Hmmm.... Maybe cavalry sword was made different (heavier) than infantry sword is because it have more inertia presenting the edge/point, no need for big acceleration from a swing
"Giving false information to the horse" Horsemanship is a partnership, and martial enthusiasts often lack the equine experience to see potential problems other than the weapons themselves. Your aside nails the issue on the head, I think. I love Jason's channel (Modern History TV), and one of the most interesting things to watch is his work with horses: acclimating them to just being around weapons, targets, bodies, etc.; tapping them to get them used to the jarring experience of combat; hours and hours spent preparing each mount. There's yet another knightly art: choosing weaponry with consideration to how it affects one's mount!
Thanks for your support. I am very keen on learning the forgotten mounted martial techniques. Riding skill is something that is easily underestimated by non riders. You don't know how hard it is until you actually try. I must get Matt onto a horse some time!
@@ModernKnight Your work is greatly appreciated. One of the things I wonder about, and that there's no real practical way to test for various reasons, ethics among them, is actual responses to melee combat from the horses. How do you train a horse to keep functioning after injury, or stay under control when being struck, even without injury. I mean at some point it must have been a factor, and how do you train for it without damaging the animal? I mean all the stress training in the world won't matter if your horse freaks out when struck. I'd assume you'd want to know the temper of your animal early, so you don't waste time training it for something it won't be good for. I mean with people, you can rationalize that in training you're going to feel pain now, so you don't feel pain later. But I'm not sure how you'd do that without either damaging your relationship with your mount, or possibly injuring them.
@@Lurklen Very good questions. I think the ethical scales had a different balance when mounted warfare was seen as a necessity to defend one's nation/province/city/village. What was acceptable in 'toughening' animals as a war-fighting necessity is unlikely to be acceptable just to satisfy our modern curiosity, however scholarly or well-intentioned our approach. I think Jason will only ever be able to get to a 'good approximation', just as there is a difference between a jousting contest and actual mounted warfare. (I do enjoy watching his channel, too.)
"One handed swords are always better one handed swords." Probably as uncontroversial a statement as you'll hear from youtube's sword community but it still feels strange hearing Matt put forward an "always" statement without softening it with something about context.
Certainly a fun idea, though we already know the answer: clearly a bump up to a D10 from a D8. Thanks, Wizards, for the exhaustive 'sciencing' behind your perfectly balanced game!
While not a comparison video, I did some one-handed test cutting with a hand-and-a-half sword recently ruclips.net/video/iUSVZzzOmTc/видео.html Some differences: * Transitions from one cut to the next is slower, when used in one hand. * One handed use places a higher requirement on wrist and grip strength. There are multiple test cutting failure modes that are caused by not enough grip or wrist strength. Having two hands on the handle does not just double the number of wrists and fingers that do the work, the added length of the contact surface also helps. * You have a longer reach when your sword isn't anchored to both of your shoulders. * Two handed use gives you more opportunities to mess up the cutting plane, when the left and right arms are not fully coordinated. For example, I had an easier time with mittelhau (horizontal cut) in one hand, than I usually have with both hands on the handle.
@@rayquinn1974 I've been using many videos like this to work on a homebrew weapons and combat expansion and rework for 5e. I've personally renamed longswords to Bastard Swords, introduced arming swords at 1d8 which give small bonuses to maneuvers like grappling and disarming, and introduced dedicated two-handed longswords which give a bonus only to grappling and can be used to attack one-handed during a grapple.
I miss those storytime videos you used to do occasionally where you'd relate some real incident from a period text source. Always found that stuff illuminating, brings it to life. When you talked about a person choosing a bastard sword because they sometimes want to use it in context a, sometime in context b, c, etc. and not everyone wants to have multiple swords , I thought "It'd be interesting to hear accounts of more ordinary medieval people having to defend themselves, or what preparations they made if they thought they might need to do so." Always most curious about what this stuff was *really* like.
I'm not a historical expert, but from what I've read, I don't get the sense that regular joe schmo would really have a sword usually, too expensive. An ax that you could use for work maybe, or some kind of cudgel. But if you mean like, a professional but not high ranking soldier, yeah, I'm curious, too.
This actually makes the fact that Sean Bean’s Sharpe always seems to get his butt kicked regularly in straight-up sword fights make sense (beyond both drama and the fact that he’s a ranker who obviously never got taught fencing like all those noble boys). He’s using a heavy cavalry sword on foot. It’s not supposed to go up against dedicated duelling weapons.
Only a bad dancer blames their shoes, you can be more than capable on foot with a cavalry sword it's just that his choreographies always have him losing for some reason 🤔
@@valandil7454 well realistically there is a reason why an infantry sabre is almost always lighter than a cavalry Sabre. On foot you need to have a faster recovery.
Bannerlord doesn't know what kind of medieval timeframe it wants to be, but I guess that's okay, it's fantasy after all. Still this is worth noting for anyone interested in making more historical-based mods for the game.
Typicalla in game construction older type of equipment are used as cheap entry level equipment. That is a bad idea. In an era with full plate armour calling a short sword a "gladius" isn't really a good idea.
It is quite a versatile weapon. Obviously it won't be as good as the main sword design for this task; there's a reason why both were used. Regardless, the video does answer a lot of questions when it comes to specific situations that demand the usage of a shield, or maybe a scenario in which the fencer's arm gets injured. Thank you very much for the information
Maintaining edge alignment from horseback seems like it'd be a challenging skill to learn. More challenging than on foot. Makes sense why cavalry and curved blades are sometimes associated. That "sail" effect of a curved blade which you've mentioned before would really come in handy.
Pls find some talented bannerlord modders and create a Scholagladiatoria combat overhaul. Not gonna hold my breath but that would be very interesting lol
I'm not a fan of Japanese fighting cutlery, but a naginata on horseback does seem to me to be extremely useful on the battlefield! The slicing characteristic like that of a curved sword - which prevents one from getting stuck - combined with the reach of a lance.
+scholagladiatoria *In Japan, the Edo period saw a versatile mix of pre-repeater weaponry.* Cavalry were trained to control the horse with the legs, permitting accurate archery inside 50 m and availing decent handling for certain pole arms. The fusil was strictly an infantry arm at the time; were socket muzzles in production in Japan, a 三角銃槍 _Sankakujusou_ (a lance-head bayonet) would probably have had a 0.25 meter head consistent with contemporary 三角槍 _Mitukadi yari._
Hey there. I have been watching you for years now and I just wanted to thank you. This channel is such an awesome place for information, new toughts and learning. I have been kinda put off by your rambling for a fairly long time when I was younger (please don't take it the wrong way, the sidenotes are magnificent in a schollars point of view) and prefered to watch other channels about history and weapon use. But more and more I grew to love it. When I watch one of your videos I most certainly know there will be new stuff to learn and think about, even if the video title would not suggest it. There will be objective interpretations, historical examples and views open to new ideas. You are nowadays probably my favourite youtube channel, period. And in the last several month I went back to watch older videos of yours, in order to relearn, rethink and also hit like on which ever video I did not hit like on before haha. You are awesome! And please keep up the great work. Thank You! All the best from Switzerland.
