What did it look like to be a musketeer? What was a musket, and what was war like? Sadly, some of the source information on these images is difficult to find, and I saved them so long ago—back in 2002—that I no longer remember where they’re from. They still provide some visualization of what it meant to be a musketeer in the seventeenth century.
Musketeer, firing
A musketeer, after firing his weapon. Watercolor by Jacob de Gheyn II, from a 1608 edition of “The Exercise of Arms.”
The Siege of Breda
Detail from Map of the Siege of Breda, the Netherlands, 1625, Jacques Callot. Ca. 1625-1626
Duel of the Musketeers
Seventeenth century mounted musket duel.
Wheellock musket
Wheellock musket, engraving.
Louis XIII Wheellock
Wheellock of French King Louis XIII.
Wheellock elaboration
This is the kind of elaboration that made wheellocks popular even after the flintlock.
