Arms and their Innovations in Aragon during the Second Half of the 14th Century

Abstract

In this article armour and weapons in Aragon in the second half of the 14th century are analysed, making a comparison with the previous century to define their evolution and innovations. Up to now, no overall research has been carried out about this subject in Aragon, in contrast to other Spanish territories, such as Catalonia and Castile. In fact, many data about Catalonia is also valid for Aragon and can be taken, to a great extent, as a starting point or a comparative element. This study uses documentary (documents of the Archive of the Crown of Aragon, Aragonese medieval laws, municipal rules, inventories…) and iconographic sources (Aragonese and Catalonian gothic painting and sculpture).

It has been confirmed that the previous types of elements to protect the head, the neck and the body (mail defences) continued to be used but others were developed, such as the bascinet and the cuirasses with internal iron sheets; an attempt has been made to distinguish between other not well-known elements, such as suellas, espalderas, iubetes, jaques… It has been verified that the metal pieces of armour to defend the legs and the arms began to be used early in the 14th century and their use increased over the century. However, only in the last decade of the 14th century the use of an armour totally constituted by pieces of metal is detected, even the breastplate, as in other territories of the Iberian Peninsula. With regard to the arms, different references are shown about the use of spears, darts, crossbows and their types, etc.

Concerning the artillery, it has been confirmed the only use of counterweight war machines or engines and their division into three types: ingenios, trebuchets and cabritas. It has been deduced that all of them had the same basic components but different size and power. Firearms appeared around 1360, including not only canons (bombards) but also portable weapons.