Sirs, I understand that the myth of plate armor (correct away if I am wrong!!) being so heavy that a knight needed help to mount his horse is largely due to the 'popularity' of jousting, which neccessitated far heavier armor than would be worn in battle. Question in the late 13th and early 14th--i.e...
Craig and Todd, Hey, thanks for some very interesting feedback! As for the term "broadsword," while I did not know that it was not contemporary to the period when such swords were actually used, this is unsurprising: one thing I think you and all of my fellow serious students of history he...
Hullo all, New to the subject matter, I have a fairly basic question to ask: roughly speaking, just how long could a knight manage to last in combat before exhaustion set in, given he was fully armored in plate, and on foot? (Let us say in mild weather, and fighting with weapons not of an excessive ...
" I'm not a femiNazi, hahah, just curious. " 'Real men' in no way feel threatened by women who choose to dabble in what are (for lack of a better term) traditionally male pursuits; the surest mark of an utter wimp is a compulsion to sneer at any and all women who do. (So, just what are yo...
Quick query: the term 'half-swording' refers to a technique where one grasps the middle of the sword blade with the (doubtless gauntlet-clad) free hand, in order to gain greater precision in directing the point of the sword into a vulnerable spot of an opponent's armor, correct?
Hullo Ladz, Much food for thought here... A couple of tidbits to add: During the American Civil War, the cavalry sabres of standard issue for both sides were (of course) designed for both hacking and stabbing; a sharply-pointed sword with a curved, honed edge. (OK, you all probably already knew what...
'Llo Fellows, In a A History of Warfare John Keegan makes an interesting contention: that, all things considered, the longbow remained a far more effective weapon than the musket, and that this held true far later than one would expect. (I.e., well throughout the Napoleonic Wars; practically up unti...
'Llo Fellows, While I realize this is a very (perhaps impossibly) broad question, one thing which I have always been curious about is the (for lack of a better term) 'race' over the course of the Middle Ages to develop more effective protection to counter evermore effective weaponry. Put simply, the...
Oh and Jeff--please disregard my hasty, pissy, earlier post. (As I see you have not replied to it, it (gratifyingly) seems you have anyway...) Really, such a post was out of character for me; really, I'm normally not such a hypersensitive boob... <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt...
Would such a stick be a sort of secondary weapon a knight would resort to if things got ups close and personal? (I am assuming that we are talking about combat between two fully-armoured (in plate) combatants...)
Jeff, in the future if you could just let me know exactly which parts of a given post of yours I can and can't comment on, I would really appreciate it.
Yikes! Sorry if I sound the suck-up, but I am picking more key bits of info on this board than the score or two of books I've read on the subject matter ever provided. So very glad to have stumbled upon this site...
Danke for the feedback, all! Jeff: your reference to modern body armor really is hardly OT when considering the history of warfare. Interesting that the issue of helmets around the turn of the centurey marked the reappearance of (at least in some form) armor on the battlefield, after over a century ...
