Germanic High Gothic Suit of Armor

Germanic High Gothic Armor

This style of armor has as many different faces as the history of the German states which varied widely from region to region. What remains are some wonderful antiquities in museums and private collections around the world due to these suits of armor having been commissioned for the individual knights whose families treasured them long after their deaths. The one quality that they all shared, besides being beautifully made, was the detail that made the armor resemble the clothing of the era. These details were what made the suits so breathtaking and inspire us even today to continue to present them, worked with care for the folds, the florals and the embellishments that make them unique. When compared to each other, they vary widely and one becomes aware of the different styles that existed in clothing from Luthuania to Belgium, from Poland to Luxembourg to Italy.

Why was there such a variety? Taking a look at Germanic history of that era helps explain how such an explosion of variances occurred.

The Germanic tribes were what we considered the Franks who replaced and intermingled with the Goths and Vandals. They were a primitive people, who won against the Romans and drove them out by 100 AD, not from superior weaponry or warfare skills, but from being raiders, not organized battalions. The Romans were beleaguered with nightly raids and ambushes on their troops and failed even in direct combat to subdue the barbarians. Perhaps they would have won eventually but their Empire was crumbling from within and troops all over Europe were pulled back to Rome, abandoning most of their Northern and Western Europe gains. They left behind their influence however and their presence was literally implanted into local people, leaving behind fortresses, walls, beliefs, food and babies, lots of babies who were integrated into the much changed culture. They even left a name- Germania. Combined with the Norman influence on their Western front, the Franks eventually were completely absorbed into what was called the Carolingian Empire, which included the Western Germanic tribes that the Franks conquered after the fall of the Roman Empire. This new empire, which covered all of Modern Europe, eventually was divided into three parts, between three royal brothers in 840 AD.

The part that is the focus for this armor was called Eastern Francia that existed from 840 to 960 AD. This was the remnants of the proud and strong Franks who conquered the Romans. This was the beginning of modern day Germany. This was the beginning of the era that produced the Holy Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman Empire was extremely complex in its leadership and territory. Charlemagne in 800 AD was proclaimed Emperor by Pope Leo III, who was in great need of an army to protect him from his enemies. This was an enormous step in recognizing the strength of the Western nations and he ignored the legal Emperor appointed and living in Constantinople. Thus began acknowledgement of the original ragtag Germanic tribes as the leading political power in the world. It also aided in the Great Schism that would eventually develop in the Church in a struggle for power. Temporal rulers were responsible for electing the Pope and Pope Leo III’s actions began the process that led to ecclesiastical power and authority among bishops and archbishops to elect their own pope. It took a couple of popes to stop the struggle. In the meantime, there were two emperors and two popes, a very confusing time for the faithful and the beginning of the split that produced the Eastern Orthodox, the Coptic and the Roman Catholic denominations in the Church two hundred years later.

In Western Europe, the Holy Roman Empire was established which lasted over 800 years. There was a high king who was the Emperor and individual states with kings under him. The Franks who began with Charlemagne as Emperor continued to produce the lineage for the Emperors from the prince-electors, the highest ranking German nobles in the land. They would elect the “King of the Romans” and later, the pope would crown him Emperor. This system lasted into the 16^th century and then the papal coronations were discontinued. The Emperor position was finally retired in 1806 after Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the lands and Emperor Francis II surrendered as the Last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It had developed into a complex system of states, duchys, Free Imperial Cities, counties and other domains who constantly squabbled and warred amonst themselves, thus requiring armor that signified where the loyalties lay of its owner. Thus the distinctive styling that produced some of the finest armor of the Medieval ages.