Interestingly the kingdom of Hungary known for its use of large cavalry forces seemed to favour Large bladed swords with long grips if period art and effigies are anything to go by (1200-1500 ish)
I'd like a video discussing the differences between light and heavy cavalry as well as the differences in their swords. I think that a lot of people don't understand the difference between light and heavy cav and I've encountered at least one person in the comments section that think that have and light cavalry sword refers to their weight as opposed to the type of cavalry unit thR uses them.
Light and heavy cavalry WHEN? In the medieval period there is very little distinction. Or rather, the heavy cavalry (knights) would spend most of the time performing light cavalry duties and could remove pieces of armor as desired. They also fielded retainers on horseback, who were themselves mostly light cavalry.
@@stephena1196 Mounted Light Archers as well, the Chevauchee from the hundred years war and Reconquista, and hobilars, etc. While I love a good heavy cav charge, I have really grown on Light Cavalry.
You also need to consider where in addition to when. Eastern heavy cavalry might be equivalent to western light cavalry depending on where and when. Another thing to note is some mid-eastern cavalry would carry two swords, one for the charge (straight) and one for the melee (curved). Each sword had a role and was used differently.
I'd like to know more about the Katzbalger and how it was used and its context. An other interesting topic would be use of multiple flintlock pistols by cavalry.
I LOVE that illustration by Dürer that you showed at the beginning. It was actually a study drawing of the "Knight", which he did in preparation for his famous engraving "Knight, Death and the Devil" from 1513. photos.app.goo.gl/dvhxHNJGqmL3rqB2A Also, here's another depiction of a sword of bastardly proportions being used with a buckler. It's a late 14th century Spanish painting of St. Michael and the Dragon... photos.app.goo.gl/8k5NT5CnrkrCB5Bx9
Even today, a sword would be pretty badass at close range; especially if you could draw it quickly. It is fun to watch an expert handle something that I would probably hurt myself with as soon as I started swinging it. Back in the day, a trained swordsman on horseback would be something I would not want to deal with. Great video.. thanks.
In Bannerlord's defense, on horseback you tend to want a (one handed) sword that's on the longer and heavier side for the reach and impact. On foot, you want something shorter and nimbler.
In 500 years, when firearms are a thing of the past, someone will ask "can you use a rifle with one hand like a pistol?" Actually I think there are people asking it even now...
Someone will find an old atf page on archive.org (or whatever takes it's place in the future) and will have debates on whether a specific AR build is a rifle or pistol, if it has a stock or a brace etc
You most certainly can use a rifle in one hand. I mean... for shooting at least. Considering you aren't likely to reload even a pistol with only one hand. I've seen people shooting hunting shotguns with one hand (even one left hand), and even assault rifles with full auto. Though efficiency of that is... Errr... Questionable
i agree... in a way.... the issue is that the horse is not always going fast. however, even if going slowly you can still use the gait of the horse and the 'swing over the back' to power the sword again. so even if you are almost stationary, you can use the horses movement to power a larger sword. (one of the main points i was trying to make for the dreynevent) In fact, to further support your premise, in the 15th-16th century the use of longswords in any occasion other than a fightbook is seen but exceedingly rare. most are one handed from horse, used halfsword, or people use dedicate one handed swords. so the use of a longsword in its classic two handed way is actually pretty rare
Matt only mentioned the hooking aspect of the extended grip and pummel but it has a lot of use in armored cavalry grappling. I read an article many years ago discussing grappling on horseback and the extended grip was very useful in hooking your opponent and pulling them off their horse. i.e. you hook an appendage using your grip-pummel and spur your horse on to pull the guy your direction. I also prefer moving to single handed as i get into grappling range. This allows me to free up my left while I hook with the pummel/move to half-swording.
I think Matt does a good job of explaining the difference between "Was it ever done?" and "Was it commonly done?" Considering how much humans have fought one another, it's probably safe to say that anything you can imagine was probably done at some point but that doesn't mean that the soldier doing it thought it was optimal. Sometimes you just use what you have. Additionally, almost any soldier will tell you that frequently the choice of weapon(s) is a compromise because you don't know exactly what situation you will encounter. As far as the Bannerlord scenario, it overlooks the TANSTAAFL principle -- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. There will invariably be something given up to gain something else. As a lifelong horseman, I have been surprised by the things a horse can learn to do. I have no doubt that the right soldier on the right horse could train enough to be quite good with a two-handed weapon while mounted. The right horse could learn that when the rider stands in his stirrups, he is about to deliver a blow and the horse should continue current course and speed. One trade-off is that the number of horses who can be taught such a subtlety is small and the amount of training is enormous. A man/horse team which could be efficient with two-handed weapons would have to sacrifice competence in some other skills, thus would be less flexible and potentially not worth their upkeep to the commander. They would also lose the ability to ride knee-to-knee with other cavalrymen (because of the room needed to swing a large weapon) thereby being more vulnerable to counter-attack. Even if you assume (for the purposes of Bannerlord) that there's no penalty at that moment in combat, there would necessarily have been a large cost in time and money before the battle and that must be factored in.
Ah I clicked for the thumbnail. I too have a Rhinelander. I like it. Grip is a bit short, but its a nice sword. My very first sharp I ever bought. Great for the price.
Hi 🎩 surely the best weapon is a dagger “that I see before me” in a medieval battle at least, it comes down to a scrum. I have led 100 ish size pike blocks. (Sealed knot. Charity) you don’t have room to do anything. Even the injured stayed up. All you do is try and stop your rib cage from breaking. Hence back and Brest plates. And yes I’ve broken them. Great fun and beer after.
I definitely read in one of the accounts of the Turkish siege of Malta, a mention of the use of hand and half swords on foot, with large shields, specifically to fill any breach in the wall. Supposedly they'd get a couple of the biggest, strongest knights and just have them physically fill in the gap in the wall, and the ability to effectively use the longer, heavier sword one-handed was especially valued. I don't recall whether I read this at the armoury in Valletta or in a book about the siege, though, so I'm not sure how I'd track down the primary source, assuming there was one.
Since it's an important milestone in the classic Mount & Blade (and is a popular subject in fiction beyond M&B), how about covering examples of medieval and early renaissance commoners who got knighted because of their martial prowess/battlefield excellence (if they even existed in any serious quantity) and just what someone had to do to get himself knighted for that?
Great video! Would have been cool to discuss Fiore's spada a una mano here, I think. I've always wondered if that section was partially to do with horseback, as it shows the adversary using their sword one handed as well. Some of the actions in the "mounted dueling" section are also reminiscent of spada a una mano on foot. Just a thought!
6:25 Can cofirm, looks like an austrian M1861 in my book. 👍 (I mean that litterally, just looked it up in the book about austrian bladed weapons i bought last year 😁) Wasn't there a video promised about it once? 🤔
@@boucherwag_7771 yes, how effective would be the skill of the warrior, shield type and how they use the blade. I see someone with a strapped on shield picking up a two handed sword on the field. With the right maneuvers it should work. It would limit what you can do with the sword thourh . maybe utilize the sword like a spear and it would effective.
Yes. It is not like it was a fighting school or anything as far as I know, but I am pretty sure it was done. The shield would not have been a large one though. Although, I am sure that someone did that too.
Love the video. My take-away from it is that the main reason why mount&blade games use two Handed weapons the way to do is for game-play reasons, not for being historically correct.
