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86-463: The Zweihänder ( German pronunciation: [t͡svaɪhɛndɐ] , literally "two-hander"), also Doppelhänder ("double-hander"), Beidhänder ("both-hander"), Bihänder , or Bidenhänder , is a large two-handed sword that was used primarily during the 16th century. Zweihänder swords developed from the longswords of the Late Middle Ages and became the hallmark weapon of

172-471: A 12-page booklet entitled Swordsmanship . After returning home from India in 1865, Hutton focused on the study and revival of older fencing systems and schools. He began tutoring groups of students in the art of 'ancient swordplay' at a club attached to the London Rifle Brigade School of Arms in the 1880s. In 1889, Hutton published his most influential work Cold Steel: A Practical Treatise on

258-463: A book called Three Elizabethan Manuals of Fence . This work reprinted the works of George Silver , Giacomo di Grassi , and Vincentio Saviolo . In 1965, Martin Wierschin published a bibliography of German fencing manuals, along with a transcription of Codex Ringeck and a glossary of terms. In turn, this led to the publication of Hans-Peter Hils' seminal work on Johannes Liechtenauer in 1985. During

344-455: A large grip for leverage. The Scottish name " claymore " ( Scottish Gaelic : claidheamh mór , lit. "large/great sword") can refer to either the longsword with a distinctive two-handed grip, or the basket-hilted sword . The two-handed claymore is an early Scottish version of a greatsword. The Zweihänder ("two-hander") or Beidhänder ("both-hander") is a true two-handed sword, in the sense that it cannot be wielded in only one hand. It

430-652: A length of 213 cm (84 in) and a mass of about 6.6 kg (15 lb). Some modern historical European martial arts groups, specifically ones focusing on the German longsword styles , use some Zweihänders with less pronounced Parierhaken for training and tournament purposes. These less pronounced parrying hooks are sometimes colloquially referred to as " Schilden ", or literally "shields" in German, as they are used to catch incoming opposing blades. These Schilden often also act as ricassos by smoothing out, and thickening, after

516-475: A training weapon for small sword fencing. By 1715, the rapier had been largely replaced by the lighter and handier small sword throughout most of Europe, although treatments of the former continued to be included by authors such as Donald McBane (1728), P. J. F. Girard (1736) and Domenico Angelo (1763). In this time, bare-knuckle boxing emerged as a popular sport in England and Ireland. The foremost pioneers of

602-461: A variation of the eclectic knightly arts of the previous century. From sword and buckler to sword and dagger, sword alone to two-handed sword, from polearms to wrestling (though absent in Manciolino), early 16th-century Italian fencing reflected the versatility that a martial artist of the time was supposed to have achieved. Towards the mid-16th century, however, polearms and companion weapons besides

688-406: Is a Chinese weapon traditionally associated with northern styles of Chinese martial arts and Wushu weapons routines , but now often practiced by southern styles as well. Unlike the xiphos , which is a thrusting weapon, the kopis was a hacking weapon in the form of a thick, curved single edged iron sword. In Athenian art, Spartan hoplites were often depicted using a kopis instead of

774-450: Is a broad-bladed curved hanger or long knife. In later usage, 'cutlass' referred to the short naval boarding sabre . The British sabre , American saber , French shable , Spanish sable , Italian sciabola , German Säbel , Russian sablya , Hungarian szablya , Polish szabla , and Ukrainian shablya is a single-edged curved bladed cavalry sword. The scimitar (French cimeterre , Italian scimitarra )

860-516: Is a single-handed "cut-and-thrust" sword with a 4 ft (1.2 m) blade similar to the long rapier. "Let thy (long) Rapier or (long) Sword be foure foote at the least, and thy dagger two foote." Historical terms (15th to 16th century) for this type of sword included the Italian spada longa (lunga) and French épée longue . The term longsword has been used to refer to different kinds of sword depending on historical context: The spatha

946-684: Is a type of saber that came to refer in general to any sabre used by the Turks or Ottomans ( kilic ), Persians ( shamshir ) and more specifically the Stradioti (Albanian and Greek mercenaries who fought in the French-Italian Wars and were employed throughout Western Europe). The scimitar proper was the Stradioti saber, and the term was introduced into France by Philippe de Commines (1447 – 18 October 1511) as cimeterre , Italy (especially

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1032-439: Is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword . The Spartiatēs were always armed with a xiphos as a secondary weapon. Among most Greek warriors, this weapon had an iron blade of about 60 cm (24 in). The Spartan version of the sword typically had a blade about 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 in) in length. The Spartan's shorter weapon proved deadly in the crush caused by colliding phalanx formations, as it

1118-439: Is an edgeless blade of square or triangular cross-section used for thrusting. In French, estoc also means thrust or point; and estoc et taille means cut and thrust. The tuck may also get its name from the verb "to tuck" which means "to shorten". The small sword or smallsword (also court sword or dress sword , French : épée de cour ) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of

1204-592: Is especially the case for weapons from antiquity, made before the development of high quality steel that is necessary for longer swords, in particular: Oversized two-handers used as parade swords or ceremonial weapons often exceeded the length and weight of practical weapons of war. The edgeless swords category comprises weapons which are related to or labelled as "swords" but do not emphasise hacking or slashing techniques or have any cutting edges whatsoever. The majority of these elongated weapons were designed for agility, precision and rapid thrusting blows to exploit gaps in

1290-612: Is first attested in Shakespeare 's Merry Wives of Windsor (1597). The French school of fencing originated in the 16th century, which is based on the Italian school, and developed into its classical form during the Baroque period. In the 18th century, during the late Baroque and Rococo period, the French style of fencing with the small sword and later with the foil ( fleuret ), originated as

1376-447: Is limited surviving documentation of the martial arts of classical antiquity (such as Greek wrestling or gladiatorial combat), most of the surviving dedicated technical treatises or martial arts manuals date to the late medieval period and the early modern period . For this reason, the focus of HEMA is de facto on the period of the half-millennium of ca. 1300 to 1800, with a German , Italian , and Spanish school flowering in

1462-567: Is mostly associated with either Swiss or German mercenaries known as Landsknechte , and their wielders were known as Doppelsöldner . However, the Swiss outlawed their use, while the Landsknechte kept using them until much later. The Black Band of German mercenaries (active during the 1510s and 1520s) included 2,000 two-handed swordsmen in a total strength of 17,000 men. Zweihänder-wielders fought with and against pike formations. Soldiers trained in

1548-569: Is still a standard reference today. Starting in 1966, the Society for Creative Anachronism , an amateur medieval reenactment organization, renewed public interest in the practice of historic fighting arts , and has hosted numerous tournaments in which participants compete in simulated medieval and renaissance fighting styles using padded weapons. Dividing their focus between Heavy Armored Fighting , to simulate early medieval warfare, and adapted sport Rapier fencing, to reenact later renaissance styles,

1634-586: Is used to refer to swordsmanship techniques specifically. The first book about the fighting arts, Epitoma rei militaris , was written into Latin by a Roman writer, Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus , who lived in Rome between the fourth and fifth centuries. There are no other known martial arts manuals predating the Late Middle Ages (except for fragmentary instructions on Greek wrestling , see Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 466 ), although medieval literature (e.g., sagas of Icelanders , Eastern Roman Acritic songs ,

1720-627: The jian date to the 7th century BC during the Spring and Autumn period ; one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian . Historical one-handed versions have blades varying from 45 to 80 cm (18 to 31 in) in length. The weight of an average sword of 70 cm (28 in) blade-length would weigh about 700 to 900 g (1.5 to 2.0 lb). There are also larger two-handed versions used by ancient and medieval armies and for training by many styles of Chinese martial arts . Two handed jians from

1806-447: The xiphos , as the kopis was seen as a quintessential "villain" weapon in Greek eyes. The khopesh is an ancient Egyptian curved short sword with a overall length of approx. 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in) and was typically made of bronze or iron. Historically, katana ( 刀 ) were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords ( 日本刀 , nihontō ) that were used by

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1892-762: The Digenes Akritas and Middle High German epics) record specific martial deeds and military knowledge; in addition, historical artwork depicts combat and weaponry (e.g., the Bayeux Tapestry , the Synopsis of Histories by John Skylitzes , the Morgan Bible ). Some researchers have attempted to reconstruct older fighting methods such as Pankration , Eastern Roman hoplomachia , Viking swordsmanship and gladiatorial combat by reference to these sources and practical experimentation. The Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 (also known as

1978-526: The Baroque period , wrestling fell from favour among the upper classes, being now seen as unrefined and rustic. The fencing styles practice also needed to conform to the new ideals of elegance and harmony. This ideology was taken to great lengths in Spain in particular, where La Verdadera Destreza 'the true art (of swordsmanship)' was now based on Renaissance humanism and scientific principles, contrasting with

2064-974: The crossguards of the blades; this is in part because certain HEMA schools follow manuscripts pertaining to Kreutz attacks – i.e., attacks performed with one's crossguard, specifically, and some persons also choose to use their Zweihänders as rapiers , so a basket hilt may be designed atop this extension. Two-handed sword Historical terms without a universal consensus of definition (i.e. "arming sword", "broadsword", "long sword", etc.) were used to label weapons of similar appearance but of different historical periods, regional cultures, and fabrication technology. These terms were often described in relation to other unrelated weapons, without regard to their intended use and fighting style. In modern history , many of these terms have been given specific, often arbitrary meanings that are unrelated to any of their historical meanings. Some of these terms originate contemporaneously with

2150-638: The long swords of the Middle Ages . The great sword was developed during the Renaissance, but its earlier cousin the Scottish Claymore was very similar in size and use, like the "outsized specimens" between 160 and 180 cm (63 and 71 in) (approx. the same height as the user) such as the Oakeshott type XIIa or Oakeshott type XIIIa . These swords were too heavy to be wielded one-handed and possessed

2236-570: The rapier (in the context of Renaissance or Early Modern fencing). The term "single-handed sword" or "one-handed sword" was coined to distinguish from "two-handed" or "hand-and-a-half" swords. "Single-handed sword" is used by Sir Walter Scott . It is also used as a possible gloss of the obscure term tonsword by Nares (1822); "one-handed sword" is somewhat later, recorded from c.  1850 . Some swords were designed for left-hand use, although left-handed swords have been described as "a rarity". Great swords or greatswords are related to

2322-551: The sabre and the lance by cavalrists and of the cutlass by naval forces. The English longbow is another European weapon that is still used in the sport of archery . Apart from the many styles of fencing, European combat sports of the 19th century include Boxing in England , Savate in France , and regional forms of wrestling such as Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling, Lancashire Wrestling, and Cornish Wrestling . Fencing in

2408-420: The samurai of feudal Japan . Modern versions of the katana are sometimes made using non-traditional materials and methods. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade usually with a round guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. The hanger (obs. whinyard, whinger, cuttoe ), wood-knife, or hunting sword is a long knife or short sword that hangs from

2494-475: The "Walpurgis" or "Tower Fechtbuch "), dated to c.  1300 , is the oldest surviving Fechtbuch , teaching sword and buckler combat. The central figure of late medieval martial arts, at least in Germany, is Johannes Liechtenauer . Though no manuscript written by him is known to have survived, his teachings were first recorded in the late 14th-century Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a . From

2580-460: The 15th to the 17th century, numerous Fechtbücher (German 'fencing-books') were produced, of which some several hundred are extant; a great many of these describe methods descended from Liechtenauer's. Liechtenauer's Zettel (recital) remains one of the most famous — if cryptic — pieces of European martial arts scholarship to this day, with several translations and interpretations of the poem being put into practice by fencers and scholars around

2666-523: The 16th century. The treatises of Paulus Hector Mair and Joachim Meyer derived from the teachings of the earlier centuries within the Liechtenauer tradition, but with new and distinctive characteristics. The printed Fechtbuch of Jacob Sutor (1612) is one of the last in the German tradition. In Italy, the 16th century was a period of big change. It opened with the two treatises of Bolognese masters Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo , who described

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2752-804: The 1890s, both in order to benefit various military charities and to encourage patronage of the contemporary methods of competitive fencing. Exhibitions were held at the Bath Club and a fund-raising event was arranged at Guy's Hospital . Among his many acolytes were Egerton Castle , Captain Carl Thimm, Colonel Cyril Matthey, Captain Percy Rolt, Captain Ernest George Stenson Cooke , Captain Frank Herbert Whittow, Esme Beringer , Sir Frederick , and Walter Herries Pollock . Despite this revival and

2838-486: The 19th century and early 20th century, the greatstick ( pau / bâton / bastone ) was employed by some Portuguese, French, and Italian military academies as a method of exercise, recreation, and as preparation for bayonet training. A third category might be traditional "folk styles", mostly folk wrestling . Greco-Roman wrestling was a discipline at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Inclusion of freestyle wrestling followed in 1904. Attempts at reconstructing

2924-452: The 19th century established the use of "bastard sword" as referring unambiguously to these large swords. However, George Silver and Joseph Swetnam refer to them merely as "two hande sworde". The term " hand-and-a-half sword " is modern (late 19th century). During the first half of the 20th century, the term "bastard sword" was used regularly to refer to this type of sword. The Elizabethan long sword (cf. George Silver and Joseph Swetnam)

3010-551: The 19th century transformed into a pure sport. While duels remained common among members of the aristocratic classes, they became increasingly frowned upon in society during the course of the century, and such duels as were fought to the death were increasingly fought with pistols, instead of bladed weapons. Styles of stick fighting include walking-stick fighting (including Irish bata or shillelagh , French la canne and English singlestick ) and Bartitsu (an early hybrid of Eastern and Western schools popularized at

3096-471: The Baroque period include Le Perche du Coudray (1635, 1676, teacher of Cyrano de Bergerac ), Besnard (1653, teacher of Descartes ), François Dancie (1623) and Philibert de la Touche (1670). In the 17th century, Italian swordsmanship was dominated by Salvator Fabris , whose De lo schermo overo scienza d'arme of 1606 exerted great influence not only in Italy, but also in Germany, where it all but extinguished

3182-513: The English bastard sword originate in the 15th or 16th century, originally having the general sense of "irregular sword or sword of uncertain origin". It was "[a sword] which was neither French, nor Spanish, nor properly Landsknecht [German], but longer than any of these sturdy swords." Espée bastarde could also historically refer to a single-handed sword with a fairly long blade compared to other short swords. Joseph Swetnam states that

3268-629: The French styles of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries has been undertaken by Rob Runacres of England 's Renaissance Sword Club . Italian traditions are mainly investigated in Italy by Sala d'Arme Achille Marozzo, where you can find studies dedicated to the Bolognese tradition, to the Italian medieval tradition by Luca Cesari and Marco Rubboli, and to the Florentine tradition by Alessandro Battistini. Central and Southern Italian traditions are also investigated by Accademia Romana d'Armi, through

3354-571: The German Landsknechte from the time of Maximilian I (d. 1519) and during the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The Goliath Fechtbuch (1510) shows an intermediate form between longsword and Zweihänder . This represented the final stage in the trend of making very large swords, which started in the 14th century, and ended in the 16th century. In its developed form, the Zweihänder acquired

3440-531: The German school and Gustav Hergsell reprinted three of Hans Talhoffer's manuals. In France, there was the work of the Academie D'Armes circa 1880–1914. In Italy, Jacopo Gelli and Francesco Novati published a facsimile of the "Flos Duellatorum" of Fiore dei Liberi , and Giuseppe Cerri's book on the Bastone drew inspiration from the two-handed sword of Achille Marozzo . Baron Leguina's bibliography of Spanish swordsmanship

3526-520: The Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance (14th to 16th centuries), followed by French , English , and Scottish schools of fencing in the modern period (17th and 18th centuries). Martial arts of the 19th century such as classical fencing , and even early hybrid styles such as Bartitsu , may also be included in the term HEMA in a wider sense, as may traditional or folkloristic styles attested in

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3612-597: The Marquis di Ferrara . Between 1407 and 1410, he documented comprehensive fighting techniques in a treatise entitled Flos Duellatorum covering grappling, dagger, arming sword, longsword, pole-weapons, armoured combat, and mounted combat. The Italian school is continued by Filippo Vadi (1482–1487) and Pietro Monte (1492, Latin with Italian and Spanish terms). Three early (before George Silver ) natively English swordplay texts exist, but are all very obscure and from uncertain dates; they are generally thought to belong to

3698-531: The Napoleonic period. Angelo's text was so influential that it was chosen to be included under the heading of Éscrime in the Encyclopédie of Diderot. In the 19th century, Western martial arts became divided into modern sports on one-handed fencing and applications that retain military significance on the other. In the latter category are the methods of close-quarter combat with the bayonet , besides use of

3784-503: The SCA regularly holds large re-creation scenarios throughout the world. Their styles have been criticized by other groups as lacking historical authenticity, although a number of members of the group regularly engage in scholarship. A number of researchers, principally academics with access to some of the sources, continued exploring the field of historical European martial arts from a largely academic perspective. In 1972, James Jackson published

3870-519: The Sabre , which presented the historical method of military sabre use on foot, combining the 18th century English backsword with the modern Italian duelling sabre . Hutton's pioneering advocacy and practice of historical fencing included reconstructions of the fencing systems of several historical masters including George Silver and Achille Marozzo . He delivered numerous practical demonstrations with his colleague Egerton Castle of these systems during

3956-469: The Venetian Republic who hired the stradioti as mercenaries) as scimitarra , and England as cimeter or scimitar via the French and Italian terms. Historical European martial arts Historical European martial arts ( HEMA ) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there

4042-401: The bastard sword is midway in length between an arming sword and a long sword, and Randall Cotgrave's definition seems to imply this, as well. The French épée de passot was also known as épée bâtarde (i.e., bastard sword) and also coustille à croix (literally a cross-hilted blade). The term referred to a medieval single-handed sword optimized for thrusting. The épée de passot

