Medieval Weapons

Valentine’s Day is the ultimate celebration of love.  The origin of this day of love is obscure; it is thought to be named after St. Valentine, a Roman priest, who lived during the time of the persecution of the early Christians.  Valentine supposedly married young Christians when the government sought to prevent their marriage to stymie the growth of Christianity.  All the information regarding the love-day is fable.  Regardless of how Valentine’s day came to be celebrated by lovers,  romance has existed since the beginning of time.

Marriage and love in feudal Europe presented some unusual customs and rituals which we do not experience in our modern world.  If a vassal or bondman from a certain manor wanted to marry a woman from another manor, he had to give the lord of that manor a brass pan in compensation; and the pan had to be of such a size that the bride could sit in it without undue compression.  That tradition was probably the result of a rich merchant that ordered too many large brass pans.

Witnesses to weddings often would hit one another to impress the occasion on their memories in case they might be called on to attest to the validity of the marriage.  In Medieval times there were no formal records.   Uncle Brun readily could remember  the occasion of Attila and Matilda’s nuptials because , Aunt Maud broke his right jaw.  The passing of the ring which symbolized the union in Medieval Europe is still a tradition today.

All Medieval dwellings were very cold.  Lovemaking was possibly limited during the winter.  When spring came, it roused people to a pagan frenzy.  The sun shone and lusty blood flowed. Lovers took to the fields, freed from the crowded houses where whole families often lived.  Most love poems were written in the spring; such the modern term, “spring fever.”

One tradition from the Middle ages that is still around today is the toast to love.  All classes had access to some form of celebratory beverages.  The nobility had wine, and the lower classes had beer and ale.  I really believe that young peasants knew how the nobility’s wine was made; and I will wager that many a bottle was made and consumed in the spring fields during a lovers picnic.   During the marriage ceremony the bride and groom toasted each other with the finest Medieval Chalices that were available. Glass was not readily available in Medieval Europe so silver, gold or pewter was used for the wedding toast.   Often they were borrowed from the church.

Love is the most wonderful thing on the face of the earth, and it was the same during the Middle Ages.  No one told them that they were living during depressed times; they believed that they were a very advanced society.  Slow down and enjoy the celebration of love.  Toast your lover, go on a picnic, propose, eat chocolate, smell the roses, write a poem of love and take a large brass pot to your beloved home and let her sit in it.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Are you expecting a magical gift from the love of your life or from the love of the moment?  How do present day lovers  compare with those true knights in shining armor?  Was the Medieval male a passionate slave to his love  or did he regard the  woman of his life as his slave?

According to Belle Tuten, a renown Medieval historian, love and courtly love were  very important in the life of the Medieval male.  He explores the subject with the following description:

“  Medieval literature is full of stylized, “courtly” language speaking of love and desire.  A suitor’s flowery prose expressed his hope of winning the lady of his choice.  Courtly love poetry-frequently addressed to a woman who was completely out of reach-tolerated and may have even encouraged, love outside marriage, as in the stories of Guinevere and Lancelot and of Tristan and Iseult.  There were also real-life examples: Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his Book of the Duchess(1369) for Blanche, duchess of Lancaster; at whose death he mourned the “siknesse (i.e. unrequited love) that I have suffred this eight yere.”

Such devotion could be taken to extremes.  Ulrich von Lichtenstein, a noble Austrian who died around 1275, wrote a poem–partly fact and partly fiction–describing the activities of the perfect courtly lover.  Among Ulrich’s extravagant gifts was one of his fingers, sent to his lady-love with a book of poems.  He also underwent a dangerous operation to repair his harelip, hoping to appear more handsome for her even though they had never met.  After he had camped outside her house for some time, the lady finally agreed to see him.  But when he begged her for more than a greeting, she replied sternly: “Nay your courage may not aspire so far as that I should lay you here by my side . . .. My lord and master shall live ever free from fear lest I should love another man than he.”

There are many other examples of courtly love as practiced in Medieval Europe.  We will explore some of those courts of the past in the next few days before the great day of “love.”

