Military History Photo Friday: Filipino Weapons and Armor of the Nineteenth Century

The Museo Naval in Madrid has a fine collection of artifacts from Spain's Golden Age of Sail. One of hte more unusual collections is this set of Filipino weapons and armor. The Philippines were a Spanish colony for many years, and the Filipino people fought against the Spanish for their independence. The Americans inherited this war when they took the Philippines from Spain in the Spanish-American war of 1898.

 

All of these weapons and bits of armor date to the nineteenth century. They show some elaborate designs, some of which appear to have been influenced by the Chinese. Needless to say, they weren't much good against Spanish rifles and cannons.

For more images of the Museo Naval, see a post I recently did for the Black Gate blog. My son also posted some of his own pictures on his blog Remote Islands and Stuff.