This armor can be identified by its decoration as having
belonged to Pedro II (reigned 1683–1706). The decoration
includes the crowned monogram PR for Pedro Rex (Pedro the King)
and the cross of the commander of the Order of Christ, a
hereditary office held by the kings of Portugal.Harquebusiers
were armored cavalrymen generally equipped with a carbine (known
as a harquebus) carried at the right side on a shoulder belt, a
pair of pistols holstered at the front of the saddle, and a
sword. This form of armor, consisting of a triple-barred helmet,
a cuirass with a bulletproof reinforcing breastplate, and an
elbow gaunlet, was commonplace in England up to about 1645. The
armor of King Pedro is significant not only as a very late
example of this type but also as the probable work of the London
armorer Richard Holden. A very similar armor made by Holden in
1686 for James II of England (reigned 1685–88) is in the Royal
Armouries in the Tower of London. The armor is shown with an
associated buff coat. This sturdy lea