Readers of this blog are probably asking what do these three things have in common?  Footballs are pigskin balls that young men use to play a popular game.    Lances and swords on the other hand are ancient weapons that were utilized in many wars of the past.

Being very good at playing football entitles young men to many privileges.  Highschool football players are some of the most popular boys around.  At least that is the situation in the southern United States.  These athletes are even more revered in college.   It requires a certain toughness to play football, and it is likely one of the most dangerous sports.

In the Middle Ages, there were sports that nobles enjoyed watching as much as we enjoy football.  These were tournaments which were thrilling but potentially dangerous for the contestants just like football.  Christien de Troyes remarked in Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion, that “people are wont to rush up when they are eager to see swordplay.”

Some of the participants in this ancient sport were sons who would not inherit property or a title because they were not the first son.  Often they participated in tournaments to make money just like our professional footballs players today.  One of the most famous of these professional sword fighters was William Marsechal.  Because he was the most powerful man with a sword, he acquired a castle and land through a marriage to a wealthy noble woman.  Medieval times were not so different than the modern day. A powerful athlete often attracts money and beauty.

 Many times wealthy young men played the game just for love of the sport or to prove their superiority in arms.  The Plantagenets, a famous ruling family, of Medieval Britain participated in this dangerous sport.  Richard the Lionheart was an avid participant in swordplay games and also jousting.  He usually won.  His brother, Geoffrey, however, was not so lucky; he was killed in a tournament .  He suffered a broken neck when he was knocked from his horse with a lance.  Had he not been addicted to this dangerous sport, the Plantagenet line of ruling monarchs would likely have been much changed.  Richard, who became King of England was killed in a trivial skirmish at a very young age.  Geoffrey would probably have acceded to  the the throne at his brother’s death, and since he had children they would have been in line to rule the British Empire.

Things change but not dramatically.  Certainly we live in a different age; we play different games than the Medieval athlete.  The results of being great at a sport still apply.  Rewards are waiting for the “best of the best.”

The Vikings gave their swords names such as ‘Gramr’ (fierece), and ‘Fotbitr’ (legbitr).  Viking swords were also valuable family heirlooms, and were passed down from father to son.  They were decorated with gold and valuable stones set in the hilt. 

The Norse sagas are full of accounts of combat using swords.  The Lausaviser, a Norwegian epic,  recounts the story of the revenge of Einar, son of Ragnvald.  Ragnvald was a chieftain who ruled in Orkney around 860.  He was burnt to death in his own house by two of Harald Fairhair’s sons.  Einar fought with one son, Halfdan Halegga, and killed him.  Halegga was found the next morning on the side of a hill and his back had the shape of an eagle cut into it with a sword.  The ribs had been separated from the backbone and the lungs had been pulled out on either side to represent an eagle’s wings.  This was Einar’s victory sacrifice to Odin. 

The Viking blades were most often pattern-welded.  The pattern-welded technique was accomplished by the smith welding together long strips of iron and steel.  Then he forged them into square-sectioned rods, which he twisted or folded and welded together in groups of three or four.  These were used for the central core of the blade.  The edges of the blade were then welded to it.  After grinding and polishing, the twists and folds of the core pattern were brought out with acid. 

The crossguard was very simple.  There was elaborate decoration on the pommel.

The Vikings were some  of the most feared and highly regarded warriors of any age.  These Viking  swords with a soul were a mighty extension of the legend of the Norsemen.  Many reenactors choose the Viking persona for this reason.

Swords and Hilt Weapons published by Prion, 20 Mortimer Street, London WIT 3JW is an excellent resource for information on Viking and all other swords.

The following description appeared in a 1997 calendar, entitled Medieval Women.  The calendar was published by the Workman Group and the title described the women as the following:  “The Strong, The Resilient, The Accomplished.” One of the writings from this calendar told the story of those Medieval women who went to war in full armor, bearing swords and pole arms just like their masculine brothers.

