The armors of Emperor and King Maximilian I and II, and King Louis II of Hungary

Maximilian or as we called him: Miksa (1527-1576), was said to be a good-hearted and diligent Habsburg ruler but he failed to have solved Hungary’s main problem and his rule just made the Ottoman conquest longer.

Maximilian armor is a modern term applied to the style of early 16th-century German plate armor associated with, and possibly first made for Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519).

Emperor I Maximilian was the great Habsburg ruler who outlived King Matthias Corvinus. He was the one who brought about the Habsburgs’ rule in almost every corner of Europe. When the Hungarian Estates refused to give him the Sacred Crown of Hungary in 1505 under the pretext that he was not Hungarian, he scornfully remarked that he spoke Hungarian fluently and he was born in Bécsújhely (Wiener Neustadt) that had belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Moreover, he is said to have been related to the ancient Hungarian kings as well.

  Regarding the Maximilian armor, it is still white armor, made in plain steel, but it is decorated with many flutings that may also have played a role in deflecting the points and blades of assailants and increasing the structural strength of the plates. It is a transitional stage in the decoration of armor, after the plain steel surfaces of 15th-century armor and before the elaborate decoration and coloring with etching and other techniques of Renaissance armor.

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According to an alternative version, the name is related to Maximillian II, as the last Maximilian armor was made especially for him in 1557, seventeen years after it passed out of general use.

It was a trend that developed in 15th and especially 16th-century Europe to create armor that not only provided the maximum amount of protection but was also visually pleasing. Maximilian armor combined the rounded Italian style of armor with the German fluted style.

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The Jousting Helmet (Sallet) of King Lajos II (Louis) of Hungary

As this helmet fits here in style, I decided to insert it here.

The helmet was intended for the Scharfrennen, a joust fought by two mounted contestants armed with sharp lances. The conjoined initials L and M, for Louis (Lajos) II of Hungary (1506–1526) and his wife, (Habsburg) Maria of Austria, are featured prominently in the decoration.

King Lajos (Louis) II of Hungary was not afraid of fighting in the meléé (by Hans Krell)

Discovered in the collection of the former imperial arsenal in Istanbul, the helmet was presumably captured by the Turks when they overran much of Eastern Europe between 1526 and 1529. Louis (Lajos) II was killed in the battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526, while defending Hungary against the Ottoman-Turkish invasion.

Dimensions: H. 10 in. (25.4 cm); W. 15 in. (38.1 cm); D. 10 in. (25.4 cm); Wt. 9 lb. (4082 g)

Armorer: Attributed to Kolman Helmschmid (German, Augsburg 1471–1532)

The helmet is in the Metropolitan Museum.

The portions of King Louis II’s Foot Combat Armor

Armorer: Conrad Seusenhofer (Austrian, Innsbruck, died 1517) Date: ca. 1515; Medium: Steel, leather;

Dimensions: as mounted: 55 7/8 × 25 9/16 × 10 5/8 in. (142 × 65 × 27 cm)

It is in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, but not on view. Credit Line: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Imperial Armoury / Sammlungen Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck.

(Source of pictures and some of the information: Historical Weapons Research Journal and Wikipedia, the last part is from the description of the Metropolitan Museum)

Here are a few examples of the two Maximillian emperors’ armors:

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