IMO the best part about longswords being "hand-and-a-half swords" is the ability to also attack with one hand when such an opportunity presents itself. I've landed countless one-handed strikes and thrusts in sparring, both with the right and the left hand, and a longsword is also quite good at blocking with a hangen/guardia di testa-type guard in one hand (again, either hand). I wouldn't primarily use it in one hand, but it being usable with one hand adds quite a lot to your possible repertoire.
Cavalry weapons were frequently very beefy in 18th century warfare and afterwards. Length, sturdiness and the ability to just smash through enemy defenses were frequently preferred for heavy cavalry (once the prussians started to use pallasches pretty much everyone started to use really beefy blades to not get crushed in cavalry on cavalry combat).
Matt, in the first half of the video, when you talk about examples of using 2h/bastard from a horseback, you seem to takeinto consideration only the moment of charge. But what about horseback fencing after the charge has been stopped? It's especially striking imo with the austrian sabre example when you say it's not optimal for fencing but great for delivering point/edge with horse movement. Well then why would they use it over the lighter saber, if charge was only a part of a mounted combat? Just my few thoughts, take care!
Because cavalry largely did not get into fencing outside of charges. Cavalry was both more vulnerable and less effective at taking advantage of reach advantage and mounted momentum while stationary; cavalry rode at each other, and predominantly remained within striking range for but brief moments followed by much longer intervals apart (since one or more fast-moving horses have now positioned both parties well away from each other given their faster travelling speed).
Will you be doing a video on that austrian 1861? I really first thought it was a swiss 1867/94 with a modified hilt... but as it seems the swiss have copied the design a bit. Beautiful swords but really very heavy (at least the troopers version that I have). Awesome vid, thanks!
New to the channel. I hope the dev's put more effort into bannerlord. The outer shell of a good game is there but it's got no filling. Enjoying the content so far.
I couldn't help but to think about the old D&D weapons charts... Short sword 1d6, two handed sword 1d10, Bastard Sword one hand 1d8 two handed 2d4 and half the price of a two handed... it was the best sword to choose when adventuring in Greyhawk ;-)
You don't need to hold the horse. But if you turn your upper body, you need to make sure you leave your lower body and legs where they are, otherwise you're telling the horse to turn.
You should make comparison videos with Mount Blade Bannerlord video game! You should make more videos like this! As a gamer and lover of medievel weapons I would like to see !
Hi🎩Only ever seen one guy pop out the top of a pike push. He went 6’ up and out. Kings guard did that. Then we oops hit them 8 times. And had beers after.
Hi 🎩 also depends on your size. I was 5’6.5”. Proud of the half. But shrinking. A one handed sword would almost be a hand and a half for me. And also heavy. But a rapier ideal. Or of course running away very quickly.
There is an interesting manuscript from Hungary, from the first half of the 14th century. It shows two handed swords being used with a big jousting shield even on foot. Cronicum Pictum, by Simon Kézai. You can search it in manuscriptminiatures.
So the trend is to use longsword as an umbrella term for items with significant morphological variation. But with rapier, it seems that a general trend is to push it into a narrow subtype of rapier, and even a subtype of fencing style.
Have you done a video about indoor and urban fighting? I wonder if battles that didn't happen in field or forest had to have their weapons fitted accordingly and how.
Hi Matt I have a question about skill in HEMA and other martial arts, as someone who has only interacted with it through youtube and games. How big is the impact of skill? If we have an amateur that has done a few sessions and someone who can beat him 4 times of 5. How good is someone who beats the better guy at the same rate? And approximately how far would it be possible to extend this "tier" list of more experienced fighters who can beat a less skilled opponent with a significant margin until you get to the best? Twice? Three times? Ten times? I realize I'm asking a unrealistic question, but the core of it is: How much does skill matter? How much of an advantage can it provide? And is there any abstractions that can be made to visualize how much better a master is compared to a newbie for those not practicing it? An example form another field: Long distance running. Usually you're allowed to complete a marathon race if you jog half the time and walk the other half. But you're starting to leave casual runners behind when your time is twice that of the winner in a larger competition (usually requires a keeping a moderate jog all the way). And you're probably in a club running seriously if you can run with "only" an extra 50% time. Can anything similar be said for HEMA?
This is a very good question, and something I've been wondering about myself. It does seem difficult to quantify though. Also, I think the gap might be slightly larger in unarmed martial arts, as you can take hits and not lose the bout. Fighting with weapons is more prone to lucky hits. But as a newbie I can say there are martial arts masters who can win against a newbie almost 100% of the time, even when you get tricky or desparate. I still don't know how good that guy was because I never saw him face more skilled people. I also imagine people must be able to get really good for duelists to exist who fought in many duels but remained undefeated in history. I hope someone else from the community can add to this conversation.
Skill is very important. Putting aside the very real concept that an unskilled person is unpredictable and may just get lucky because you got surprised by the stupid thing he did, if you know how to fight when to fight and understand timing and distance...There is virtually no chance an unskilled person can win against a skilled person. Skill can also be stated as familiarity with the situation, that's what training is for. If you have trained to deal with a guy swinging at you, and some guy does it poorly, you are familiar with how to take advantage of it and he is flying by the seat of his pants. When both have skill endurance is key.
@@brianhowe201 defense is what separates a newbie from someone who knows what there doing in any fighting art. The ability to parry and dodge more and more advanced combinations of attacks and then exploit the weaknesses in their newbie opponents defense make it so that someone who knows what there doing in anything requiring striking won’t lose to a newb. Unless they get cocky and lower their defense or the newer player happens to do a perfect combo the experienced person just happens to not know how to defend. As someone like Floyd Mayweather showed for years defense wins championships.
There's also the sad but real fact that cavalry swords were often heavy, not because they were charging at other horsemen on the parallel, but because their targets were often static infantry. The heavy chopper element was to ride down and wallop those footsoldiers at a lower height! The weight impetus was vertical, not horizontal, and gravity based! Not greatly chivalrous but true nonetheless.
Hi Mr Easton, thanks for another great informed and entertaining video. Would it be possible to tell me what make and model is the one handed sword behind you. It appears to have a Brazil nut pommel and a floated out cross guard. I have admired this since I first saw your videos and would like to check them out. PS - beautiful looking Maori weapon too. A patu?
Potential video idea and something I’ve been wondering. What were battlefield casualty rates like comapared to disease or famine. Or if you were someone being sent off to battle in the 15th century did you feel you had a pretty good chance of coming home?
Any recommendation for blunt one-and-a-half-hand swords for sparring (possibly not too expensive)? There seems to be a focus on long Meyer/Vadi-length swords and feders, but not much around for a shorter Fiore-length.
1:55 I heard that there were Korean cavalry troops who rode in to battle while dual wielding. Can only imagine how difficult being able to do that effectively, and terrifying it is to face that in battle.
two-handed weapon on horseback is nicely displayed in Mount&Blade pc games, though in "fire and sword" part of 17ish century a montante-like swords were not avalible on horseback
Roughly speaking, what blade length and design would be the most practical for a longsword meant to be used in both hands, but could still be utilised in one hand on the rare occasion ? Thinking on it, I would say a tapering blade of no more than 36 inches, the Hanwei Rhinelander with its 35 inch blade, also the Black Prince by Darksword Armory seems to fit into that category.