“During the 9th and 10th centuries, noblewomen were often directly involved in war.  Emma, granddaughter of the Capetian king Robert the Strong, headed the defenses of Laon in 927, and led a siege against Chateau Thierry in 933 that resulted in its surrender: Aethelflaed of Mercia ruled part of England from 911 to 918 and defended it from the Vikings.  The medieval custom of siege warfare, in which an attacking army tried to invade or starve out a walled fortress, frequently meant that noblewomen had to be left in charge while their warrior husbands were outside the walls, conducting the battles.

For later medieval queens, especially those married to kings of distant countries, survival could mean a great deal of military strife.  Margaret of Anjou, married to the simpleminded Henry VI of England in 1445 educated her young son in “nothing else but cutting off heads and making war.” After the young prince was killed in the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, Margaret was put in the Tower of London for five years; she died in penury in 1482.

Average women might also expect to experience war; but they were often victims instead of warriors.  Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from a small town in France, broke the mold in the early 15th century by becoming a military leader.  She led the French army in several successful battles against the English army in the last stages of the Hundred Years’ War. When the English captured her in 1431, she was tried and burned for heresy.  Thomas Basin mourned her death his History of Charles VII:

“Joan was sent by God to save the kingdom and the people of France.”

Although wearable armor weighs from 35 to 60 lbs.,  the modern woman would look stunning in the ultimate Medieval costume.

On the parched ground of the Middle East in early fall, 1096, a lone European knight walked among thousands of dead bodies.   He had been away from his post for days searching for  20,000  Crusaders  who had been called to accept the crusader’s cross by Pope Urban to rescue the Holy Land from the Saracens.   What he found in the desert sickened him.  The stench from the thousands of dead bodies was so nauseating  that he threw up. 

He walked among the dead and to his dismay found not one man alive.  He determined from the decaying bodies that this was the army on which so many hopes had been placed.  He was surprised that the weapons that were lying beside the dead were mostly sling shots, flails and maces.  There were a few Crusader shields among the bodies, and a few Medieval battle swords of that time.  He wondered why there were so few weapons, and he quickly realized why they were doomed.  He wondered if the rag-tag crew lying in the hot desert sun was the best that Europe would offer to save Jerusalem. 

He continued to trudge through the bodies, and he suddenly viewed the cloak of a Monk, and beside the holy man’s decaying body, there lay a scroll.  He unrolled the document, and began to read of the disastrous crusade of Peter the Hermit. 

“I joined Peter, a fellow monk who spoke with such inspiration that I knew that we could save this land for God.  Pope Urban issued the call to crusade and we answered.  Our recruits were not the rich knights with mighty arms; our crusaders were the poor and disadvantaged who desired to escape their sordid existence and do the Lord’s work.  They had few arms, but what they could make themselves or their flails which they used as farm implements.  But what we lacked in wealth and arms we made up for in devotion.  We knew that God would bless us.  I must admit that some of our recruits did not come here with the best intentions, because they have stolen and murdered even from their comrades.   I must say however, that for the most part our band of farmers, peasants and the disadvantaged have attempted to fight like the devoted Christians that they are.   We did well until we reached Nicaea; we sacked the city of the Seljuk, one of the major cities of the Turks.  We moved a few miles from the city in the hopes of securing a castle for a headquarters.  Then we saw a large contingent of troops in the distance.  We determined that they were Saracens with their mighty swords and swift horses.  I fear we will die soon.  We are no match for them.  They have surrounded us, and we have been here for days.  We are starving to death and there is no hope.  God wills that we die here.”

The knight wondered if ever again Christian pilgrims would subject themselves to such a disastrous result.  Would Crusaders ever free the Holy Land? 

The polearm is one of the oldest and most versatile of weapons throughout the ages. The modern definition of a polearm is a weapon with a blade or pointed tip attached to a long shalf. Prehistoric man likely was the first to use a sharpened long stick to slay his dinner, or his neighbor. 

Rome also developed a very effective polearm.  The pilium, a very sharp spear, was used effectively against the Celts.  The development of this weapon was one of the reasons Rome was successful in conquering a large part of the world.

Various types of this weapon gained prominence in the Medieval and Renaissance eras in Europe and elsewhere.  They were a means of dealing with cavalry; the foot soldier’s reach was extended to allow him to attack a mounted opponent while avoiding the blade of the knight’s sword. 

The classic models of the European polearms were the pike and the halderb. First appearing in the l4th century the halderb was a very versatile weapon.  It was usually a little over 5 feet long and had a spiked top that was useful for keeping mounted knights at bay.  It also had a hook that could be used to pull him from the saddle, and an axe head that could penetrate his armor.

The pike was a simple spear like weapon that had a metal head attached to a wooden shaft.  It came into use in the twelfth  century as a defensive weapon again cavalry.  The Swiss, however, turned the simple spear into an offensive weapon by employing a phalnx-like infantry formation.  From this formation they were able to use pikes as long as 22 and a half feet.  This strategy employing a simple spear allowed them to become the premier fighting force of the fourteenth century. 

In other parts of the world, the spear or pike was also widely used.  Samurai warriors are most often associated with the sword, but in battle they were supported by foot soldiers who used the yari (spears).  Perhaps the greatest spearmen in history are the Zulu warriors of Southern Africa.  Their military units, called impis, were armed with the short assegai spear.  They were able to conquer most of the region in the early nineteenth century.

The common soldier was the part of the military that used the polearm.  From prehistoric times to today, these are the warriors that shape our world.

Claymore is a term derived from the Gaelic “claidheamohmor,” meaning “great sword.” It was first used to describe the large cross-hilted broadsword used in the Scottish Highlands and by Scottish mercenaries in Ireland from the late 15th century to the early 17th century.  In its classic form, the claymore consisted of a straight, broad, double-edged blade, long, diamond-section quillons angling towrd the blade and terminating in quatrefoils, a quillon block extending to form a long spur on each side, and a tubular section leather-covered grip with a wheel-shaped pommel.  The blade was generally shorter than blades of Continental two-handed swords of the same period.

The claymore almost certainly developed from a late medieval cross-hilted sword that can be seen on some effigies and tomb slabs in the West Highlands and the Isles.  This sword exhibited two of the characteristics found on the claymore, namely, the long, downward-angled quillons and the central part of the quillon block extending in a long spur.  The dating of claymores is a complex and imprecise, although there is a claymore of classic form depicted on a grave slab from Oronsay dated 1539.  In the latter part of the 16th century, although retaining the characteristic form of quillon and blade, claymores sometimes had large spherical pommels.

A sword related to the claymore is known as the “Lowland” form because of the fact that several examples came from southern Scotland.  Lowland swords had angular, round-section quillons, the terminals arranged as turned knobs set at right angles; some have open rings affixed to the center of the quillons on each side.  They retained the feature of the quillon block extending to a spur on each side but, unlike the claymore’s, this spur was small and pointed.  The pommels of these swords were large and spherical, the long tubular-section grips being of wood covered with leather.  One form of the Lowland sword had quillons in the form of an arched cross, and in the center a solid oval plate bent down as an extra guard for the hands.  Although Lowland swords have been dated to the second half of the 16th century and those with arched quillons and plate have been dated to the early 17th, little evidence is at present available that would lead to a more precise dating.

Most of the blades of both the Highland and the Lowland claymores appear to be of German origin, whereas the hilts were made by Scottish craftsmen. These craftsmen were very creative in developing a hilt that could be handled effectively with a large blade, as well as protecting the hand.

In 1884 Sir Richard F. Burton’s The Book of the Sword was published by Chatto and Windus in London.  The volume was republished in 1987 by Dover.  For those who are drawn to the past and its more civilized lifestyle will appreciate some of Sir Richard’s reflections on the most honorable of weapons.  Keep in mind while reading some of the excerpts of his reflections on the sword that the words were written prior to 1884.  If you are an avid fan of the past and its traditions, this is an excellent read.  I found it at my local library. Here are a few of the relections of Sir Richard.

