art-of-swords:

Gauntlet Dagger

  • Dated: 19th century
  • Culture: Indian
  • Medium: steel
  • Measurements: L. 22 in. (55.9 cm); W. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 14.8 oz. (873.2 g)

Source: Copyright © 2014 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

(via art-of-swords-deactivated201705)

art-of-swords:

‘Bank’ Dagger

  • Dated: circa 1800
  • Place of Origin: India
  • Measurements: overall length: 7.5inches (190mm)

Used for close quarter combat, the inside edge is very sharp, and the lamination’s and temper lines can be seen clearly on the surface of the steel. The grip is made from Elephant Ivory scales.

Apparently it is highly unusual to find one of these daggers with a scabbard, and this one is in good condition; this one features circular patterns matching the decoration on the grips. A split spine to allow the blade to be drawn in and out.

Source: Copyright © 2014 Akaal Arms

(via art-of-swords-deactivated201705)

art-of-swords:

Swiss Long Dagger 

  • Dated: early 16th century
  • Measurements: overall length 55.3 cm

The dagger features a slender blade of flattened diamond section tapering to a narrow point, struck with a mark on one side, and a small hunting horn formed with a short ricasso. It has an iron hilt of characteristic type, and a guard formed with a pronounced ridge over the base, extended very slightly in a lip over the base of the blade and coming to flattened rear-swept points. The pommel is made en suite and fitted with modern wooden grip.

Source: Copyright © 2014 Hermann Historica

(via armsandarmor)

eneiesef:
“A woodcut of a soldier.
”

eneiesef:

A woodcut of a soldier.

(via armsandarmor)

peashooter85:

Medieval Tank Warfare—- The Hussite War Wagon,

In the early 1400’s a Czech priest named Jan Huss began to preach a theology of reform within the Catholic Church.  Like Martin Luther 100 years later, Huss heavily criticized the corruption and abuse of church officials at the time.  Immediately Huss gained the loyalty of a large number of followers in the Czech Kingdom and Bohemia.  The Catholic Church declared Huss to be a heretic, excommunicated him in 1411, and ordered the Hussite movement quashed.

The Hussites formed an hasty army as Catholic kingdoms in Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, and Eastern Europe rallied to destroy the Hussite movement.  The Hussites were badly outnumbered and outgunned, especially when their enemies were the famous Teutonic Knights.  The Hussite Army however was drawn mostly from conscripted peasants who had little military experience.  It didn’t seem like the Hussites could stand a chance against the might of the Catholics.

With their enemies closing in the Hussites would turn to a brilliant Czech general named Jan Zizka, whose battlefield tactics would shock medieval Europe and would foretell the nature of warfare over 500 hundred years later.

Zizka knew his men could not stand alone against heavily armored knights and men-at-arms.  To give his army an edge Zizka ordered the construction of scores of “war wagons”.  These large wagons were covered on all sides giving the men inside protection in combat, and also had portholes from which the soldiers inside could fire from.  Zizka created two different types of wagons, “battlewagons” and “infantry carriers”.  Battlewagons would hold about a dozen men who were armed with crossbows, handgonnes (a primitive musket), and one or two small cannon.  The infantry carrier would hold 2 to 3 dozen regular footsolders armed with pikes and halberds.  The wagons were made so that they could be pushed into battle rather than pulled, thus giving the horses cover in combat.

If this sounds awesome already, how he used these wagons in battle is even more incredible.  Zizka would order the battlewagons first.  Like mighty armored tanks the battlewagons would bash through the enemy line, ripping gaping holes in their formations with its cannon, guns, and crossbows.  The infantry wagons would then race in and drop their doors, allowing the infantry to rush out and storm the weakened enemy positions.  When being attacked, Zizka ordered his wagons to form a circle, creating an improvised defensive position much like circled wagons in an Old Western movie.

Modern armored warfare doctrine today calls for similar tactics, with heavily armored tanks smashing enemy lines while mobile infantry in armored vehicles would race in to storm enemy positions.  These were the tactics that made generals like Guderian, Rommel, and Patton famous. These were also the tactics used by the US military in the Persian Gulf War and Operation Enduring Freedom. Essentially Zizka had developed armored mobile warfare 500 years before the tank and armored personnel carrier, while using Medieval technology.

In the 1420’s Jan Zizka won battle after battle, crushing every army sent to quell the Hussite Rebellion.  In fact in his career Zizka never lost a major engagement.  Using tactics that were 500 years ahead of their time, the enemies of the Hussite’s did not stand a chance.  Unfortunately neither did the Hussite movement stand a chance as well.  At the height of their power the Hussites fell into civil war between radical and moderate factions.  Although Zizka would lead the moderates to victory, the Hussites were greatly weakened and could not stand another attack by Catholic forces.  A peace accord was drawn up between the Catholic Church and the Hussites, instituting some token reforms in Bohemia and the Czech Kingdom.  Soon after in 1424 Jan Zizka would die of the black plague.  A celebrated Czech national hero, his legacy lives on with the modern tactics and strategies of military’s of the world. 