When you pull up modern recreation weapons can you include a link, or at least a note about who made them? It sounds like you said "Cavitan" or "Kavitan" when you pulled up that zweihander, but I can't find anything by that name online. As you said they do good swords I'm curious to look at what they make, so a link or note would be helpful.
Hi Mat, topic question. what were the most common injuries in pre-gun era battles, why do you think that was and the most common armour to prevent them or is it always best to just have a good shield?
In your last video on this sword you discussed using it as a foundation for a project sword, re-hilting it as a side-sword or a basket-hilted broadsword. Wouldn’t it need to be shortened slightly to be nimble enough?
Hey Matt, you mentioned in another video that one-handed arming sword reproductions often make the grip longer than historically accurate. I think it was mentioned in more than one video, and mostly in the wheelpommel one. Is this true for rapiers as well? many repros i wielded have a tendency to give me the feeling of their pommel being in the way of my wrist movement, as you showed briefly in this video with the bastard sword as well. But since most rapier pommels are more egg/cylindrical or similar, the exact same reasoning as with wheel pommels does not seem to apply here. (using a handshake grip with the wheel partly in the lower palm instead of wrenching the hand between pommel and guard). The rapier is already gripped with a long 'pistol' grip, with one or two fingers over the guard. Is this a case of me overthinking now and just needing to 'get gud' or might this be an artifact of handling too long grips?
Hypothetically how do you figure the handling would be if you took something like a hand and a half/bastard sword tapering to a pretty acute point chopped the tang down and threw on a complex hilt and an appropriately sized pommel? Essentially turning it into a frankenstien sidesword
Btw what do you think about those strange tipped falchions in Bannerlord? Star falchions/tipped falchion. If they're real then what's the purpose of their flared tips?
The interesting thing is that the predecessor mount and blade warband did have 2 hand weapons convert to 1 hand on horseback. Really heavy weapons could only be used slowly on horseback.
MeCavlion are OP, you ain't wrong. But large sideswinging polearms being very powerful is a kickback from the last Mount and Blade, where unmodded they were not popular in PVP at all because of their more realistic arc, and the bots struggled to use them well at all.
Huh, sounds like we need a new/clearer designation of medieval swords. Cavalry swords. I think there's a pretty good argument for that. Maybe we retire 'bastard sword' from the lexicon and replace with cavalry swords. It was a sword for use on horseback, for the cavalry to use. As cavalry weren't expected to be purely mounted, it has some use on foot. It has the reach to make the most of being on horseback, it has the mass and strength to resist the increased energy of mounted combat. It is most importantly a weapon of warfare, a battlefield weapon. Worth I think separating out the tournament, joust, a civilian usage. At least it's a possibility. Ask me tomorrow for more reasons. I need to sleep and I've got a lot on the brain.
@@Robert399 I'm not talking about longswords here. That's an infantry weapon in my mind. Just is, can't even see the whole couched as lance thing. I don't think it's long enough for that. The thing I'm trying to replace, thinking about seeing replaced is the phrase bastard sword. A phrase that has the exact following definition given in a book of mine. 'A sword that is longer than a single handed sword and shorter than a longsword.' Exact legal definition I just gave you there. Really helpful that, init? Where as you say cavalry sword, I can see it being used on horseback, I can see it being used on foot, it's got trade offs up the wazoo, but it's way more function than either a single handed sword of infantry longsword. In fact, it's a bit of a bastard mix of all of them, except by calling them a cavalry sword, it gives it more context, more definition, more explanation than bastard sword does. With that said definition I just used. I like calling things by what they are and what they do. Hence, calling them a cavalry sword, because cavalry used it. Seems hard to argue on principle there.
@@Robert399 Try this then. One term has no value and in fact, even it's legal definition borders on pointless. The other has a clear, relative value and has a point of comparison. I want the phrasing for the bastard sword to have the same contextual clarity as long sword does. Which it doesn't have now. Anywhere near.
What happens to a weapon when it thrusts into a person from horseback? Did they often get caught? Did riders have to ditch their weapons after lancing someone? Or was there so much momentum that the weapon could sometimes go a person and free itself by tearing through their body laterally? This has been a question that's been on my mind forever and it's been hard to find information about it. What do you think, Matt?
that was a fun little discussion we had!
Hmmm.... Maybe cavalry sword was made different (heavier) than infantry sword is because it have more inertia presenting the edge/point, no need for big acceleration from a swing
"A one-handed sword is always a better one handed sword than a two handed sword." I love it!!!
"Giving false information to the horse" Horsemanship is a partnership, and martial enthusiasts often lack the equine experience to see potential problems other than the weapons themselves.
Your aside nails the issue on the head, I think. I love Jason's channel (Modern History TV), and one of the most interesting things to watch is his work with horses: acclimating them to just being around weapons, targets, bodies, etc.; tapping them to get them used to the jarring experience of combat; hours and hours spent preparing each mount. There's yet another knightly art: choosing weaponry with consideration to how it affects one's mount!
Thanks for your support. I am very keen on learning the forgotten mounted martial techniques. Riding skill is something that is easily underestimated by non riders. You don't know how hard it is until you actually try. I must get Matt onto a horse some time!
@@ModernKnight Your work is greatly appreciated. One of the things I wonder about, and that there's no real practical way to test for various reasons, ethics among them, is actual responses to melee combat from the horses. How do you train a horse to keep functioning after injury, or stay under control when being struck, even without injury. I mean at some point it must have been a factor, and how do you train for it without damaging the animal? I mean all the stress training in the world won't matter if your horse freaks out when struck. I'd assume you'd want to know the temper of your animal early, so you don't waste time training it for something it won't be good for.
I mean with people, you can rationalize that in training you're going to feel pain now, so you don't feel pain later. But I'm not sure how you'd do that without either damaging your relationship with your mount, or possibly injuring them.
Indeed. It's like a dog. You can train them and communicate without word if you 2 become close.
@@Lurklen Very good questions. I think the ethical scales had a different balance when mounted warfare was seen as a necessity to defend one's nation/province/city/village. What was acceptable in 'toughening' animals as a war-fighting necessity is unlikely to be acceptable just to satisfy our modern curiosity, however scholarly or well-intentioned our approach. I think Jason will only ever be able to get to a 'good approximation', just as there is a difference between a jousting contest and actual mounted warfare. (I do enjoy watching his channel, too.)
@@Hiltok Agreed.
Big sword. Little buckler. That's like an anti-Roman legionnaire: Big Shield, little sword.
Also vambraces, greaves, trousers, nothing on chest
Wait no that's my Skyrim build
Itty-bitty, pig-tree!
= @ )
@@Sk0lzky Psyches them out.
@@Sk0lzky and I'll guess you play a female character....
"One handed swords are always better one handed swords." Probably as uncontroversial a statement as you'll hear from youtube's sword community but it still feels strange hearing Matt put forward an "always" statement without softening it with something about context.
How about this: A one handed sword is a better one handed sword than a two handed sword, unless the two handed sword is the only one you have!
I would love to see some cutting tests with a longsword used 2 handed and then 1 handed to see the difference in results.
