12/4/2023 0 Comments Medieval swords types![]() ![]() Small Buckler Shields Sword Fight Bastard Sword Advantages The bastard sword also had a long tapering blade that was good for thrusting actions lansing out the sword at your enemy and you could easily switch between using the sword blade and the handle as weapons as shown in the image above.īastard swords could be used in a similar way to other medieval weapons such as staff or quarterstaff. It is the flexibility that the bastard sword offered that made it such a good weapon to use, the bastard sword gave you superior reach, good control, and good power all in one weapon. The bastard sword however gave you the choice of using one or two hands which gave a superior grip. In battle, the bastard sword would have been a good choice of weapon, it was better than a sword that was designed as a one-handed weapon as they were usually heavier which made it harder to get a firm grip. Medieval swords like the bastard sword were created by molding the metal from scratch by heating and shaping it, they were not made as is often thought by shaping a cold piece of metal that had already been prepared. These skilled medieval Craftsmen would “Smith” the blade of a bastard sword, this took a lot of skill and years of training as the blade-smiths would carefully shape and temper the metal into shape, and the steel would be finely crafted. īlacksmith * blade-smiths *swordsmiths *Swordsman ![]() It required very skilled craftsmen to make medieval swords such as the bastard sword.Ĭraftsmen who could make swords like the bastard sword would have specialised in making these types of medieval swords, they were called blade-smiths, swordsmiths, blacksmiths, or just smiths they were also known as a swordsman. Most medieval weapons such as axes, bows, and spears could be made by most craftsmen, however, making a sword like the bastard sword was an entirely different matter. The bastard sword was a favoured weapon of Medieval knights because of its lightness, reach and flexibility in combat situations, it could be used as a one-handed weapon, easily swapped from hand to hand, or used with a two-handed grip for maximum power. The bastard sword had a two-edged blade that tapered into a point and weighed around 5-8 pounds, it was usually around 40 to 48 inches in length. The bastard sword also had a long thin long blade that tapered into a point. The long hilt 10-15 inches in length mainly distinguishes the bastard sword from other medieval swords. The crossguard is the straight piece of metal just before the start of the blade, the grip is the part of the handle that you hold onto and the pommel is the part right at the bottom of the handle which is usually a rounded shape. Bastard Sword PartsĪ bastard sword had a long hilt the hilt refers to the handle part of a sword including the crossguard, grip, and pommel. “The name Bastard sword is just a modern way to classify this type of sword, medieval people did not use the term bastard sword and all different types of swords were just known to them as “swords”. This also means that the bastard sword did not fit into the one-handed or two-handed sword category exactly because it could be used in either way, there were also variations of the bastard sword, some had longer handles than others and different adaptations were made on the hilt for example. Literally, all these names refer to the same thing, which is a long sword with a long handle used with one or two hands. The bastard sword was probably known and recognised as a long sword or a big sword by medieval people as the name Bastard sword had not been invented to describe this type of sword until after the medieval period had ended.Ī bastard sword could also have been described as a long sword, hand & half sword, or two-handed sword amongst other names that it probably had. In historical documents, it has been described as being both a one-handed and two-handed sword by different chroniclers. Joseph Swetnam the historically famous fencing master described the bastard sword as being somewhere in between being an arming sword and a long sword. It is difficult to categorise the Bastard sword but military historians seem settled on the fact that this sword was somewhere in between a short sword and a long sword, the bastard sword carries some uncertainty in regards to its origins and is often described as an irregular type sword. The English Bastard sword is known as the épée bâtarde sword in France, it became popular at the end of the medieval period at the start of the 15th century. ![]()
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