Best Medieval War Helmet? Sallets - Italian, German & International

The sallet was one of the most versatile and successful late-medieval helmets used in war. You find different forms in different regions, but it is sometimes complicated to see where a sallet might be from, because there were international forms also. In this video we unpack the subject.

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[bullpupslife]

"The tendencies that we tend to see" is fuckin poetry, Matt.

[MRZWAGLI]

i am so dissapointed that you didn't pull out a rolling pin

[mikedittsche]

Fun fact: the backwards protruding part would often be grabbed and the sallet taken off the enemy, and then tossed away. A manoeuvre called "sallet tossing".

[masterdisaster]

Great video on great helmets ! Only thing i want to point out: You said, that german sallets were exported to Austria. However, Austria produced there own german style helmets in Innsbruck and Austria was part of the german cultural space, so they would be part of the german sallet fanclub right from the start!

[Riceball]

Would a sallet made in Italy or the Itlian style be called a Caesar sallet?

I'll see myself out now.

[Raakarapu]

Props to Matt for making historically accurate facial expressions in an event like that. I fear I’d be wearing a big old dumb smile for the duration😅

[devilsadvocate]

By far my favorite type of helmet! Been in love with it since I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a kid

[duchessskye]

Regional variations of sallets are interesting and something I've looked a bit into, though also somethign I'd like to research far more in depth. However speaking about german sallets, and german armour in general, I'd say that there seems to be a split between the more nortwestern parts of germany such as Köln and other hanseatic cities, and the more southern provinces in for example Bayern with cities such as Augsburg. While the more southern parts of germany does develop the iconic gothic styles of armour and sallets we tend to associate with them, the northern parts seem to not adopt this to as much of a degree. Art from Köln for example tends to show armour which tends to lean a bit more towards flemish features, such as pointy tops occasionally and those sorts of things. 'Generic' sallets with short tails and full visors are the standard there. And this isn't just in north germany either, similar things are seen in swiss art for example.

So I would propse rather that the iconic gothic style of sallet, while extremely german, shouldn't be thought of as the main type of sallet existing in germany since it very much does co-exist with the more generic styles. And this seems to apply for armour as a whole in germany, not just sallets.

I also have a personal hypothesis that the 'generic' sallet developed in france, but that's another discussion alltogether.

[VacuousCat]

I wanna see an episode of "Star Wars Helmets and their Medieval Counterparts"

[Alaskaalien]

My absolute favorite style of helmet ever

[vsm]

8:08 This example of a german sallet is glorious, I love the shape!

[helmort]

Matt, recently I watched an Italian movie called "The Profession of Arms"! Have you seen it? There are many scenes where the soldiers are wearing sallet helmets. Take a look at it and maybe make a video review, as it's one of the most realistic medieval movies I've ever seen!

[Philtopy]

I have learned so much about international Salad now. Thank you so much :)

[kingmaker]

Just commissioned a new Coventry style sallet ready for Tewkesbury this year. ❤

[mechhisui]

I was aware of the flared out tails on the German variants, but not the jutted out lower front secetion.
IIRC, sallets emerged in Italy first, and were later adopted by German armorers to develop their distinct style. Do the flared out tails make any difference in actual combat use, or are just purely for aesthetic purposes? I wonder if that reflects any subtle difference in tactics or terrain/adversaries German combatants found themselves in compared to their western contemporaries.

[ChristianThePagan]

It’s not just that people laser focus on German/Italian armour and relegate anything else to the books’ footnotes and appendixes. They laser focus on S-German armour. I’m still waiting for a book entitled ‘Armour of the French knight’ in three volumes 1200-1300, 1300-1400 and 1400-1500.

[sophiebaxton]

I just want to tell that I LOVE LOVE LOVE your channel! Plenty of good information, always learning something new even am not new myself into the history hobby! Keep up the good work and Thank You! ♥

[E_Reich]

Those reenactment shots are bada**. Incredible 👍🏼

[RevlikesArma]

Thank you for making this video about different kinds of Salad!

[fritzk]

I love Sallets. Thank you for covering these beautiful helmets.