|
|
Pikeman |
||
|
In 1607 when the Jamestown Colony was established, England and other European powers were contesting over lands in the new world. The actual placement of Jamestown itself was much influenced by fear of attack by other Europeans. In the early years colonists made requests to England for more armor and they regularly inventoried arms and armor that existed at each settlement. A gentleman may have arrived with a full suit of armor. However, the basic armor of the infantryman in early-17th-century England and Europe was the so-called pikeman's suit. It consisted of a helmet, a breastplate, a backplate, and two tassets, or metal skirts, to protect the thighs. |
|||
|
The Pikeman -
The pikeman's suit in this illustration
is similar to the suits of armor brought by the Virginia Company for use
at Jamestown. The
specific style of many armor pieces recovered from Virginia archaeological
sites would have been considered old fashioned and out of date in
England at the time. Check out the helmet, the small strap
holding the breastplate, the breastplate, the tasset, and the sword. |
The pikeman image as well as the Musketeer image map are from engravings by Jacob de Gheyn, first published in 1607 as a military manual entitled The Exercise of Armes. | ||
|
If you
have questions or information about comparable artifacts from Virginia
collections please contact |
|||
| Musketeer Image Map DHR Collections | |||
Click on
shaded areas of this
image to see examples of armor from DHR Archaeological Collections.