Helmets

Head armour of the period consisted of helmets sometimes including a mail coif. Helmets were made in a variety of ways and from several materials, with the single objective of deflecting or completely withstanding a blow from a sword.

Only a few examples of helmets have been found intact. The group of Valsgarde and Vendel period helms are the largest group of helmets to survive the last thousand years. Others are the helm from Sutton Hoo; the Benty Grange helmet; the Morken helm from Belgium; the Jorvik helm; and the Wenceslas helm from Czechoslovakia. These are not a complete list, but they do give an idea of how rare a helmet find is and how diverse the finds are. Metal helms of several types were all fairly similar in principle, being made from bands of metal forming a framework which was 'filled in' by riveting metal, leather ( speculative ) or even horn panels into it. Sometimes a nasal would be included to protect the face, often as an extension of the framework although it could be added separately. A few of the earlier Anglo-Saxon and Viking helmets had spectacle like eye-guards or visors although these seem to have become obsolete by the eighth century in Britain.

Some earlier helmets also had cheek flaps to protect the side of the head and face. The earlier styles of helmet tended to be domed, but gradually they became more pointed to eventually giving rise to the conical helm. The best type of helm was hammered and raised out of a single piece of iron and was therefore stronger than a riveted one. Helmets sometimes had a 'curtain' of mail called an aventail, hanging from the back of them to protect the back of the head and neck. In early times this was sometimes a solid metal neck guard, often hinged for the wearers convenience.

Many illustrations from the period of warriors show them wearing what appears to be a phrygian cap; on its own this would not offer much protection so it seems possible that a small domed metal helm or skullcap may have been worn beneath it. Of late though, the view regarding these phrygian hats has altered. They are shown in certain manuscripts that have a direct ancestry to much older works by previous authors. Some were even copies of copies of manuscripts from the Roman period or even earlier, and the slavish copying of the illustrations have little bearing upon 10th century styles. The copyist may have been trying to be true to the original and may also had little clue of what he was drawing.

Another element where the Phrygian style could have come from is the old Roman cult of Mithras - where Mithras often can be seen cutting the throat of a bull atop a shrine. This was very much a military man's belief, said to have derived from cults from the East, possibly the Middle East, which had then taken root here in Britain. There is one famous shrine dedicated to Mithras on Hadrian's Wall, and also an example in London. The popularity of this figure, although not its religious aspects could have remained with its associated courageous/heroic deeds, eventually cropping up as 'ancient' Anglo Saxon heroic figures.

Another area where the Phrygian hat occurs is in the mosaics in Ravenna, in the San Apollinare Nuovo. The mosaics date from around the 6th - 7th century. In the procession, the 'Three Wise Men' are all wearing such hats. Interestingly enough, their headgear have been referred to as Gallic caps - which doesn't follow if the Magi are members of the Zoroastrian faith - which in itself is a Persian belief with it's earliest roots in the Achaemenid empire around 300BC. The reader can now see the confusion that has built up surrounding the subject.

The only original surviving helmets in the true 'phrygian' fashion are 4th century BC Thracian style from Greece. Only 1400 years and 1200 miles out.

Thick leather was possibly also used to make helmets although no leather helms have ever survived from the period if this is the case. The technique of 'cuir bouilli' or scolding the leather to make it stiff and hard, has been suggested as an alternative for the iron plates inside an frame. Thick leather can be riveted successfully to a frame, however no-one has yet demonstrated that leather can actually substitute for iron, other than for glancing blows. The 'Benty Grange' helmet from Derbyshire although from an earlier period ( approx. late 8th early 9th century AD ), had horn plates either side and sandwiching it's iron frame. ( Not quite as the replica in the Sheffield museum would suggest ). Surprisingly, it is also possible that basket work helms covered in hide or leather were used but, again, none have survived from our period ( although there is an earlier Scandinavian find of a metal 'basketwork' skullcap which may have been worn over a soft covering ). There is even some evidence for wooden helms!! How on earth these worked we can only guess.

Mail coifs, or 'healsbeorgs', ( if the Saxon terminology is correct ) were worn from the ninth century and tended to cover the top and back of the head, the cheeks, chin, neck and perhaps some of the shoulders. Again coifs are mentioned but have never been found, so we can only guess as to their original shape.

The manuscripts begin to pick up the use of mail covering the back of the neck, and by the beginning of the tenth century these had become quite common amongst the professional warriors. By the eleventh century the coif has become integrated with the hauberk becoming a true hood. However, this coming and going of the coif may be simply a mix up in the interpretation of the mail both illustrated and recorded. The reasoning for this is that the appearance of the coif in particular can be documented in the 11th and 12th centuries accurately. This may mean that earlier interpretations are in fact aventails. Another aspect to this is that the style of warfare changed quite a bit in the 12th century necessitating the double layer of mail over the shoulders. Therefore perhaps what we took for coifs that we can see on the Bayeux tapestry for example, are men in hooded hauberks - some with ventails and others without.

The 'ventail' section of mail on or near the chest folds up over the neck and chin, and hooked into position over the lower face. This is probably the best explanation for the shapes found on the knights armour in the Bayeux tapestry.

The opposite number to the ventail is the 'aventail', which is a skirt of mail attached to the back of a helmet. A perfect example of such a thing was excavated in York. Now known as the Coppergate Helmet, it was discovered at the base of a well and was remarkably in very good condition. The mail aventail was secured to the rim of the helm and to a pair of ear or cheek flaps.

The ventail wasn't universal, but seems to have been sensible protection for a horseman, as most of the attacks he would receive would come up from below. Padded arming caps would be probably worn under the coif and may also have been worn on their own. The coif as a head covering is shown on figures from Byzantine mosaics, interestingly enough worn by both males and females. How widely elsewhere the wearing of them as normal headgear is unknown until the Middle Ages.