“The history of the sword is the history of humanity.  The ‘White Arm’ means something more than the oldest, the most universal, the most varied of weapons, the only one which has lived through all time.’

He, she, or it–for the gender of the Sword varies–has been worshipped with priestly sacrifices as a present god.  Hebrew revelation represents the sharp and two edged sword going out of the mouth of the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  We read of a ‘Sword of God, a holy Sword,’ the ‘Sword of the Lord and of Gideon’; and ‘I came not to send peace but a Sword, ‘meaning the warfare and martyrdom of man.

Uniformly and persistently personal, the Sword became no longer an abstraction but a Personage, endowed with human as well as superhuman qualities.  He was a sentient being who spoke, and sang and joyed and grieved.  Identified with his wearer he was an object of affection, and was pompously named as a well-beloved son and heir.  To surrender the Sword was submission; to break the Sword was degradation.  To kiss the Sword was, and in places still is the highest form of oath and homage. 

The Sword killed and cured; the hero when hopless fell upon his Sword; and the heroine, like Lucreita and Calphurnia, used the blade standing.  The Sword cut the Gordian knot of every difficulty.  The Sword was the symbol of justice and of martydrom and accompanied the wearer to the tomb as well as to the feast and the fight.  ”

The significance of the Sword has survived for many ages.  Today the same words can be used in reference to this magnificent weapon; it is a weapon that is deeply entrenched in art,  literature, religion, history and humanity.  There will never be a weapon that can ever again attain this affluence.  The firearm is a weapon that requires a little skill, aim-fire-kill or maim.  The Sword is graceful but vigorous.  Sword-play is an exercise that requires a skill that few are able to master. 

Swords still play a big role in modern society.  There are a few of us who still appreciate and love the images of the knight in shining armor, the armed knight bearing a crusader shield and a cross hilt sword, or  the Renaissance knight battling with a rapier.  History is repeated on weekends all across the world–the reenactor, the collector, the fantasy gamer, and the skilled sword maker keep the myth alive. 

Tonight on NBC another movie will appear similar in nature to The DaVinci Code.  It is based on the book, The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury.  The movie obviously will contribute to the  questions surrounding the ancient military order. Many fictional and factual books have been published attempting to explain the mysteries of these crusading knights.  One of the most popular studies of the Templars is Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. 

The book by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln asks the question on which the mysterious legend is based: 

“Who and what were the Knights Templar? Were they merely what they appeared to be, or were they something else? Were they simple soldiers onto whom an aura of legend and mystification was subsequently based?”

The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118.  Its founder was Hugues de Payen, a nobleman from Champagne.  The objective of the Templars was to keep the roads safe for the pilgrims visiting Jerusalem which at the time was in control of Christians.  At the time there were nine knights and for a long period of time they admitted no one to their order. 

They moved into lavish quarters in the palace of the King of Jerusalem.  According to tradition their quarters were over the remains of King Solomon’s Temple and from their living place they derived their name.  Because they resided over the remains of this rich, elaborate temple, caused many to question whether they truly were impoverished, chaste and humble warriors for Christ when in fact to many they appeared arrogant and rich.  In fact they were rich, because they owned estates in most European countries, although when entering the order they were obliged to relinquish all their wealth and land holdings. 

Although their behavior and chaste commitment were questionable, they played a major role when the west was forced to try to recapture the Holy Land from the Saracens.  They were the most organized and disciplined of all the knights and foot soldiers who fought to recapture the land.  They wore white surcoats and cloaks, and later a red cross was emblazoned on their garments. The white clad Templars could be seen protecting the rearguard and van of all Crusader marches.  They were efficient and powerful soldiers–the best of fighters with the sword and lance.  They sacrificed their lives for the cause.  300 Templars were executed at Hattin by Saladin, the well known Saracen leader.

Were they the best of the Medieval knights or the worst?  Perhaps they were both.  Regardless, they have aroused a curiosity regarding their past. Replica Knights Templar swords, shields and clothing are some of the most popular among Medieval collectors and reenactors.