Sword and shield

[Jonathan Newhall]

Heh, good call Stacy.

Anyway, I feel that one of the major problems facing large-size shield (bigger than a buckler) and one-handed sword is that it really doesn't have a true manual. Clements' bit in Medieval Swordsmanship on it is fairly effective, but there's not a lot of historical fact to ground it in. Same thing with a lot of other groups who tend to adapt I.33 and other sword + buckler or shield duelling texts. They're reasonable fascimiles, but there is no true manual that I'm aware of on distinctly the sword and mid-size shield.

[Sal Bertucci]

That's generally the skinny of it.

[Steven Reich]

Well, if by larger than a buckler, you mean a Rotella (i.e. a round shield about 24" in diameter), then you have material in at least seven Italian sources:
Capoferro
Marozzo
Manciolino
The Anonymous Bolognese
Docciolini
Altoni
Di Grassi

The problem, of course, is that not much of this is translated. However, if you are reasonably familiar with Bolognese Swordsmanship, I did extract and organize all of the actions for Sword and Rotella from Manciolino, Marozzo, and The Anonymous Bolognese and made it available here:

Bolognese Sword and Rotella Actions

Steve

[Sal Bertucci]

I really enjoyed that when you first put it up Steven. (sorry for the somewhat belated) Thank you for that.

[nathan featherstone]

haha sorry for the lack of punctuation guys. well so far all the work i have done on it has been adapting later work but that round shield i would love if someone could post me some links so i can work on it over winter. i want to try adapt its uses and techniques. but as to why the strap it to their arms is beyond me. so if anyone can post me some useful links i will be very grateful. im currently writing up my own training manual on the subject. its in copy books now and is for my own use but i want to see some comparisons. the I33 and similar buckler works are hard to alter mainly due to its small size. the larger shield has much more issues. so any more links on that italiab shield work or even some greek hoplon work might be useful. cheers guys.

[Toke Krebs Niclasen]

Please allow me to plug my new book on this topic, Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques. Information is here, and the book can be ordered from your favorite bookseller, or from on-line stores such as Amazon.

The book is a greatly updated and expanded version of the information on the Hurstwic site.

Best regards,
William Short

I just ordered