An Overwhelming Experience from a Renowned Sword Collector. Many enthusiasts of medieval and renaissance arms and armour have secretly longed to travel back in time, just to spend a day – to catch a glimpse – of the beautiful and functional articles of war that we find so fascinating. For those of us who lack […]
Swords are an important part of human history. From their place on the battlefield to their role in the romanticised depiction of knighthood and chivalry, even people who have no interest in collecting sword for themselves will know one if they see one. Works of art, history books, trips to the museum – you almost […]
Filling in the Blanks Ewart Oakeshott’s typology may be one of the most useful tools in documenting and understanding the Medieval arms race, but it is far from a complete picture of the development of the Medieval sword. In order to complete one’s picture of the sword, one must also look at the hilts of […]
Tracking the Medieval Arms Race Ewart Oakeshott’s (1916-2002) typology is far more than just a means for cataloguing variations on the Medieval sword. It also tells a story – a chronicle of an arms race centuries ago that pitted armorers against bladesmiths in an ongoing battle to push military technology to its limits. One cannot […]
Debunking the Myth of the Medieval Sword When it comes to the study of the Medieval sword, Ewart Oakeshott ( 25 may 1916- 30th September 2002) was arguably the man who did more than any other to bring the study of arms and armour into the 20th century as a serious field of study. […]
The origin of the expression ‘throwing down the gauntlet’ stems from medieval times and is literally a declaration of war. One look at the weapon, that often featured knuckledusters designed to maximize punishment when delivering a punch to an enemy and it’s easy to understand how the gauntlet became a symbolic call to arms. Early […]
By Eyal Azerad Simply stated, swords are made of many different types of metals, the most prevailing being steel. Although a proper steel is required for creating a high quality sword, many technical considerations, such as how the steel was prepared and processed, should also be factored. The following article will examine the most common […]
By Eyal Azerad During the early Middle Ages, the primary metal available for the manufacture of swords was derived from bloomery iron, made by heating iron ore with charcoal in small furnaces. While sufficient for some applications, the finished iron was plagued with slag inclusions that weakened the metal, rendering a sword blade that […]
An analysis of edge sharpness during the middle ages It is one of those devilish questions that can confound people even today: how sharp was a Medieval sword? The problem lies with the question – there is an underlying assumption that when it comes to how they are used, Medieval swords can be generalized […]