Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann - running at the ring - illustration circa 1613AD

 Salvete Omnes,

a little canter into the early XVII century Hapsburg realms - back in 2023 I discussed the topic of these prints when talking about the quintain. You can read the details of this wedding and personages present & depicted in my post.
The art of Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann was the author of these images, a rather prolific artist who documented events and wars  of this period.

Gottinger Digital Library contains this volume - Beschreibung und kurtze Radierte entwerffung der Füsrtlichen Hochzeit/ So Der Durchleuchtig/ und Hochgeborn Fürst und Herr/ Herr Wolffgang Wilhelm/ Pfalzgraff bey Rhein/ Hertzog in Bayrn... Mit.. Fürstin Fraw Magdalena/ Pfalzgräfin bey Rhein/ Hertzogin in Obern und Nidern Bayrn. Zu München/ im sechszehenhunfert und dreyzehenden Jahr/ den zwölfften Novembris Celebriert und gehalten (Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann, Augsburg, 1614).

When a princely wedding gave occasion to the displays of equestrian, chivalry,  of horsemanship and lance skills in this German state on the eve of the Thirty Years War (1618-148). 

.

Valete

Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann - quintain at the wedding feast

Salvete Omnes,

back to the XVII century 

quintain with lances

 let us move fast - so, the German printmaker Herr Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann (1589-1630) did execute 11 etchings and based on them a number of  prints celebratory of the noble wedding of the houses of Bavarian Wittelsbach  and Pflaz(Palatinate)-Neuberg Wittelsbach.
From MET description:

This print is one of 11 etched illustrations from a book containing a description of the wedding festivities for 

Wolfgang Wilhelm, Duke of Pfalz-Neuberg, Pfalzgraf (1578–1658 - great portrait with his dog) and Magdalena, Duchess of Bavaria (1587–1628) (beautiful portrait here). 

The marriage took place in Munich on November 12, 1613, and the commemorative book was published by

 Wilehlm Peter Zimmermann in 1614 in Augsburg. 

 

Plates 4, 7, and 10 are in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Book title: Beschreibung und kurtze Radierte entwerffung der Füsrtlichen Hochzeit So Der Durchleuchtig und

Hochgeborn Fürst und Herr Herr Wolffgang Wilhelm Pfalzgraff bey Rhein/ Hertzog in Bayrn... Mit.. Fürstin Fraw 

Magdalena Pfalzgräfin bey Rhein Hertzogin in Obern und Nidern Bayrn. 

Zu München im sechszehenhunfert und dreyzehenden Jahr den zwölfften Novembris Celebriert und gehalten

 (Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann, Augsburg, 1614)

...
 I will 'dissect' a bit the plate showing lancers on horseback , showing the stages in this quintain

 

Herr Zimmermann executed plenty of etchings showing Hapsburg-Ottoman wars in Hungary, but these we will save for later.

enjoy

Valete

Radoslaw Sikora YT channel

 Salvete Omnes,

my friend Radoslaw Sikora has started his own YouTube channel - here - 
where hopefully in time the author will share with his audience the vast knowledge about husaria, XVi-XVII century warfare in our part of Eurasia, and introduce concepts, ideas and imagery from the primary sources, reenactment festivals and tournaments, and many other interesting or fascinating 'stuff' about our winged hussars, their enemies and allies.

Already there are some interesting short videos on the channel eg:
Husaria and pancerni reenactors during the 2018 August 15, parade in Warsaw, Poland.
 or this one, where well known horseman, horsebreeder and reenactor Alex Jarmula is  interpreting a part of the epic poem by a XIX century poet Wincenty Pol, titled 'Pachole Hetmanskie.' (Hetman's little squire).

on the cover of Radek's collection of primary sources on or about winged hussars, there is a Polish veteran of the Afghan war, PT Soyers, reenacting a winged hussar - there is a short video about this soldier.

and this video, from 2018, when the Polska Liga Husarska (Polish Winged Hussars League) was about to begin, and in this tournament that took place in the famous Golub-Dobrzyn castle, on the castle's grounds many winged hussar reenactors presented themselves and their horse, and during the difficult tournament  gave their best to show their skills with the lance, sword astride their trained horses etc.

and more 

Valete

Hussaria Live - Bialystok

Salvete Omnes,
very short - 
today you can watch right this moment and live, as the event is in progress, the Polish Winged Hussar tournament that is taking place at the Podlaskie Muzeum Kultury Ludowej in Bialystok, Poland aka Polish Republic.
this is the platform and video.
perhaps in the future they will add subtitles in English and other languages.
all the best to all
Valete

