Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms and Armor from the State of Styria

Military Developments under Archduke Karl II

Portrait of Archduke Karl II of Inner Austria, by Martino Rota, 1576; Joanneum Graz, Alte Galerie. Photo: Matthias Wimler
Martino Rota of Italy, a court artist in Vienna, depicts Karl II wearing a suit of armor similar to one made for him by Anton Peffenhauser in about 1563.

During the 16th century, Austria was almost constantly in a state of war. The defeat of Hungary and death of King Ludwig II at the battle of Mohács in 1526 meant that Austria faced the Turkish threat in the east alone. This resulted in further fortification of Styria and the creation of a military buffer zone in Croatia. The head of this activity from 1564 to 1590 was Archduke Karl II, youngest son of Emperor Ferdinand I.

Field armor of Archduke Karl II; made in Augsburg, c.1565, by Conrad Richter; Joanneum Graz, Landeszeughaus. Photo: Michael Oberer
Richter probably made this armor for Karl's 1566 campaign against the Ottomans. It is distinguished by its elegant lines. The folding, shock-absorbing lancecrest and cutaway pauldron enabled a lance to be firmly set or "couched" under the arm.

Styria held the overall responsibility for this defense. As a result, the number of Styrian armorers and weapons-makers reached a new high, and their output was supplemented by products imported from southern Germany.

The troops defending the empire consisted of cavalry and infantry, and fought in Styria and on the frontier. They were backed up by more lightly armored horsemen, equipped with portable firearms made possible by the invention of the wheel-lock ignition early in the century. Foot-soldiers used the shoulder-fired harquebus and later the musket. The appearance of firearms forced armorers to make heavier bullet-resistant armor, particularly to protect the head and chest. Infantrymen wearing half armors and carrying long, spear-like weapons called pikes, were used to protect the unarmored musketeers while they reloaded, a time-consuming process. Other foot-soldiers, armed with two-handed swords, had the task of cutting a breech for their comrades through enemy formations.

Musketeer from Waffenhandlung von den Roren, Musquetten undt Spiessen, by Jacob de Gheyn, 1607; Joanneum Graz, Landeszeughaus. Photo: Matthias Wimler
This popular military manual contained weapons drills for the pikeman, the musketeer and the harquebusier. It was illustrated by Jacob Jacques de Gheyn, a Netherlander, and was distributed throughout Europe. The musket was more accurate and had a greater range than the harquebus, but its long barrel often required a forked rest to support its weight.