Perhaps the most historically significant distinction between these two helmets is that one has both pagan and Christian elements and the other does not. Also, the two larger cruciform holes may have made it easier for Sir Richard’s voice to be heard.

While the Benty Grange helmet does not cover the whole face but only protects the sides and top of the head, as well as the nose due to its nasal guard, Sir Richard’s great helm protects the entire face and the front is mottled with small holes which allow for easier breathing. Unlike whoever wore the Benty Grange helmet, we can more easily assume Sir Richard actually wore his great helm in battle because it was placed above his tomb in the Hereford Cathedral “as a reminder of his military distinction.” Also unlike the Benty Grange helmet, the finial associated with the Pembridge helmet was removable, and rather than a boar the Pembridge helmet finial was Sir Richard’s distinctive crest, a sheaf of wheat. The inside being lined with padding of either cloth or leather and possibly worn over a cloth cap and chainmail hood, the Pembridge helmet was attached to the breastplate via chains passed through two cruciform holes near the bottom of the helmet’s front side, giving a physical function to frontally displayed Christian iconography which must then have an apotropaic function due to the cross’ religious significance. The Pembridge helmet is classified as a “great helm” and is characteristic of other great helms of the fourteenth century, although this one in particular is constructed with three plates of steel held together with rivets. 1375), the helmet’s original owner and wearer, was a knight of King Edward III and fought in the Hundred Years’ War. Today, the Pembridge helmet is held in the National Museum of Scotland (reference number: A.1905.489), and according to the National Museums Scotland website, Sir Richard Pembridge (d. The Pembridge helmet, however, comes to us with a lot more information and little conjecture is needed in its analyzes. reconstruction of 7th-century Benty Grange helmet The maker and wearer of the Benty Grange helmet are unknown, but considering that it was buried in a barrow, or in other words a human burial, might suggest that the helmet was actually worn by a warrior, who would have been cremated, and it had a practical function and was not just simply used ceremonially, although this is conjecture. This crossover of faith tradition on the Benty Grange helmet should not surprise us because seventh-century England was still in a conversion phase, and many other contemporary items like high crosses and manuscript marginalia also show this mixture of pagan and Christian elements. It has a boar finial on the crest and a silver Latin cross on the nasal guard, which means it has both pagan and Christian elements. Key details include construction methods, construction materials, defensive features and iconography, which if analyzed together can help to explain why the design of helmets changed so dramatically over this seven hundred year gap of time.Īlthough seven hundred years separates these helmets historically, only one hundred and twenty-nine miles of modern roadway, according to Google Maps, separates the sites of their original interment, those being Benty Grange and the Hereford Cathedral.Ĭomparing only two helmets limits the insight we can draw from this analyzes, especially because both respective centuries had many different designs of helmets, but some insight can be drawn from this comparison nonetheless, so let us begin.Įxcavated in 1848 by Thomas Bateman from a barrow on a Derbyshire farm, the Benty Grange helmet consists of a metal frame supporting horn plates. To understand why and how military helmets evolved in medieval England this paper will analyze key details of two helmets, namely the Benty Grange helmet, a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon artifact, and the Pembridge helmet, a fourteenth-century English artifact. The Evolution of Military Helmets in Medieval England Benty Grange Helmet vs.

Realistic medieval sword drawing