Yes! Good video idea you've got there. I'd like to see that too.
Certainly a fun idea, though we already know the answer: clearly a bump up to a D10 from a D8.
Thanks, Wizards, for the exhaustive 'sciencing' behind your perfectly balanced game!
While not a comparison video, I did some one-handed test cutting with a hand-and-a-half sword recently ruclips.net/video/iUSVZzzOmTc/видео.html
Some differences:
* Transitions from one cut to the next is slower, when used in one hand.
* One handed use places a higher requirement on wrist and grip strength. There are multiple test cutting failure modes that are caused by not enough grip or wrist strength. Having two hands on the handle does not just double the number of wrists and fingers that do the work, the added length of the contact surface also helps.
* You have a longer reach when your sword isn't anchored to both of your shoulders.
* Two handed use gives you more opportunities to mess up the cutting plane, when the left and right arms are not fully coordinated. For example, I had an easier time with mittelhau (horizontal cut) in one hand, than I usually have with both hands on the handle.
@@rayquinn1974 I've been using many videos like this to work on a homebrew weapons and combat expansion and rework for 5e. I've personally renamed longswords to Bastard Swords, introduced arming swords at 1d8 which give small bonuses to maneuvers like grappling and disarming, and introduced dedicated two-handed longswords which give a bonus only to grappling and can be used to attack one-handed during a grapple.
@@rayquinn1974 I like the d10 bump. Lol
I miss those storytime videos you used to do occasionally where you'd relate some real incident from a period text source. Always found that stuff illuminating, brings it to life. When you talked about a person choosing a bastard sword because they sometimes want to use it in context a, sometime in context b, c, etc. and not everyone wants to have multiple swords , I thought "It'd be interesting to hear accounts of more ordinary medieval people having to defend themselves, or what preparations they made if they thought they might need to do so." Always most curious about what this stuff was *really* like.
I'm not a historical expert, but from what I've read, I don't get the sense that regular joe schmo would really have a sword usually, too expensive. An ax that you could use for work maybe, or some kind of cudgel. But if you mean like, a professional but not high ranking soldier, yeah, I'm curious, too.
This actually makes the fact that Sean Bean’s Sharpe always seems to get his butt kicked regularly in straight-up sword fights make sense (beyond both drama and the fact that he’s a ranker who obviously never got taught fencing like all those noble boys). He’s using a heavy cavalry sword on foot. It’s not supposed to go up against dedicated duelling weapons.
Only a bad dancer blames their shoes, you can be more than capable on foot with a cavalry sword it's just that his choreographies always have him losing for some reason 🤔
@@valandil7454 well realistically there is a reason why an infantry sabre is almost always lighter than a cavalry Sabre. On foot you need to have a faster recovery.
0:49 "...when you're gonna use a sword like this in one hand..."
Is when you cast Signs, throw bombs, or shoot a mini crossbow ;)
Bannerlord doesn't know what kind of medieval timeframe it wants to be, but I guess that's okay, it's fantasy after all. Still this is worth noting for anyone interested in making more historical-based mods for the game.
I think bannerlord is more based on the fall of the roman empire era than mid-late medieval.
Officially, it's set in a fictional version of about 1100 AD. It doesn't really nail that entirely, but it does okay at it.
Same goes for Warband, you have Vikings ducking out with full-plated swadian knights.
It’s supposed to be early Medieval, around the 900-1000s, though the Battanians are like 100s era Dacians.
Typicalla in game construction older type of equipment are used as cheap entry level equipment. That is a bad idea. In an era with full plate armour calling a short sword a "gladius" isn't really a good idea.
It is quite a versatile weapon. Obviously it won't be as good as the main sword design for this task; there's a reason why both were used. Regardless, the video does answer a lot of questions when it comes to specific situations that demand the usage of a shield, or maybe a scenario in which the fencer's arm gets injured.
Thank you very much for the information
Not everyone could afford multiple swords for different situations. If you can only afford one sword it should be a bastard sword.
Maintaining edge alignment from horseback seems like it'd be a challenging skill to learn. More challenging than on foot. Makes sense why cavalry and curved blades are sometimes associated. That "sail" effect of a curved blade which you've mentioned before would really come in handy.
Yeah, the two main types seem to be curved to help with edge alignment, and straight to be delivered on point, like a mini lance.
I'd assume that the big curve on horse sabers is more likely intended so that the cut can disengage from the target easier
Pls find some talented bannerlord modders and create a Scholagladiatoria combat overhaul. Not gonna hold my breath but that would be very interesting lol
That would be great
yeah lol that's never happening
The greatsword not being a ‘great weapon’ on horseback was way too funny to me
Yeah on horseback it's just a goodsword
it's more like mehsword
If people think Matt was going too far with his penetration, wait until they hear about his back-end rotational inertia.
I'm not a fan of Japanese fighting cutlery, but a naginata on horseback does seem to me to be extremely useful on the battlefield! The slicing characteristic like that of a curved sword - which prevents one from getting stuck - combined with the reach of a lance.
I have been waiting for this.
+scholagladiatoria *In Japan, the Edo period saw a versatile mix of pre-repeater weaponry.* Cavalry were trained to control the horse with the legs, permitting accurate archery inside 50 m and availing decent handling for certain pole arms. The fusil was strictly an infantry arm at the time; were socket muzzles in production in Japan, a 三角銃槍 _Sankakujusou_ (a lance-head bayonet) would probably have had a 0.25 meter head consistent with contemporary 三角槍 _Mitukadi yari._
Hey there. I have been watching you for years now and I just wanted to thank you. This channel is such an awesome place for information, new toughts and learning. I have been kinda put off by your rambling for a fairly long time when I was younger (please don't take it the wrong way, the sidenotes are magnificent in a schollars point of view) and prefered to watch other channels about history and weapon use. But more and more I grew to love it. When I watch one of your videos I most certainly know there will be new stuff to learn and think about, even if the video title would not suggest it. There will be objective interpretations, historical examples and views open to new ideas. You are nowadays probably my favourite youtube channel, period. And in the last several month I went back to watch older videos of yours, in order to relearn, rethink and also hit like on which ever video I did not hit like on before haha. You are awesome! And please keep up the great work. Thank You! All the best from Switzerland.
Interestingly the kingdom of Hungary known for its use of large cavalry forces seemed to favour Large bladed swords with long grips if period art and effigies are anything to go by (1200-1500 ish)
I'd like a video discussing the differences between light and heavy cavalry as well as the differences in their swords. I think that a lot of people don't understand the difference between light and heavy cav and I've encountered at least one person in the comments section that think that have and light cavalry sword refers to their weight as opposed to the type of cavalry unit thR uses them.
Light and heavy cavalry WHEN? In the medieval period there is very little distinction. Or rather, the heavy cavalry (knights) would spend most of the time performing light cavalry duties and could remove pieces of armor as desired. They also fielded retainers on horseback, who were themselves mostly light cavalry.
@@MinSredMash Jinetes and Stratoiti were seen as different at the time.
@@stephena1196 Mounted Light Archers as well, the Chevauchee from the hundred years war and Reconquista, and hobilars, etc. While I love a good heavy cav charge, I have really grown on Light Cavalry.
