Antwerp Shooting Festival, 1493
As a number of my friends in the SCA head to an archery-focused event today, I thought it would be fun to share this archery-themed piece from the late 15th century. Sure, it’s somewhat outside the time range I focus on with this page, but I think you’ll enjoy the details.
The schuttersgilden, i.e. the “shooters’ guilds were organized civic militias with roots dating back to the High Middle Ages in cities across the Low Countries.
While each had specific responsibilities, by the Late Middle Ages into the Renaissance, they were as much important statements of social prestige as they were night watchmen, firefighters, bodyguards, etc.
And importantly: membership in a schutterij also exempted you from compulsory military duties if the able-bodied men of the city were called up to defend it or be sent in the service of the local lord. Phew!
The shooters’ guilds would gather for regular festivals. In this piece by the anonymous Master of Frankfurt, we see the gathering of four of Antwerp’s schuttersgilden: the Old and New Longbow guilds and the Old and New Crossbow guilds.
Antwerp would also see the creation of two more “shooters’ guilds” in the late 1400s: one for firearms and a guild of infantrymen, originally armed with halberds. They are not depicted here.
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📖 History, 🎨 art, & 🎲 games from the Renaissance Netherlands & Europe 1549-1619
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This piece is still on display in the old guild hall in Antwerp. It can be seen online via the Flemish Art Collection: