Medieval Weapons

Piracy has been an iconic event since the beginning of time.  Romans  suffered  attacks from pirates whenthey traveled by sea.   The Vikings were some of the most fierce pirates that ever sailed the seas.  They looted Europe with wreckless abandon in their powerful sailers.  One of the most renown pirates was a looter of the American seas and shore.  

His favorite haunt was  the waters of Tampa Bay, Florida.    His name was Gaspar and he was a native of Spain.   He was one of the most successful pirates; Gaspar is credited with capturing over 400 ships from 1789 to 1821. Adopting the nickname Gasparilla, he buried treasure in numerous places throughout the west coast of Florida.

Known as the “Last Buccaneer”, Gasparilla was planning on retiring from a life of piracy. Ironically, on the day he was dividing his treasure among his crew. he spied a fat British merchant ship passing offshore.  Gaspar couldn’t resist one last plunder and gave chase.  Unfortunately, the merchant ship was really the disguised USS Enterprise - a U.S. Navy warship on a pirate-hunting mission.

Jose Gaspar pulled in close to the ship before realizing, too late, that it was a trap.  A spirited battle between pirate and pirate-hunter ensued.  Gaspar’s ship caught fire and was about to be boarded.  Rather than give up and be hanged for piracy, Gasparilla wrapped a heavy chain around his waist and jumped off the bow of his ship.

While Gaspar disappeared beneath the waves, he was not forgotten, nor was his treasure.  Gaspar had left it on shore with some of his trusted crew as he went to attack what he thought was the merchant ship.

After the battle, the crew that remained onshore took the treasure inland and buried it in different places along the coast.  None of Jose Gaspar’s treasure has ever been recovered.

For over one hundred years, Tampa Bay has celebrated the memory of Jose Gaspar with a massive parade and festival called the Gasparilla Pirate Fest or Gasparillafest.  Over half a million people attend annually.  The world’s only fully-rigged pirate ship, the “Jose Gasparilla“, sails up into Tampa Bay accompanied by hundred of small boats.  The ship is loaded with pirates, firing cannons, intent on capturing the city.

Each year, the city surrenders and the pirates take to the streets and lead a huge parade with over 120 krewes and their floats winding through downtown Tampa.

Now a reincarnation of Jose Gaspar and his crew have returned and continue to hide more  treasure in the Tampa Bay area.  Finally, you have the opportunity to find some of his treasure for yourself… 

Enjoy a unique family vacation by attending the Gasparilla Festival.  It is an exciting and colorful event.  Dress as a pirate and enjoy the party.  It occurs during the month of January.  We appreciate the many Gaspar sites which contributed to this post.

The legend prevails that Rome ascended with the fall of Troy.  Aenas, the famed Trojan, escaped the destruction of Troy and made his way to Italy where he married a princess.  They bore two sons,  Romulus and Remus; the boys were left to die by the Tiber river.  A she-wolf saved them.  They decided to consecrate a city by the river where the miraculous she-wolf saved them.  They fought over the name of the city and Romulus son and thus began the powerful city-state of Rome.

Many historical events and persons of the ancient past are often shrouded in legend and they make great stories.  Whatever the origins of Rome, it became one of the most powerful states that ever existed under the sun.

The Legionnaire was the foundation of the Roman army.  The Legions of the early Roman army were an outstanding group, formidable in battle and in all areas of seige warfare.  They were also excellent engineers; they built roads, bridges, and water systems for the empire.

They were professional soldiers who served with each other often for twenty years.  They fought very hard for the empire, but they were more dedicated to their legion than to the state.  The system worked well for Rome, because each Legionnaire fought his heart out for his comrades  They were prohibited from marrying, so their loyalty was to their fellow soldiers  After service of twenty years, they were allowed to retire with a pension and an allotment of land.  Perhaps they married at this late stage of life.

They had the finest weapons of the day.  They often made changes to make them more efficient.  They wore a breast plate armor called lorica segmentata.  It was made of iron strips that were held in place by leather strips.  This replaced the solid breastplate which restricted movement.  They wore an iron helmet with a peak to prevent blows to the head.  They carried a colorful shield made of wood and metal.  The Roman foot soldier carried three weapons.  They carried a 7 foot javelin which is now referred to as a pilium.  By their side was also a pugio ( small dagger) and a two foot short sword (gladius).  On their feet they wore sandals with hobnails on the bottom.  With this equipment they conquered most of the ancient world.

The Roman Legionnaire was powerful, dedicated to his legion, and a very effective fighting machine.  The colorful Roman soldier is a popular character for reenactors or even with the individual that desires a unique Halloween costume.

This was a question I asked throughout my school time.  As a matter of fact in my Senior year, I almost did not graduate because I could see no earthly use in learning anything about Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  To me it was the most absurd of all the tons of absurdities I was forced to learn.  I forced myself to spend enough time with the tragic prince to squeak by with a passing grade.  History was also a “bummer” for me, too.

Later that summer a friend forced me to go to a Civil War Reenactment with “her” to watch her brother.  At that event I finally saw someone having a ”hoot” of a time with history.  I was fascinated with the pretend fight.  Always being a shy dude I was never really in with any special highschool group of kids.  But I saw these guys behaving like it was a football game, and they were winning the state playoff game or something.   They performed a simulated battle with cavalry, foot soldiers, cannons, rifles and swords.  I went to their battles a number of times that summer, but never joined the group.  I did learn that they were very adamant about how their clothing, and weapons had to be as realistic as possible. I did carry a sword to one of the Sunday battles with the thought that I would be one of the foot soldiers.  The sword was a cheap thing that I picked up at a flea market.  The pommel was a naked lady.  Needless to say, they did not let me march, because a college was filming the battle to show in an American History class. .  I was embarrassed about that silly sword, so I bought a cheap sabre, but I didn’t go back there for a few years.

I had a few jobs like helping a skilled automobile mechanic with menial tasks that I was able to do without taxing my brain too much.  I needed to keep up my old pickup. I had a lot of spare time so I played a lot of video games.  I played war on a computer and was really good at it.  I tinkered with my cheap sword; bought a scabbard and escaped my hum-drum existence by pretending I was some kind of Medieval war hero.

Then an event occurred that shocked me enough to do something with my life.  I enlisted and no longer played at war; it was the real thing.  The experience did a lot for my ego.  For the first time in my life I was proud of myself.  I walked many a mile with a rifle in my hand,  at the front of the troops  like the Pikesmen of old. 

I have seen a lot of the world and learned that good people are the same everywhere.  Like a lot of country boys I didn’t know the difference between “Iraq and Iran”.  Now I do.  I also know why the study of the past is so important.  I learned that there were Crusades that began more than a thousand years ago.  This conflict is overwhelming with no simple solution.

I do not know what happened to my “naked lady” sword.  I replaced it with a several battle swords.  I was taught swordsmanship by a wonderful Middle Eastern master and sage.  He helped me because I asked.   I practice regularly like the Medieval knights and Samurai warriors did years ago. 

History repeats itself many times over.  I found this out the hard way.  Now many people are engaged in reliving historical events, i.e. Civil War, Medieval, Renaissance, Roman, Viking, Celtic and on and on.  It is a great thing and a good way to build comraderie even if you are not the top jock.  Get into the past; it will help you with your future.

The definition   of The Hand and a Half or Bastard Sword according to A Glossary of the Construction, Definition and Use of Arms and Armor,  is a long, straight blade of the 15th century with a plain cross guard, long grip and rounded pommel.  This sword was ordinarily used with one hand, but the grip was long enough to allow it to be grasped with two to three fingers of the left hand if it was desired to give extra weight to the blow.

Actually according to Swords and Hilt Weapons this Bastard Sword made its appearance in the mid twelfth century.  Perhaps these early Hand and a Half Swords were produced for the Plantaganet family, or a well known family who always desired a little extra power on the blade. 

One of the most famous Bastard Swords that is preserved belonged to Henry IV of England.  It was made for him by Herman van Cleve, a goldsmith.  This Medieval Sword was obviously ceremonial in nature, because of its rich detail of gold forget-me-nots, which was Henry’s symbol before he ascended the throne.  If you are interested in an entertaining  description of Henry IV, Shakespeare provides a lively account  in his plays, HenryIV, parts I and II.  If you desire to be a Renaissance man with a sword and combat skills, try adding a little literacy to the mix also.

Speaking of the Renaissance, this is the period that saw the greatest popularity of the Bastard Sword.  Plate armour became very sophisticated with metal of various sizes being attached to a reinforced heavy fabric  jacket.  In combat against this type of armor, the thrusting sword was favored over the cutting sword.  The mounted knight of the early Renaissance  was armed with two swords, one on the front or side of his saddle and the other on his hip.  Both of these weapons were Bastard or Hand and a Half Swords.

These swords were used extensively in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  Their use continued until the seventeenth century.

If you are interested in a Bastard Sword in your LARP or historical reenactment, there are many different price ranges of these replica swords.  If you have the big bucks, why not have a custom Hand and a Half weapon made especially for you.  One of the most talented swordsmiths  is Michael “Tinker” Pearce.  Also, Pearce has done design work for CAS/Hanwei, and if you can’t afford a custom sword, the CAS/Hanwei “Tinker” Sword is an outstanding well balanced weapon.  Who doesn’t need a little extra power in the blade?

The Greek city-states were intensely competitive in sports as well as warfare.  Inner-city wars were almost continuous, and this wasteful behavior weakened the whole country.  This spirit was described in Homer’s Iliad when Achilles’ father Peleus urged him always to try to excel all other men.  This competitiveness was to be desired in sports,  artisitic and vocational endeavors but was chaos with the continuous warfare among the states.

This state of affairs resulted in each city state building up its military strength, and the result was what has been termed the “hoplite revolution”.  The hoplites were heavily armed infantry.  The body-armour of the hoplite consisted of a breastplate or cuirass (Chalcis), a helmet with nose and cheek guards (first seen at Corinth), and greaves-all of which were constructed of bronze.  The Greeks learned these techniques from the east as China was the first civilization to develop the technique of bronze metal.  The most vital protection of this Greek infantry was a round or elliptical round shield (Argos) secured to the left arm.  They carried a short, straight iron sword (Chalcis) and a nine foot long thrusting spear.

The hoplites fought in a phalanx which is a close, tight mass of soldiers eight lines deep.  They pursued the battle by shoving (othismos), and every man was responsible for protecting his neighbor.  This form of fighting eliminated the hero of the battle which Homer praised.  The age of ego was left in the past of ancient Greece, and the state was the major commitment to the hoplite warrior.

There are a number of Greek reenactment groups all over the world.  If you were inspired the movie, “300″, joining a Greek reenactment group may be just the thing for you.  Reenactment groups are a great way to meet people with interests like yours, and it is also an important in looking at the past, so we may navigate better in the future.  It’s also just plain fun!