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Chris Dobson

Master Armourer

Reconstruction: A late 15th Century armour in the style of the Innsbruck 'school' (1991).

This commission was for a German 'Gothic' armour, but of simple, elegant style, rather than the more ornamented armours being made in Augsburg. In the second half of the 15th Century, the Von Matsch family used their influence at the Court of Milan to enable some Milanese armourers to set up a workshop at Innsbruck. Innsbruck was a perfect place for such a colony: the river Inn provided water power for the heavy platework, wood was plentiful for charcoal to fuel the forges, and a local iron ore yielded a very high-quality steel.

The family name of these armourers was Tretta, but as the family became naturalized, their name acquired a more Germanic form, and it became 'Treytz'. The earliest surviving piece made by this family is a very Italian-looking great bascinet by Konrad treytz the Elder, circa 1450-60. As time went on, the colony of armourers grew, and the result was an elegant fusion of the plain Italian style, with Germanic constructional features, and sallets. Fluting, where present, is usually restrained. In 1482, the Archduke Maximilian imported an Augsburg Master, Hans Prunner, to bring the skills necessary to fully harden and temper armour. Soon Innsbruck armour led Europe in quality.

Above right: The finished armour worn by the client.

No complete Innsbruck harnesses survive from the 15th Century, so the commission was for an armour in the style of the 'school'. The helmet was based on an articulated sallet by Kaspar Rieder, the cuirasse on pieces by Christian Treytz and Hans Prunner, and the arm and legharness on pieces by Hans Prunner. Because this armour was intended for live-action role-play, the usual spined couters could not be made, but the client later commissioned a second spined pair to use when not fighting.

Click on the thumbnails below to see full-size photos.

Top row from left to right: general view of the armour, detail of the sallet and bevor, side view of the sallet, general view of the armour, visor open. Bottom row from left to right: the second pair of 'spined' couters, the sallet from the rear, and a detail of the lance rest mounted on the breastplate.