Uncovering Some Facts Regarding Medieval Swords
With many people today looking for Medieval swords for sale, it is clear that these swords are the favorites for many. But, I never appreciate just purchasing and using them, but remaining unaware of the facts and history behind them.
You don’t respect the weapons unless you understand and explore the history behind it. I have come with certain important facts regarding Medieval sword that every enthusiast must be aware of. So, let me take you to the Medieval times.
The most important weapon for a knight was his sword. During the medieval times, the swords were used for battling the enemies. However, depending on the situations in the wars, different types of Medieval swords were used.
Some of them included Shortsword, Broadsword, and Longsword. For instances, a knight tended to use an arming sword during 11the century, which was a European sword. Medieval sword changed as the medieval era progressed. Swords were improved with respect to technology as the new metals were used for their construction.
These swords were designed for specific uses. For example, a few of them were used for quick movements like cutting and thrusting actions while some of them were designed for lighter movements required during the battles.
Fighting Styles with Medieval Swords
The fighting styles with the Medieval sword were considered less elegant, but highly brutal, compared to the sword of the Renaissance. But, it was the very first time a combat technique determined the self defense art in the history of Europe.
This fighting style was adopted by the German and Italian training disciplines. It encouraged blocking rather than footwork, armor protection, better shield and mastering the art of counter cutting. Counter cutting was a method of applying both the defensive and offensive techniques in tandem. Also, it was intended to refine the rapier and rash moves that were considered essential in the battlefield.
In the Medieval era, the most common sword was the Longsword, and was often the only available weapon. However, the aristocracy were only allowed to own this sword. The length of this sword was 1.2 m while it weighed around 2.5 kg.
The types of sword also defined the fighting style. The longsword had a greater cruciform hilt, and it was held with both hands. It took the warriors to a fighting style they called half-swording. In this style, the fighters tended to placed on hand on the hilt and the other on the blade for better control over the sword.
Other combat areas that were frequent incorporated fighting with the help of pole weapons and daggers. The pole weapons were fenced with one-handed sword, and a buckler which was a sort of shield.
Types of Medieval Swords
i) Broadsword
The Broadsword was among the most popular medieval swords. They were lightweight and advantageous during battles. They were designed to slash the enemies in a pretty easy manner, but with some training. It was also the earliest sword of that era.
The sword had a couple of edges with the blade of around 3 inches width. The length of this popular sword was around 40 inches while it weighed between 3 to 5 pounds.
ii) Bastard Sword
The Bastard sword was the most favored sword of the knights due to its flexibility, lightness and reach during combats. They could use it with one hand because it was easy to swap from one hand to the other and could be used with a two hands grip for gaining more power.
The flexibility offered by this sword made it a popular choice. So, the users could get more control, power and reach in just one weapon. There was a tapering blade of great length which served thrusting actions. It was also called a Longsword.
With a length around 50 inches, Longsword was considered one of the larger weapons. It could serve both stabbing and cutting actions. This sword was more common in the European nations during 13th and 15th century. The sword had a weight of 2.4 kg while the length was around 1.3 metres.
iii) Arming Sword
Before the Longsword made its way in the Medieval period, the Arming sword was the top weapon for knights. This is why it is sometimes called the knightly sword. It was often used with a buckler or shield, and could be gripped with a single hand.
Before 1300 BC, it was pretty popular. The sword features a horizontal bar among the blade and the hilt that allowed to secure the hands. This sword was excellent for both thrusting and cutting actions because of a great length of 80 cm.
iv) Falchion Sword
The Falchion sword was a frightening weapon used during the 11th century, and served mainly in the wars. It was a single handed weapon with just one edge, and was effective in close quarter combats.
It had a sharp edge on one side with a curved blade. The blade was curved to make a sharp point on the end. The falchion swords were in fact of two types, including the cusped and cleaver falchion swords. The cusped falchion was curved while the cleaver falchion looked like a machete.
v) Claymore Sword
The Claymore Sword was also called Great sword. It was used by William Wallace who in fact made it famous. The name of this sword came from Gaelic, which literally means Great Sword.
The Scottish Highlanders often used this sword for battling. It was a large sized, two handed sword, the length of which was measured as around 70 inches. Also, the handle of this sword had a length of 21 inches. This sword was weighty as well, and usually weighed between 6 to 10 lbs.
There was an enhanced handle that allowed the user to use the blade with two hands.
Knights - The Skillful Swordsmen
Identifying the types and fighting styles of Medieval swords, it is necessary to uncover how knights used and trained themselves with these swords. Honestly, there was an immense level of skill required to use them.
The knights first had to understand the warfare strategy that played a fundamental role. The knights tended to spend greater spans of time for training in order to become expert swordsmen. There were some specified places for training, known as Pell.
The training allowed them to practice vicious smanoeuvers and strokes with the sword, for example, slicing, cutting, and thrusting without causing an injury to themselves. So, as the Medieval swords were special, the warriors i-e knights who held these swords were extremely skillful to use them efficiently during the battles.
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