The collection of arms and armour in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is one of the finest in England, and ranks just behind the royal and national collections in terms of the range and quality of its material. The majority of the items come from the bequest of J.S. Henderson, a collector who bought extensively in the 1920s; he owned a group of pieces from the armoury of the Princes Radziwill at Niescwiecz in Poland, and other items from this source have subsequently been given to the museum. The strength of the exhibits is therefore in German and North Italian armours of the sixteenth century, mostly for field use but with some tournament and parade armours.
Full descriptions for each piece, together with provenance (where known) and physical details are given, as well as comparisons with pieces in other collections.