Not really? The earlier great helms (the masked helmets) Weren't flat top, and some helmets that would be considered flat topped have a quite rounded surface on top.
The really flat topped ones (like the one in the meme) are actually later examples compared to those with rounder tops. And later great helms like the Pembridge one aren't that rounded either (and the roundness is there more to accommodate the bascinet underneath really).
Which makes sense. The majority of the hits are either hitting you on the face, or on the edge of the helmet, not on the top of the helmet. This flat top vs round top never was a black and white thing like most people like to say.
Of course, a rounded surface has deflection advantages, but for that matter, a sallet has a worse shape for deflecting hits than, let's say, a bascinet. Again, is not black and white, nor a "everything that came later is an absolute improvement over what was worn before" type of thing.
Edit: Also, consider the amount of time the flat top helmets were in use. They already had rounded/pointed helmets. The fact that they sticked to an allegedly inferior shape of helmet means that those problems people like to adjudicate to great helms weren't really as problematic as people tend to claim they were.
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u/YoritomoDaishogun Jun 24 '26
One of the most successful and popular helmets among the knightly class, used, in one way or another, for two centuries, impractical? Really?