In 1648, gunpowder and firearms had become standard on the battlefield. So naturally, people started inventing ways to deal with the new threats. Enter: the siege helmet.
This beast of a helmet (8 kilograms!) was dug up in Ternat in 1814, during works on the road between Asse and Enghien. Back in the day it was probably worn by sappers — military engineers who’d dig trenches to get close to enemy fortifications and blow them up from below. Quite the dangerous job: think being under fire while trying to dig your way toward a castle wall. Fun.
That’s why they wore extra-armoured helmets like this one. Heavy, yes, but better than taking a musket ball to the face or catching flying masonry when the wall you’re undermining decides to collapse.
Scary Movie medieval edition
And still they were all smiles.
To this day still the most exciting thing ever to be found in Ternat.
5 comments
Lovers of history, unite! Your friendly neigbourhood museum is here to tell you yet another story!
Trenches, flying bullets, explosions and shrapnel everywhere… Sounds like WWI, right?
Yeah… but try the 1600s.
On 15 May 1648 (that’s today, 377 years ago), the [Peace of Münster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_M%C3%BCnster) ended the [Eighty Years’ War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War) between Spain and the Dutch Republic. And while it’s easy to associate trench warfare with the 20th century, similar tactics and weapons were already in play *centuries* earlier.
In 1648, gunpowder and firearms had become standard on the battlefield. So naturally, people started inventing ways to deal with the new threats. Enter: the siege helmet.
This beast of a helmet (8 kilograms!) was dug up in Ternat in 1814, during works on the road between Asse and Enghien. Back in the day it was probably worn by sappers — military engineers who’d dig trenches to get close to enemy fortifications and blow them up from below. Quite the dangerous job: think being under fire while trying to dig your way toward a castle wall. Fun.
That’s why they wore extra-armoured helmets like this one. Heavy, yes, but better than taking a musket ball to the face or catching flying masonry when the wall you’re undermining decides to collapse.
Scary Movie medieval edition
And still they were all smiles.
To this day still the most exciting thing ever to be found in Ternat.
These pictures make it look like a 3D model.
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