Freitag, 3. März 2017

Siege of Neuss -Part XXIII

Mounted Burgundian nobleman



The following book with essays not only about the siege itself but also about contemporary Burgundian politics as well as Burgundian arts and music has an interesting chapter about uniforms. I was mostly under the impression before that uniform-like colouring/clothing was not very common in the Holy Roman empire at that time with few notable exceptions like militia of large imperial cities. 
However, according to the author it was not uncommon for the nobility or the towns to equip "their" troops with clothing items in the same colour. For the "Reichsheer", the imperial relief force on its way to Neuss, there are several contemporary examples about the different colours used: The arrival of the force of the Bishop of Strasbourg appeared to a witness in Cologne like "a red cloud" for their uniform red clothing. The troops of the Duke of Saxony were also dressed in red as well as the contingent of the Bishop of Mainz. Heinrich of Schwarzenburg dressed his troops in grey doublets. The troops of Aachen were dressed in blue and red clothing. The "Reichsstadt" Frankfurt tried to impress Friedrich III by sending their men dressed in red completely and having two chevrons stitched to their left arms. 1.500 men sent by the city of Cologne were issued red and white shirts. All in all, it must have been a very colourful sight and the idea of uniform colours to distinguish between friend and foe - the "livree" - might not have been so uncommon during the siege.



16 Kommentare:

  1. Excellent! Your work on the armor and on the horse is outstanding!

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  2. Lovely paintwork.
    If I can find some way of getting a translation from German, I'm so keen to purchase that book, so I can plan a Neuss game.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. If you ever going to put your plans into practice, let me know, I would be happy to make a contribution!

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  3. I love this journey you made throughout some years in recreating this siege force so much. The backstory is a lot of fun to read. Is there any chance you will share some pictures of everything so far set up?

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    1. Thanks, maybe If I finish my scenery ...;-)

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    2. Haha, you should get on that because I love your work. I'm actually working on my own medieval army (bit earlier time period than yours) and very inspired by these and the models in your header too.

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  4. Interesting re the urban colours - the Berne Chronicle illustrations show the men of Strasbourg all attired in red and white, when setting out for Neuss, I recall.

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    1. Could be possible, there are only a few pages in the book about the military dress and the author relies on written statements from contemporary chronicles rather than on illustrations...

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    2. http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/bbb/Mss-hh-I0003/150

      Stefan - here's the link. Will let you know id any plans come to fruition next year....

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  5. Beautiful paint work, please keep the Neuss details coming, I can't read German but find the details about this campaign fascinating.

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    1. Thanks, Oli, unfortunately there is not much literature about the events of that time in English...

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