"Morion cavalry helmets?" Topic

Can anyone tell me if the morion was a commonly used cavalry helmet for heavies during the TYW? In looking at period paintings and etchings I see them used by pikemen and carabins, but have not seen one on a heavy cavalryman.

I think burgonets would be more popular with cavalry, since it would also protect against the stabs and sideway slashes of a cavalry melee, due to the neck- and cheekpieces. Morions were more designed to deflect downward blows, which would be your main risk in a close infantry formation.

Morions (and Cabasets) did not protect the side & back of the head, which were considered targets in a cavalry melee. Hence the increasing use of 'lobster' helmets, even of excreable quality. Even a mail coif in the Polish style was considered better than an unarmoured neck.

That said, the infantry style helmets seem to have stayed in vogue for mounted shot which gradually turned into dragoons – afterall, they were just infantry with ambitions & not supposed to engage while mounted like their betters.

I believe I recall seeing "period" diagrams/drawings of mounted arqubuisers wearing them, as they were not normally meant to engage in melee, but fire from afar. Maybe more common among the Spanish.

ilodic.

I agree--I've seen cavalry instruction diagrams for mounted arqubuisers wearing morions, but never a heavy cavalryman.
At least 2 prominent figure makers have curiassier packs with one of the figures in a morion--I thought it just looked odd.

Heavy cavalry (i.e Cuirassiers) wore closed helmets of various types or a "Ungarische Haube" ("Hungarian Pot" i.e Zischägge style helmet). The Zischägge was such an effective and popular design that it rapidly became the common helmet among "light cavalry" in the years before the TYW. The burgonet only remained popular among the infantry and was in production as part of infantry armour as late as 1630.

The level of protection depends on the style of the Morion, a deep combed morion in the Italian style will provide better protection than a cabaset. One need also to keep in mind that parts of these helmets are often missing. Since the platse protecting the side of the face were suspended by leather rather than part of the helmet as with the burgonet they have often been lost when the leather got too rotten or fragile. Even if full cheekplates were not used the helmet straps were often reinforced with metal plates to provide additional protection.

Helmets would also be adapted according to the threat, the Styrian armoury in Graz (Austria) had long "lobster tails" added to the cabasets purchased from Nürnberg in order to provide the wearer with protection against the saber slashes which were part of the Ottoman fighting style.

Thank you Daniel, so (virtually) no use of the morion among heavy cavalry?

I've never seen evidence for it in written or illustrated sources. It either a closed helmet or a Zischagge if were are talking about the TYW period.

Indeed the Zischagge was so popular that the Styrian armoury prefered to buy new helmets rather than issuing the perfectly serviceable burgonets they had in store in the early TYW period when the Transylvanians threatend the Habsburg lands.