Rüst- und Jagdkammern in österreichischen Stiften

Abstract

In the field of historic weaponry research the significance of armory and hunting collections in Austrian abbeys has so far remained unnoticed. The reason for this may be attributed to the fact that the battle with mental arms, but not real action in combat, is well accredited to monasteries. However, in the course of history, monasteries were often confronted with such actions and, as landowners, they often had to take military precautions at the base. This required armories to equip mercenaries whom sovereigns in case of conflict supplied. With the rise of standing armies such armories became less relevant and eventually disappeared. The abbots and provosts, however, were also masters of the hunt, which made the formation of hunting collections for costly hunts in the Baroque period very essential. At these hunts the sovereigns would often participate as a guest. The historic interest in the 19th century led to a new focus on the remains of historic armory in abbey museums, which in the 21st century only attract little attention. The present research paper provides an overview of the growing and fading process these weapons have witness in the course of history by focusing on some larger monasteries in Austria.