(via armsandarmor)

art-of-swords:
“Why a sword feels right
• by Randy McCall
Many readers will have had the experience of shopping for modern, practical cutting swords, both replicas of ancient swords and modern designs. One of the most common tips given to new...

art-of-swords:

Why a sword feels right

  • by Randy McCall

Many readers will have had the experience of shopping for modern, practical cutting swords, both replicas of ancient swords and modern designs. One of the most common tips given to new sword-shoppers is to pick up and try out many different swords “until you find one that feels right for you”. Rarely is any explanation given for precisely what this means.

Shoppers presume it has something to do with whether the hilt is the right size for their hand, or that it has something to do with the sword’s “balance”… whatever that is.

Some lucky few will have had the chance to handle high quality antique weapons.  Those who have are often shocked that these blades — often of the same weight and length as the modern replica blade they use at home — have a completely different “feel”.

Often master blades seem lighter than than their actual weight, with a sense of “liveliness” (easy to rotate in the hand), and with the feeling to make almost effortless cuts or thrusts. This isn’t to criticize the sword makers of today — there are master swordsmiths around the world — but to demonstrate the skill and genius of the weapon makers of old.

The basic question then is why is there a difference between how these swords feel, and how can a sword practitioner use this knowledge to their advantage? There have been a number of papers, articles and discussion threads on this topic, often delving into physics formula to define and explain mathematically how and why a sword feels, moves and strikes as it does.

One of the main resources for this will be “Dynamics of Hand-Held Impact Weapons” by George Turner; a fairly technical exploration of the physics behind why swords handle as they do (and an indispensable resource for those interested in designing good swords). There are also several other articles, plus web forum discussion threads, which explore this area which we’ll draw on.

Never fear though; we’ll leave the calculations behind and focus on the practical applications. Those who wish to see the maths can check the links in the Sources section.

So, let’s start off with a few basics. We’ll presume that the swords you’re looking at are well designed, have properly sized hilt grips, etc., so we can ignore the ergonomic factors.

A sword has several physical characteristics which can affect both its feel in the hand and how it handles. Let’s take a look at these, along with examples of how you would check these while inspecting your blade…

[ CONTINUE READING… ]

Source: Copyright © 2014 The Art of Cutting

(via chivalry-lives33-deactivated202)

art-of-swords:

Hand and a Half Sword with the coat of arms of the Holstein family of Reventlow

  • Dated: 1563
  • Culture: probably North German
  • Measurements: overall lenght 124.5 cm; handle lenght 22 cm; weight: approximately 1.6kg

The dated on the blade is referring to the The Northern Seven Years’ War between the Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Lübeck and the Polish–Lithuanian union. The sword was part of a collection of weapons which was sold in Denmark, Gaunö, 1930.

The handle is composed of a wood grip with leather wrap and bell shaped pommel to act as a counter weight. The guard is simple set of straight quillons (22 cm wide) which has also a clam shell guard.

The blade is double edged with part of the reverse side holding an edge. The blade has a single fuller on either side and is inscribed with “NEC TEMERENEC TIMIDE AD 1563” and “INTER ARMA SILENT LEGE”. Close to the guard you can also find several marking on either side of the blade and also the coat of arms on one side.

Source: Copyright © 2014 Antiques Armoury

Yet another to the wish list…

(via art-of-swords-deactivated201705)

tensetrips:
“ Franz Schmidt, or “Master Franz” was the most well-documented executioner of the German middle ages. His father Heinrich was a woodman from the town of Hof in Bavaria who was forced to hang three men under penalty of his own death from...

tensetrips:

Franz Schmidt, or “Master Franz” was the most well-documented executioner of the German middle ages. His father Heinrich was a woodman from the town of Hof in Bavaria who was forced to hang three men under penalty of his own death from the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. As a result of this action, Heinrich was condemned to become a hangman for life.  Under his father’s supervision, Franz became executioner in Bamberg at the age of 18 in the year 1573. He maintained a diary which chronicles the 361 executions and 345 other punishments he inflicted on criminals during his lifetime. This drawing in the margins of a court record is the only depiction of Franz which was rendered in his lifetime.

(via mikestumblrfeed)

lamus-dworski:

TYPES OF POLISH WAR SABRES FROM THE 16th TO THE 18th CENTURIES, from: Wojciech Zabłocki “Cięcia Prawdziwą Szablą” (1989) [source]

And now sabers!

(via mikestumblrfeed)