You also need to consider where in addition to when. Eastern heavy cavalry might be equivalent to western light cavalry depending on where and when.
Another thing to note is some mid-eastern cavalry would carry two swords, one for the charge (straight) and one for the melee (curved). Each sword had a role and was used differently.
I'd like to know more about the Katzbalger and how it was used and its context.
An other interesting topic would be use of multiple flintlock pistols by cavalry.
I was thinking about the doors in the background. ¿Is Tod's Workshop in the other side?
That would be very cool. For us.
garage doors, grass outside.
11:35 Matt proving his point about long grips getting in the way.
Since you asked, I'd quite like to see a video on the weapons carried by riding officers/revenue men in the 18th century.
I LOVE that illustration by Dürer that you showed at the beginning. It was actually a study drawing of the "Knight", which he did in preparation for his famous engraving "Knight, Death and the Devil" from 1513.
photos.app.goo.gl/dvhxHNJGqmL3rqB2A
Also, here's another depiction of a sword of bastardly proportions being used with a buckler. It's a late 14th century Spanish painting of St. Michael and the Dragon...
photos.app.goo.gl/8k5NT5CnrkrCB5Bx9
Even today, a sword would be pretty badass at close range; especially if you could draw it quickly. It is fun to watch an expert handle something that I would probably hurt myself with as soon as I started swinging it. Back in the day, a trained swordsman on horseback would be something I would not want to deal with. Great video.. thanks.
In Bannerlord's defense, on horseback you tend to want a (one handed) sword that's on the longer and heavier side for the reach and impact. On foot, you want something shorter and nimbler.
Giving the point from horseback seems much easier than trying to cut with a big longsword
In 500 years, when firearms are a thing of the past, someone will ask "can you use a rifle with one hand like a pistol?"
Actually I think there are people asking it even now...
Someone will find an old atf page on archive.org (or whatever takes it's place in the future) and will have debates on whether a specific AR build is a rifle or pistol, if it has a stock or a brace etc
You most certainly can use a rifle in one hand.
I mean... for shooting at least. Considering you aren't likely to reload even a pistol with only one hand.
I've seen people shooting hunting shotguns with one hand (even one left hand), and even assault rifles with full auto.
Though efficiency of that is...
Errr...
Questionable
i agree... in a way....
the issue is that the horse is not always going fast.
however, even if going slowly you can still use the gait of the horse and the 'swing over the back' to power the sword again.
so even if you are almost stationary, you can use the horses movement to power a larger sword.
(one of the main points i was trying to make for the dreynevent)
In fact, to further support your premise, in the 15th-16th century the use of longswords in any occasion other than a fightbook is seen but exceedingly rare.
most are one handed from horse, used halfsword, or people use dedicate one handed swords.
so the use of a longsword in its classic two handed way is actually pretty rare
Always wondered why anyone would choose a bastard sword, but your horseback analogy makes sense. Coxy
thank you for doing the show, good info.
Matt only mentioned the hooking aspect of the extended grip and pummel but it has a lot of use in armored cavalry grappling. I read an article many years ago discussing grappling on horseback and the extended grip was very useful in hooking your opponent and pulling them off their horse. i.e. you hook an appendage using your grip-pummel and spur your horse on to pull the guy your direction.
I also prefer moving to single handed as i get into grappling range. This allows me to free up my left while I hook with the pummel/move to half-swording.
I think Matt does a good job of explaining the difference between "Was it ever done?" and "Was it commonly done?" Considering how much humans have fought one another, it's probably safe to say that anything you can imagine was probably done at some point but that doesn't mean that the soldier doing it thought it was optimal. Sometimes you just use what you have. Additionally, almost any soldier will tell you that frequently the choice of weapon(s) is a compromise because you don't know exactly what situation you will encounter.
As far as the Bannerlord scenario, it overlooks the TANSTAAFL principle -- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. There will invariably be something given up to gain something else. As a lifelong horseman, I have been surprised by the things a horse can learn to do. I have no doubt that the right soldier on the right horse could train enough to be quite good with a two-handed weapon while mounted. The right horse could learn that when the rider stands in his stirrups, he is about to deliver a blow and the horse should continue current course and speed. One trade-off is that the number of horses who can be taught such a subtlety is small and the amount of training is enormous. A man/horse team which could be efficient with two-handed weapons would have to sacrifice competence in some other skills, thus would be less flexible and potentially not worth their upkeep to the commander. They would also lose the ability to ride knee-to-knee with other cavalrymen (because of the room needed to swing a large weapon) thereby being more vulnerable to counter-attack. Even if you assume (for the purposes of Bannerlord) that there's no penalty at that moment in combat, there would necessarily have been a large cost in time and money before the battle and that must be factored in.
Great timing. I looked for info on this just yesterday.
Matt, I’m a longtime Bannerlord player. What weapon load out do you prefer? Which weapons feel the most authentic to you?
You can also use them one handed paired with a shield in KCD.
KCD?
@@fenrir_Lokison9 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
@@fenrir_Lokison9 Kingdom come: Deliverance
Great game btw...
but the catch is you can't do longsword combos if you use a shield in KC:D
@@GaMeR11sHoT yeah, I couldnt do those at all. Not on 15 fps 🤣🤣🤣
Ah I clicked for the thumbnail. I too have a Rhinelander. I like it. Grip is a bit short, but its a nice sword. My very first sharp I ever bought. Great for the price.
Hi 🎩 surely the best weapon is a dagger “that I see before me” in a medieval battle at least, it comes down to a scrum. I have led 100 ish size pike blocks. (Sealed knot. Charity) you don’t have room to do anything. Even the injured stayed up. All you do is try and stop your rib cage from breaking. Hence back and Brest plates. And yes I’ve broken them. Great fun and beer after.
'Not everyone has multiple swords' Sorry, what? Who are these weirdos?
Gunfighters.
It's madness.
@@manfredconnor3194 Next you'll be telling me not everyone has multiple guns either.
I definitely read in one of the accounts of the Turkish siege of Malta, a mention of the use of hand and half swords on foot, with large shields, specifically to fill any breach in the wall. Supposedly they'd get a couple of the biggest, strongest knights and just have them physically fill in the gap in the wall, and the ability to effectively use the longer, heavier sword one-handed was especially valued. I don't recall whether I read this at the armoury in Valletta or in a book about the siege, though, so I'm not sure how I'd track down the primary source, assuming there was one.
Since it's an important milestone in the classic Mount & Blade (and is a popular subject in fiction beyond M&B), how about covering examples of medieval and early renaissance commoners who got knighted because of their martial prowess/battlefield excellence (if they even existed in any serious quantity) and just what someone had to do to get himself knighted for that?
Great video! Would have been cool to discuss Fiore's spada a una mano here, I think. I've always wondered if that section was partially to do with horseback, as it shows the adversary using their sword one handed as well. Some of the actions in the "mounted dueling" section are also reminiscent of spada a una mano on foot. Just a thought!
Always an interesting video, thanks mate
Thanks Matt, excellent discussion! Just wondering if you might give us one on the characteristics of the Czech Dussack some time in the future ?
