THE ORIGINS OF THE SPANISH MILITARY DRUM: THE XVth CENTURY (II)
Another exceptional iconographic document in our study of military drums is the drawings that we can find in the Cronaca della Napoli Aragonese. This codex tells us the First War of Naples between the Crown of Aragon, along Castilla, with
especially from the towns and cities of the Kingdoms of Jaén and Murcia (such as Lorca, Hellín, Yeste... and other hardened in the Granada war) , against the Crown of France at the end of the 15th century, between 1494 and 1498. This is a conflict that breaks out in Italy between the
Aragonese Naples and the king of France, Charles VIII. It is narrated within
the Manuscript called Fasciculus temporum, which is currently in the Morgan
Library[1] in New York.
Link to The
Morgan Library & Museum:
https://www.themorgan.org/collection/fasciculus-temporum
This document also gives us the keys to what is happening at
this time of replacing medieval tambourine-type instruments with modern drums
in wars.
Indeed, in this conflict we can see in the iconography of the
56 drawings that were made to decorate the book the same thing instruments that we find in
the Toledo Cathedral's narrative about the conquest of Granada: tabors and
drums.
When the conflict began in 1494, the date of the start of the French invasion of Italy and the beginning of the first Italian war (Aragonese against the French, 1494-98), we can observe drums at the departure of Alfonso II from Naples, January 1495:
Detail of the departure of
Alfonso II from Naples in January 1495, with trumpets and drums, war drums and
fife. Manuscript MS M 801 107v. Source Morgan Library.
Also at the
entry of Charles VIII's French troops into that city, February 1495, the Frenchs lead their Swiss mercenaries to the sound of drums and straight cornet
(cornetto diritto) leading the troops:(cornetto diritto) leading the troops:
Detail of the entry of Charles
VIII into Naples on February 20, 1495 with the Swiss troops at the head and
their war drums and straight cornet. Manuscript MS M 801 109v. Source Morgan
Library.
In various
battles between the French and Aragonese, they carry on the battlefield a man
who plays both the tabor and the flute (or fife):
In another image, the battle of Éboli, October 1, 1495, we
find an ordinance drum playing on the right and a trumpet with the banner of
France on the left. It is clear, in my opinion, that this drum is giving
orders, perhaps to the Aragonese and that they also carry their heraldic
banner, perhaps to the French:
Following the chronology story, drums and tabors are part, along with trumpets, in the drawings of the entry of Aragon's troops into Naples, at the end of 1495:
However, we will see how the drum will be the mililitary instrument of ordinance in the unified Crown of Spain, linked to war as well to militia.
But we will follow this trail in our next
blog post. Don't miss it.
Antonio del
Carmen López Martí.
[1] Cronaca della Napoli aragonese is illustrated with about 120 pen and wash drawings of varying sizes. These drawings are of considerable interest for their detailed portrayals of contemporary personages and historical events, as well as Neapolitan life, costume and landscape. Decoration: ca. 150 pen and ink drawings, tinted with colored wash, an numerous diagrams. The illumination of M.801 is unfinished. Between fols. 128r and 145v, spaces were left for 53 drawings that were never executed.