Livre du cœur d'Amour épris of Rene d'Anjou part IIb

Salvete Omnes,

continuing with the remainder of plates from
Livre du cœur d'Amour épris of Rene d'Anjou (Austrian National Library in Vienna: Livre du cœur d'amour épris - ÖNB - Cod.Vid.2597 )


 

 

 

 



Valete

E-codices Illustrated Chronicle by Diebold Schilling of Lucerne

Salvete Omnes,
quick post:
e-codices portal allows for viewing, downloading and manipulating this extraordinary book from circa 1513AD, from Luzern (Lucerne), Swiss Confederation (today Switzerland) - Chronicle by Diebold Schilling of Lucerne.
Presented to the city of Luzern by its author Diebold Schilling the Younger (although clearly there were two painters doing the illuminations) they say that the chronicle remains unfinished. (I have not tried to read it at all).
This chronicle starts with the battle of Sempach and ends right before the coming of Reformation.

I perused the folio yesterday - more than 600 pages, over half of them with illuminations, and corralled for you and I some images that in my opinion contain so,me interesting images of saddles (including a saddle for driving ), horse tack, various horse types, mules and pack driving etc. This is but an entry into the rich iconographic treasure this chronicle is for many a student of late Medieval Central Europe.
 
 

 
 









 
nota bene the chronicle contains many images of tents, chivalry combat, combat, rapine and pillaging, traveling, farming and architecture. The illuminators show various types of arms, variety of armour, and coats of arms of the period.

eg tents




Valete!

Tournament watercolors by annonymous

Salvete Omnes,
for the medieval and early modern manuscripts the French National Library known under its digital name as  Gallica is a fantastic treasure to explore.
This fine status can be exemplified by this collection: dated to 1530AD, collected, during the 1760s,  by the author of Munchausen Tales R.E. Raspe.
 vive la France - one almost wants to shout seeing all this good work the French librarians and French taxes are doing in furtherance of our common European patrimony.

The watercolors pertain or seem to pertain to the activities of dukes of Brunswick within the Holy Roman Empire (already in the throes of the religious and social wars provoked by the raise of protestant heresy or protestant revolution; naturally a view dependent on the position one holds regarding these early modern conflicts in Christian Europe) and show the glory and opulence of the early XVI century Imperial chivalry and knightly martial arts of that epoch.

Note the size of lances - especially the lance points: sharp and tournament -type , lance proportions and potion of lance handle;  and especially the richness of horse caparisons' paintings and adornments (the jingle bells) - imagine the number of painters and other artisans employed for this works.
We cannot say much about the steeds or destriers - they seem muscular and powerful, but for the lower legs they are well covered with trappings. Curb-bits seem the norm, while horses are shod with wide plate shoes.



 
 


Enjoy
Valete!

Landscape with Tournament and Hunters - Jan van Scorel

Salvete Omnes,
 again we shall stay for a bit in the Age of Renaissance, although what it truly means nowadays or whether there was any renaissance in the late medieval & early modern Christian Europe I have been having second and third thoughts for years.
Ad rem,  the XVI century artists left us with a plethora of horse-related images, and one of the images I would like to point your attention to is this lovely large piece by a Romanist Dutch painter Jan van Scorel who painted his large panel using oils, and the artwork can been presently located at the collection of the Chicago Art Institute.
The painting, aside from the its high artistic value and most likely fantasy, imaginary landscape,  contains lots of interesting historic information on the north-western European costume, horses, horse tack and customs.
Horses appear to have been schooled in airs, ridden with curb-bits, long reins and long stirrups. There are no particular colors within the horses shown, and no horse appears to be of a Frisian conformation.. at least the way I see it.

the work is dated to AD 1519-20 (Reformation is being born within the Holy Roman Empire), which was the era of developing gunpowder arms,  landsknecht and arquebus infantry, but also the era of flamboyant tournaments, parades and schooling of horses according to written manuals and master ecuyers instructions.
So here we have a town's fair perhaps saint George or saint Hubert (patron of chase & hunters), with a tournament taking place and town populace present in their finery.

lancers in tournament armor  on fine caparisoned horses, with attendants in their finery typical costumes of the Northern and Central Europe of these times

mounted musicians

on the right there is a horseman moving away from the tournament with his sweetheart riding behind his saddle seated on the rump of his mount, image that would be shown often in the Dutch art in the coming centuries

in the foreground town ladies in their fashionable costume next to some lowly horsemen

hunting activity contained in the title of this piece, and its apparently hunting the wild boar on horseback with a short heavy spear (boar spear?) and sight hounds, is given  just a glimpse and very little detail, sort of a view through a looking glass.

enjoy