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5th March 2012, 11:52 AM
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#1 |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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Hi Samik,
Hearing of you has become so rare - thank you! To your queries: Sadly I do not have any statistics on the original length of the pole arms you asked. We should go to Vienna and measure some fine and originally preserved Hapsburg pieces there - they won't do it for us!  When comparing the relative lengths of such arms in original Maximilian illustrations, though, both the pig and boar spears seem to have been significantly longer than their bearer in those days - which of course I realize is v e r y relative ...  As to Swiss and Austrian/Maximilian pikes / Langspiesse in the 15th and 16th century, they were considerably longer. In my thread http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7123, I quoted that the given length of the vessel for boiling the ash hafts for first-half to mid-16th c. Swiss infantry long pikes was 18 'Schuch' (ft). in 1554. We know that these raw anatomic stats greatly varied from country to country, and even from town to town, even as late the 18th century, when, e.g., a Prussian foot was 25.0 cm but a Saxon foot was 42.95 cm! As I stated in my former post, we may safely assume that 15th/16th c. infantry long pikes/Langspiesse measured ca. 5 m in average. My two Hapsburg/Salzburg pikes from the mid-16th century measure 4.51 and 4.6 m respectively, and they may have been somewhat shortened. The longest pike I have ever measured, from the first half of the 61th c., is preserved in the Fortress of Coburg/Bavaria, and its lavishly knobbed ash haft is the original. This pike measures ca. 6 m in length! I will try and get images. Sorry for not being able to more precise ... Cheers, and best, Michael Last edited by Matchlock; 5th March 2012 at 12:25 PM. |
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5th March 2012, 12:54 PM
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#2 |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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Two Mid-16th Century Hapsburg/Austrian Pikes in my Collection
In virtually untouched condition, the original hafts of stained ash wood, the iron tips and straps retaining their original blueing.
Overall lengths 4.6 and 4.56 cm. Please see also http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7123 Best, Michael |
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5th March 2012, 01:02 PM
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#3 |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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Maximilian Landsknecht Long Pikes, Albrecht Altdorfer, 1513-15
From Albrecht Altdorfer's Der Greulich Sweyzer krieg (the gory Swiss War), from his illustrations of the Triumphal Procession for the Emperor Maximilian I.
Best, Michael |
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5th March 2012, 03:29 PM
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#4 |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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An Early-16th C. Maximilian Frog's Mouth Landsknecht Pike in my Collection
The one on top of the wall rack.
Ca. 1500, the leaf shaped or so called frog's mouth blade of characteristic section, with pronounced central rib. On its original octagonal ash haft, shortened to 2.78 m from originally probably 4.5-5.0 m. From the Landeszeughaus Graz, Austria, the upper section of the haft bearing the inventory stamp of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y., from an inventory of ca. 1900. Not one single of hundreds of pikes of this type still preserved in Graz retains its original octagonal haft; they were all restocked with round hafts around the middle or during the second half of the 16th c. Attached below is a scan of two pieces in Graz. Best, Michael Last edited by Matchlock; 5th March 2012 at 07:06 PM. |
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5th March 2012, 03:57 PM
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#5 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Slovakia
Posts: 48
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Many thanks for the insight and knowledgeable reply Michael!
Apologies for me being more "rare" these days, but schoolwork does not permit me for a more active contribution.. nevertheless much obliged! Cheers, Samuel |
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20th March 2012, 09:50 PM
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#6 |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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Pikes Against Cavalry - a Thirty Years War Impression
In the Tojhusmuseet Copenhagen.
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20th March 2012, 09:54 PM
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#7 | |
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(deceased)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking
Posts: 4,310
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Quote:
Thank you so much for you kind words, Samuel, I know you well enough to be sure they are founded on well-based competence, so - thanks again! Man, I do wish you and some other guys came in here more often - in spite of whatever your work is! Cheers and best, Michael |
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