THE BOURGUIGNAT HELMET
Germany
1570-ies
Steel, leather; forging, knocking out to the shape, grinding, polishing, painting
29 х 23 cm
Receipt: from the Central Museum of the Red Army in 1948
Showcase 2
It was a part of the outfit of the Livonian knight.
Bourguignat Helmet, bourgine (FR.bourguignotte - Burgundy helmet) or stormtrooper (Sturmhaube) – is a type of a European helmet, the hallmark of which was a crest at the top of the helmet, as well as a visor and ear covers. Bourguignats appeared in Italy in the XVI Century and later spread throughout Europe. They were used as items of protective outfit of cavalry and infantry until the beginning of the XVII century. The quilted helmet liners made of canvas, lined with cotton or wool complemented the helmets.
In 1558 Tsar Ivan the Terrible started military campaign against the Livonian order, in whose hands was a significant part of the Baltic Sea coast. The initial stage of the Livonian war was successful for Russia. By the beginning of 1559 Russian troops had captured twenty cities, including Narva and Derpt, reached Revel and Riga, moved to the borders of East Prussia and Lithuania. The success of the Tsar’s troops led to the collapse in 1561 of the Livonian order. Lands of the Order have gone to Poland and Lithuania and also to Sweden and Denmark. In this situation, Russia had to fight war with strong opponents. Further military actions were extremely unfavorable for the Russian troops and only the heroic defense of Pskov in August 1581 – February 1582 forced the Polish King Stefan Batory to start peace talks. According to the results of Yam-Zapolsky truce with Poland (1582), and Plyussa truce with Sweden (1583) Russia was deprived of all conquered lands, retaining only a small parti of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of the Neva River that did not resolve the problem of access to the Sea.
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