6:25 Can cofirm, looks like an austrian M1861 in my book. 👍
(I mean that litterally, just looked it up in the book about austrian bladed weapons i bought last year 😁)
Wasn't there a video promised about it once? 🤔
Matt, forgive my ignorance, were long swords ever used two handed with a strapped on shield? Thinking about it the other day
Likely a warrior did that. But it probably did not catch on. Seems situational to me.
@@shawn6860 would it be effective?
@@boucherwag_7771 yes, how effective would be the skill of the warrior, shield type and how they use the blade.
I see someone with a strapped on shield picking up a two handed sword on the field. With the right maneuvers it should work. It would limit what you can do with the sword thourh . maybe utilize the sword like a spear and it would effective.
Yes. It is not like it was a fighting school or anything as far as I know, but I am pretty sure it was done.
The shield would not have been a large one though.
Although, I am sure that someone did that too.
@@manfredconnor3194 Ya, in the field of battle you can't be choosey on what weapons or sheild you can pick up
Love the video. My take-away from it is that the main reason why mount&blade games use two Handed weapons the way to do is for game-play reasons, not for being historically correct.
Just wanna mention the ghostly sabre swinging around behind Matt from 2:34 onwards
IMO the best part about longswords being "hand-and-a-half swords" is the ability to also attack with one hand when such an opportunity presents itself. I've landed countless one-handed strikes and thrusts in sparring, both with the right and the left hand, and a longsword is also quite good at blocking with a hangen/guardia di testa-type guard in one hand (again, either hand). I wouldn't primarily use it in one hand, but it being usable with one hand adds quite a lot to your possible repertoire.
Cavalry weapons were frequently very beefy in 18th century warfare and afterwards. Length, sturdiness and the ability to just smash through enemy defenses were frequently preferred for heavy cavalry (once the prussians started to use pallasches pretty much everyone started to use really beefy blades to not get crushed in cavalry on cavalry combat).
Matt, in the first half of the video, when you talk about examples of using 2h/bastard from a horseback, you seem to takeinto consideration only the moment of charge. But what about horseback fencing after the charge has been stopped? It's especially striking imo with the austrian sabre example when you say it's not optimal for fencing but great for delivering point/edge with horse movement. Well then why would they use it over the lighter saber, if charge was only a part of a mounted combat? Just my few thoughts, take care!
"Only a part" can still be "the most important part".
Because cavalry largely did not get into fencing outside of charges. Cavalry was both more vulnerable and less effective at taking advantage of reach advantage and mounted momentum while stationary; cavalry rode at each other, and predominantly remained within striking range for but brief moments followed by much longer intervals apart (since one or more fast-moving horses have now positioned both parties well away from each other given their faster travelling speed).
Super interesting 👌 ....but I did giggle at the horse riding 😋. Perhaps some coconuts for effect?😊😉
Will you be doing a video on that austrian 1861? I really first thought it was a swiss 1867/94 with a modified hilt... but as it seems the swiss have copied the design a bit. Beautiful swords but really very heavy (at least the troopers version that I have). Awesome vid, thanks!
It was interesting, to your point about the disadvantages of a long grip, to see at about 11:39 that the grip got a bit tangled in your lab mic wire.
10:01 YES!
Now, please, can you do a video on the Albion St. Maurice?
New to the channel. I hope the dev's put more effort into bannerlord. The outer shell of a good game is there but it's got no filling. Enjoying the content so far.
I couldn't help but to think about the old D&D weapons charts... Short sword 1d6, two handed sword 1d10, Bastard Sword one hand 1d8 two handed 2d4 and half the price of a two handed... it was the best sword to choose when adventuring in Greyhawk ;-)
sound FX :) swooosh
also extended hilt can mess with your cables
Would love to see more about African swords and Balkan swords. Love the channel
You don't need to hold the horse.
But if you turn your upper body, you need to make sure you leave your lower body and legs where they are, otherwise you're telling the horse to turn.
You should make comparison videos with Mount Blade Bannerlord video game! You should make more videos like this! As a gamer and lover of medievel weapons I would like to see !
Hi🎩Only ever seen one guy pop out the top of a pike push. He went 6’ up and out. Kings guard did that. Then we oops hit them 8 times. And had beers after.
A weapon I’d like you to review is the Norwegian battle-ax. It’s basically a dane axe but with its head tilted backwards.
Hi 🎩 also depends on your size. I was 5’6.5”. Proud of the half. But shrinking. A one handed sword would almost be a hand and a half for me. And also heavy. But a rapier ideal. Or of course running away very quickly.
There is an interesting manuscript from Hungary, from the first half of the 14th century. It shows two handed swords being used with a big jousting shield even on foot. Cronicum Pictum, by Simon Kézai. You can search it in manuscriptminiatures.
So the trend is to use longsword as an umbrella term for items with significant morphological variation. But with rapier, it seems that a general trend is to push it into a narrow subtype of rapier, and even a subtype of fencing style.
We've now gotten to the point that Matt Easton is using grimaces in his thumbnails. "Lucy help me take some photos of my crying face"
Have you done a video about indoor and urban fighting? I wonder if battles that didn't happen in field or forest had to have their weapons fitted accordingly and how.
Hi. 🎩 who comes out best. A Viking shield wall 3 deep. or a pike block in a wedge. ? Pikes up. It was all for fun.
Hi Matt
I have a question about skill in HEMA and other martial arts, as someone who has only interacted with it through youtube and games.
How big is the impact of skill? If we have an amateur that has done a few sessions and someone who can beat him 4 times of 5. How good is someone who beats the better guy at the same rate? And approximately how far would it be possible to extend this "tier" list of more experienced fighters who can beat a less skilled opponent with a significant margin until you get to the best? Twice? Three times? Ten times?
I realize I'm asking a unrealistic question, but the core of it is: How much does skill matter? How much of an advantage can it provide? And is there any abstractions that can be made to visualize how much better a master is compared to a newbie for those not practicing it?
An example form another field: Long distance running. Usually you're allowed to complete a marathon race if you jog half the time and walk the other half. But you're starting to leave casual runners behind when your time is twice that of the winner in a larger competition (usually requires a keeping a moderate jog all the way). And you're probably in a club running seriously if you can run with "only" an extra 50% time. Can anything similar be said for HEMA?
This is a very good question, and something I've been wondering about myself. It does seem difficult to quantify though. Also, I think the gap might be slightly larger in unarmed martial arts, as you can take hits and not lose the bout. Fighting with weapons is more prone to lucky hits. But as a newbie I can say there are martial arts masters who can win against a newbie almost 100% of the time, even when you get tricky or desparate. I still don't know how good that guy was because I never saw him face more skilled people. I also imagine people must be able to get really good for duelists to exist who fought in many duels but remained undefeated in history. I hope someone else from the community can add to this conversation.
Skill is very important. Putting aside the very real concept that an unskilled person is unpredictable and may just get lucky because you got surprised by the stupid thing he did, if you know how to fight when to fight and understand timing and distance...There is virtually no chance an unskilled person can win against a skilled person. Skill can also be stated as familiarity with the situation, that's what training is for. If you have trained to deal with a guy swinging at you, and some guy does it poorly, you are familiar with how to take advantage of it and he is flying by the seat of his pants.
When both have skill endurance is key.
