multi-part reinforcement for the bottom half of the face, known as a wrapper, was sometimes added, and its straps attached to a metal disc at the base of the skull piece called a rondel. It reached its height of popularity during the 15th and 16th centuries when knights in medieval Europe wore plate armor into battle. Movable face and cheek pieces allowed the wearer to close the helmet, thus fully protecting the head from blows. Armets have often been confused with close helmets, and the two names can now be used almost interchangeably when referring to either form of helmet. Close helmets had a full visor and bevor (a chin/neck guard); the visor pivoted up and down by means of bolts attached to the side of the skull piece. Slightly different in design, armets had hinged cheek pieces which opened at the front of face backward. Note the similarities between the armet above and the close helmet to the lower left.
The armet is found in many contemporary pieces of artwork, such as Paolo Uccello's 'Battle of San Romano', and is almost always shown as part of a Milanese armor.
The armet was most popular in Italy, whereas in England and Western Europe the sallet helmet was preferred. It is believed by some that the close helm resulted from a combination of various elements of each.
barbute
A barbute is a visorless war helmet of fifteenth century Italian design, often with distinctive "T" shaped or "Y" shaped opening for the eyes and mouth. The barbute resembles classical Greek helmets and may have been influenced by a renewed interest in ancient artifacts.
Burgonet
The Burgonet helmet (sometimes called as bourgundian sallet) was a late mediæval/early modern combat helmet. It was the successor of the Sallet.
It came into popularity towards the end of the 16th century. Commonplace throughout Europe the Burgonet was accompanied by plate armour and worn by cuirassiers. It was a light helmet, open-faced and decorated with one or more metal fins on top. Though typically open faced, a falling buffe, a sort of visor that was drawn up rather than down, could be used.
Chief among it's popularity factors, it was cheaper than a closed helm and lighter.
The burgonet is often referred to as a "light" helmet, which means little and ignores the great variety of burgonet designs. Judging from the scarce published data, the typical 16th century burgonet, with defensive plates called cheek-pieces, weighs between three-and-a-half and five pounds. Those without cheek-pieces weigh less, of course, and closed burgonets, which cover the entire face, weigh several pounds more. Some early 17th century closed burgonets weigh more than ten pounds!
Burgonets typically were raised from a single sheet of steel, though some were made of two plates joined along a central ridge or comb. Regardless of how they are constructed, many burgonets feature one or more of these combs running from the brow to the base of the neck. They add a dramatic decorative element, but also serve the practical purpose of strengthening and defending the bowl. Conical, faceted bowls without combs are plentiful, but the single-comb style seems to have predominated well into the 17th century.
When present, cheek-pieces are attached by hinges to the sides of the burgonet's bowl. Some of these defenses extend to cover all but the central portion of the face (in the manner of ancient Roman legionary helmets). More commonly, they cover only the side of the face and head and upper neck, and are held in place by a strap-and-buckle system riveted either outside or inside the cheek-pieces near the wearer's chin.
Cervelliere
The cervelliere is a round, close-fitting steel skull cap. It was worn as a helmet during the medieval period. It was first introduced during the late 13th century and was usually worn under a great helm. However the helmet continued to evolve and by the 1330s had evolved completely into the bascinet.
Close Helm
The close helm was a military helmet worn by Knights and other combatants in the late medieval and early renaissance era. It's most obvious feature was that it fully enclosed the head and neck area, unlike earlier helms like the Sallets and Barbute, that sometimes may have left the wearer more exposed, or needed a bevor to be added to protect the chin an neck. The Close helm included a visor that pivoted up.
The close helmet most probably evolved from a number of different helmets, from the the armet, the Italian bellows-visored sallets and possibly hinged Great Bascinets. As a type of Helm, they largely appeared in the later 15th century, though there are earlier examples.
The close helm was used in battle, but also popular in tournaments, where sometimes the visor would be less solid, and instead have bars which would still offer protection but allow more visibility. Close helms for jousting were heavier, weighing up to 12 pounds, while the helms for normal combat were lighter, often around 8.
The Close Helm is similar to the Armet. The main difference, is that the bevor/visor of an armet is split in the middle, with the two halves hinged at the cheek, which open swinging outwards to expose the face of the wearer. The bevor of a 'true' close helm opens by swinging upwards, it is in one piece and shares the pivot point with the visor. The Close Helm often had a catch to hold the visor down. Both forms of helm may have a round plate at the back of the helm, a protective rondel, the purpose of which is not truly known, but it is suspected that it protected strapping.
