Looks like myths reach college professors too!

[Neil Bockus]

Well, I'm back at SU and thought I'd share this little bit. I'm taking a course "Medieval and Rennaissance Europe" and we've just hit the Crusades. When describing the warrior class (i.e. Knights) our professor was talking about how Knights constantly had to train in order to use their horses, all this armor and HEAVY SWORDS.

Now, this professor is highly knowledgable; knights did indeed train since they were children to ride and fight on horseback, use armor etc. But I didn't think that this myth of 10 pound swords should be perpetuated in a college history course! So I raised my hand "Um, you know the average weight of swords during that time was roughly 2 pounds?"

Just about the entire class looked at me in bewilderment. Fortunately, I'm on good terms with this professor, and nothing negative came of this kind of correction as it were. I just didn't feel it was right to perpetuate myth in a subject that tries to teach and find fact.

[KatherineJohnson]

I always find it so surprising when people teaching history get very simple things like this wrong.

Our high school history teacher would talk about how knights couldnt get up if they fell, and would talk about how heavy the swords were aswell.

[John_Clements]

Refer them to the articles on sword weight here, the recent Military History magazine article on armored knights, and the chapter in the new anthology on the 100 years war from Brill that deals with arms & armor.

JC

[Shane Smith]

Have him take a look at some of the videos linked here; http://www.thearma.org/photos/Gathering03/armored.htm

Armour isn't THAT heavy to Matt and I and we're certainly softer than the hard-bitten warriors of old would have been of necessity.

[Neil Bockus]

Well, when I next see her, I'd like to point her in the direction of this site; of course weather or not she'll go here or view other reccomended material can't be guaranteed. I was really just kind of shocked that this popular belief of over-weighty swords made it to a lecture. I did talk to her after class; first apologizing if I seemed out of line, but also explaining that I had begun serious study into historical combat, and these bludgeoning arms of hollywood simply aren't real; and nor is the image of a lumbering slow knight in either chain (the era we are in) or plate mail.

I overall, she told me that she was trying to get the idea across to students that a knight had to train long and hard and were proud of the job they were doing. Of course, there are better ways to do this than draw from cliche.