@@brianhowe201 defense is what separates a newbie from someone who knows what there doing in any fighting art. The ability to parry and dodge more and more advanced combinations of attacks and then exploit the weaknesses in their newbie opponents defense make it so that someone who knows what there doing in anything requiring striking won’t lose to a newb. Unless they get cocky and lower their defense or the newer player happens to do a perfect combo the experienced person just happens to not know how to defend. As someone like Floyd Mayweather showed for years defense wins championships.
Love me some Bannerlord. Love me this channel.
There's also the sad but real fact that cavalry swords were often heavy, not because they were charging at other horsemen on the parallel, but because their targets were often static infantry. The heavy chopper element was to ride down and wallop those footsoldiers at a lower height! The weight impetus was vertical, not horizontal, and gravity based! Not greatly chivalrous but true nonetheless.
Drive closer, I want to hit them with my sword!
Hi Mr Easton, thanks for another great informed and entertaining video. Would it be possible to tell me what make and model is the one handed sword behind you. It appears to have a Brazil nut pommel and a floated out cross guard. I have admired this since I first saw your videos and would like to check them out. PS - beautiful looking Maori weapon too. A patu?
Potential video idea and something I’ve been wondering. What were battlefield casualty rates like comapared to disease or famine. Or if you were someone being sent off to battle in the 15th century did you feel you had a pretty good chance of coming home?
Any recommendation for blunt one-and-a-half-hand swords for sparring (possibly not too expensive)? There seems to be a focus on long Meyer/Vadi-length swords and feders, but not much around for a shorter Fiore-length.
1:55 I heard that there were Korean cavalry troops who rode in to battle while dual wielding. Can only imagine how difficult being able to do that effectively, and terrifying it is to face that in battle.
two-handed weapon on horseback is nicely displayed in Mount&Blade pc games, though in "fire and sword" part of 17ish century a montante-like swords were not avalible on horseback
Roughly speaking, what blade length and design would be the most practical for a longsword meant to be used in both hands, but could still be utilised in one hand on the rare occasion ? Thinking on it, I would say a tapering blade of no more than 36 inches, the Hanwei Rhinelander with its 35 inch blade, also the Black Prince by Darksword Armory seems to fit into that category.
That "ha-HA" sounded like Lindybeige.
Rapier is the best example for a very long one-handed sword. Quite heavy too, but clearly one-handed.
When you pull up modern recreation weapons can you include a link, or at least a note about who made them?
It sounds like you said "Cavitan" or "Kavitan" when you pulled up that zweihander, but I can't find anything by that name online. As you said they do good swords I'm curious to look at what they make, so a link or note would be helpful.
Hi 🎩 also bouncing blocks (pike blocks) on sedgemoor battle site. 1985. A quagmire.
Hi Mat, topic question. what were the most common injuries in pre-gun era battles, why do you think that was and the most common armour to prevent them or is it always best to just have a good shield?
In your last video on this sword you discussed using it as a foundation for a project sword, re-hilting it as a side-sword or a basket-hilted broadsword. Wouldn’t it need to be shortened slightly to be nimble enough?
He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
Hey Matt, you mentioned in another video that one-handed arming sword reproductions often make the grip longer than historically accurate. I think it was mentioned in more than one video, and mostly in the wheelpommel one. Is this true for rapiers as well? many repros i wielded have a tendency to give me the feeling of their pommel being in the way of my wrist movement, as you showed briefly in this video with the bastard sword as well. But since most rapier pommels are more egg/cylindrical or similar, the exact same reasoning as with wheel pommels does not seem to apply here. (using a handshake grip with the wheel partly in the lower palm instead of wrenching the hand between pommel and guard). The rapier is already gripped with a long 'pistol' grip, with one or two fingers over the guard. Is this a case of me overthinking now and just needing to 'get gud' or might this be an artifact of handling too long grips?
Hi🎩 one topic for you. The importance of water in a battle. You heft a big sword you need it.
Talk more about Bannerlord! Love that game
Context and compromise - hmm where have I heard those words used before in relation to swords and their design and use...? ;-)
now you gotta address the Winged Hussar's Koncerz
Hi🎩 oh fighting up hill is not as hard as you think. Twist and turn. Slip slidy. But main thing is go straight. If you turn “oops”
Hypothetically how do you figure the handling would be if you took something like a hand and a half/bastard sword tapering to a pretty acute point chopped the tang down and threw on a complex hilt and an appropriately sized pommel? Essentially turning it into a frankenstien sidesword
Great video.
Btw what do you think about those strange tipped falchions in Bannerlord? Star falchions/tipped falchion. If they're real then what's the purpose of their flared tips?
The interesting thing is that the predecessor mount and blade warband did have 2 hand weapons convert to 1 hand on horseback. Really heavy weapons could only be used slowly on horseback.
MeCavlion are OP, you ain't wrong. But large sideswinging polearms being very powerful is a kickback from the last Mount and Blade, where unmodded they were not popular in PVP at all because of their more realistic arc, and the bots struggled to use them well at all.
Huh, sounds like we need a new/clearer designation of medieval swords. Cavalry swords.
I think there's a pretty good argument for that. Maybe we retire 'bastard sword' from the lexicon and replace with cavalry swords. It was a sword for use on horseback, for the cavalry to use. As cavalry weren't expected to be purely mounted, it has some use on foot. It has the reach to make the most of being on horseback, it has the mass and strength to resist the increased energy of mounted combat. It is most importantly a weapon of warfare, a battlefield weapon.
Worth I think separating out the tournament, joust, a civilian usage.
At least it's a possibility. Ask me tomorrow for more reasons. I need to sleep and I've got a lot on the brain.
But longswords aren't just for cavalry and I don't think they were designed to be optimal cavalry swords.
@@Robert399 I'm not talking about longswords here. That's an infantry weapon in my mind. Just is, can't even see the whole couched as lance thing. I don't think it's long enough for that.
The thing I'm trying to replace, thinking about seeing replaced is the phrase bastard sword.
A phrase that has the exact following definition given in a book of mine.
'A sword that is longer than a single handed sword and shorter than a longsword.'
Exact legal definition I just gave you there.
Really helpful that, init?
Where as you say cavalry sword, I can see it being used on horseback, I can see it being used on foot, it's got trade offs up the wazoo, but it's way more function than either a single handed sword of infantry longsword.
In fact, it's a bit of a bastard mix of all of them, except by calling them a cavalry sword, it gives it more context, more definition, more explanation than bastard sword does.
With that said definition I just used. I like calling things by what they are and what they do. Hence, calling them a cavalry sword, because cavalry used it.
Seems hard to argue on principle there.
@@leonpeters-malone3054 I get what you're saying but I see no benefit in distinguishing the terms "longsword" and "bastard sword".
@@Robert399 Try this then.
One term has no value and in fact, even it's legal definition borders on pointless.
The other has a clear, relative value and has a point of comparison.
I want the phrasing for the bastard sword to have the same contextual clarity as long sword does.
Which it doesn't have now. Anywhere near.
What happens to a weapon when it thrusts into a person from horseback? Did they often get caught? Did riders have to ditch their weapons after lancing someone? Or was there so much momentum that the weapon could sometimes go a person and free itself by tearing through their body laterally? This has been a question that's been on my mind forever and it's been hard to find information about it. What do you think, Matt?