Originally Posted by
Rad
Helmets as mandatory armor - A WW1 way of thinking?
Nope. Way earlier.
I will start with the Statute of the medieval city of Dubrovnik - Now known as King's Landing. First written in 1272, with later editions. I believe I used a late 14th century edition, but I will check and double check that later.
Latin text (the official language of the Republic at the time):
De armis portandis in quolibet navigio
Item statuimus et ordinamus, quod quelibet condura, barcusius et quelibet (sic) aliud lignum, quod vel que fuerit de portata de viginti miliariis, et inde supra, de ceteris in quolibet viagio quod fecerit extra Ragusium ad aliquas partes, debeat habere patronus dicte condure, barcusii seu ligni coraças V-e fornitas balistra seu arcus IIII fornitis (sic) sagittis seu quadellis
Et quilibet marinarius scutum, spatam et arma de testa, sub pena unius yperperi pro qualibet coraça,et de grossis VI pro qualibet balista, et pro quolibet dictorum armorum. Et quod super predictis debeant eligi duo boni et legales homines, qui per sacramentum teneantur ire et scruptare, antequam dicta ligna seccedant de porto Ragusii, si dicta arma sunt in dictis lignis. Et similiter in earum reversione. Et quod nulla condura, barcusius seu aliud lignum possit secedere de portu Ragusii nisi primo fuerit cercatus per dictos officiales, sub pena yperperis decem, pro quolibet patrono dictorum lignorum qui contrafecerit et qualibet vice. Et quilibet dictorum duorum officialium habere debeat de avere Comuni omni mense hanc(sic) ad festum S. Michaelis grossum et medietatem banni.
English translation by your truly - I did my best to make it understandable in English
Of Arms which must be carried aboard every ship
Likewise, we determine and order that the patron of each kondura (type of ship), barcusium (type of ship) or any other ship which weighs or will weigh 20 miliariis (unit of weight) or more, from now on, on each voyage undetaken outside of Dubrovnik, will have to have five full suits of armor (edit: it may be just five coats of plates instead of five full armors, the word used "coraças" sounds awfully like corazzina - a form of coat of plates), four bows or crossbows supplied with arrows and bolts,
and that every sailor will have to have shield, sword and helmet, under penalty of one perpera (currency) for every missing armor and the penalty of six grossis for every missing crossbow and all the other mentioned arms. Two well informed (know their swords and stuff) and honest (unbribable) men must be elected to, under oath, go and inspect every ship for the required arms, before the ships sail out of Dubrovnik. The same will be repeated on the ship's return. No kondura , barcusium or any other ship may sail out of the port of Dubrovnik before the said officials inspect it, under the penalty of 10 perpera for the patron of the ship, for each breach. Both of the officials must be given a grossis every month from now until the feast of S. Michaelis out of the communal money (budget, treasury) and half the fine.
Commentary:
Piracy, both land and naval, was an issue back in the day. This article was meant to save lives, goods, money and prestige. Lives especially, since the city and the Republic in general had a small population.
You will notice that I split the article in two. I did that to point out the following:
The ship has weapons and armor kept on it, provided by the patron/owner - five suits of armor (apparently, it's not completely crazy to wear heavy armor while at sea), four bows/crossbows with the following ammo. Naturally, the ship isn't going to use those itself to fend of pirates, the crew will.
Every sailor has personal arms - shield, sword, helmet - which he is required to own. Without it, he cannot sail. Given that the sailors belonged to the working class of the day, the ruling body of the city did not demand that they buy fully panoply, and only required the bare minimum. The only metal piece of armor a sailor had to own was a helmet.
LIBER STATUTORUM
CIVITATIS RAGUSII
LIBER OCTAVUS - LXXVIII - De armis portandis in quolibet navigio
Edit: There is an article stating the arms that must be kept on smaller ships. It's quite similar, just a bit less financially taxing on the patron. If anyone is interested, I will translate and post it. If no one is interested, I might just do it anyways.