Confusion on Silver

[G.Alan Beck]

I've recently started to research Silvers work & am hoping someone out there can clear up some confusion I have.The authorities on Silver(Steven Hand for one)who's work I've been reading all state that the Mortuary Hilted style of sword was Silvers choice of weapon.However in his Paradoxes,section 33"Of the Perfect Weapon"he clearly states"I wish no friend of mine to wear swords with hilts,because when they are suddenly set upon,for haste they set their hands upon their hilts instead of their handles,in which many times before they can draw their swords they are slain by their enemies".Also in the rendered drawing used to determine the perfect length of your sword,he is clearly weilding a simple cruciform hilted sword.With this in mind why do todays proponents of Silvers style specify this type of sword for training his style(other than to protect the hand during training)?Thanks in advance for any responses.

[Jon Pellett]

Hello

The bit you quote is from Paradox 10, "Illusions for the maintenance of imperfect weapons & false fights", which begins "First, for the rapier (says the Italian, or false teacher)...". So this isn't what Silver himself believes, it is an argument of the "false teachers".

If you look more closely at the sword in the picture you'll see that while it does have a cross, it also has at least a knucklebow. Silver wouldn't be using a mortuary sword, which was after his time; it would be an early English basket hilt, like the Mary Rose sword (which also has a cross).

Silver thinks it is essential to have a "close" or "single" hilt - what we call a basket hilt, essentially - because he complains that rapiers and typical short swords (arming swords) of his time "have no hilts" (!) and don't provide enough protection for the hand, even though they have cross-guards at the very least, and usually quite complex hilts.

Cheers and good luck. Silver can be very confusing.

[David Kite]

Hi John,

I don't suppose you'd be able to provide a source for the definition of close and single hilts? I'm genuinely curious, because I don't recall running into definitions of those terms before.

thanks
David Kite
GFS, ARMA in IN

[Jon Pellett]

Hi David

Nope, I totally pulled that definition out of my arse. I should not have put it that way.

So let me rephrase it: I think Silver was talking about an early basket hilt, because he wanted something more protective than a rapier hilt, and the sword shown in his illustration resembles an early basket-hilt.

Cheers