4128-458: The belt and was popular as both a hunting tool and weapon of war. The falchion (French braquemart , Spanish bracamarte ) proper is a wide straight-bladed but curved edged hanger or long knife. The term 'falchion' may also refer to the early cutlass . The cutlass or curtal-axe also known as a falchion (French badelaire, braquemart, coutelas, malchus ; Italian coltellaccio, storta ; German messer , dussack, malchus )

4214-577: The blade-catchers have been passed. These are specifically the Zweihänders called feders , or federn in German, and are historically training weapons; there is no concrete evidence suggesting wooden longswords were ever actually used, even for training purposes. Even today, most modern training weapons are metal, as wood does not have as much give under blade pressure as real steel, although some synthetic plastic weapons are used for cost-efficiency. Additionally, some modern adjustments to certain weapons extend

4300-435: The dagger and the cape gradually began to fade out of treatises. In 1553, Camillo Agrippa was the first to define the prima, seconda, terza, and quarta guards (or hand-positions), which would remain the mainstay of Italian fencing into the next century and beyond. From the late 16th century, Italian rapier fencing attained considerable popularity all over Europe, notably with the treatise by Salvator Fabris (1606). During

4386-411: The dao is considered one of the four traditional weapons, along with the gun (stick or staff), qiang (spear), and the jian (sword). It is considered "The General of All Weapons". The hook sword , twin hooks , fu tao or shuang gou ( simplified Chinese : 钩 ; traditional Chinese : 鈎 or 鉤 ; pinyin : Gou ), also known as hu tou gou (tiger head hook),

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4472-544: The discontinued traditions of European systems of combat began in the late 19th century, with a revival of interest from the Middle Ages . The movement was led in England by the soldier, writer, antiquarian, and swordsman, Alfred Hutton . Hutton learned fencing at the school founded by Domenico Angelo . In 1862, he organized in his regiment stationed in India the Cameron Fencing Club, for which he prepared his first work,

4558-459: The dulled side for defensive and blocking techniques. The backsword was a single-edged, straight-bladed sword, typically for military use. This type of sword had a thickened back to the blade (opposite the cutting edge), which gave the blade strength. The backsword blade was cheaper to manufacture than a two-edged blade. This type of sword was first developed in Europe in the 15th century and reflected

4644-593: The emergence of asymmetric guards, which made a two-edged blade somewhat redundant. The backsword reached its greatest use in the 17th and 18th century when many cavalry swords, such as the British 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sword , were of this form. Dao are single-edged Chinese swords , primarily used for slashing and chopping. The most common form is also known as the Chinese sabre , although those with wider blades are sometimes referred to as Chinese broadswords . In China,

4730-442: The enemy's defences; the major joints of the arms, the opening in a visor. However they mainly saw prominence outside the battlefield as a duelling weapon. The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In modern times, this variety of sword

4816-506: The focus generally is on the martial arts of Medieval and Renaissance masters, 19th and early 20th century martial arts teachers are also studied and their systems are reconstructed, including Edward William Barton-Wright , the founder of Bartitsu ; combat savate and stick fighting master Pierre Vigny ; London-based boxer and fencer Rowland George Allanson-Winn ; French journalist and self-defence enthusiast Jean Joseph-Renaud ; and British quarterstaff expert Thomas McCarthy. Research into

4902-434: The handling characteristics of a polearm , rather than a sword due to their increased size and weight, therefore adding to its striking power and longer reach. Consequently, it was not carried in a sheath, but across the shoulder like that of a pike or halberd . Due to their length and weight, which was typically at least 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) and around 2 kg (4.4 lb), Zweihänders required two hands, as

4988-441: The interest that was received in late Victorian England, the practice died out soon after the death of Hutton in 1910. Interest in the physical application of historical fencing techniques remained largely dormant during the first half of the 20th century, due to a number of factors. Similar work, although more academic than practical in nature, occurred in other European countries. In Germany, Karl Wassmannsdorf conducted research on

5074-474: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, including forms of folk wrestling and traditional stick-fighting methods. The term Western martial arts ( WMA ) is sometimes used in the United States and in a wider sense including modern and traditional disciplines. During the Late Middle Ages, the longsword had a position of honour among these disciplines, and sometimes historical European swordsmanship ( HES )

5160-418: The latter half of the 15th century. In the 16th century, compendia of older Fechtbücher techniques were produced, some of them printed, notably by Paulus Hector Mair (in the 1540s) and by Joachim Meyer (in the 1570s). The extent of Mair's writing is unmatched by any other German master, and is considered invaluable by contemporary scholars. In Germany, fencing had developed sportive tendencies during

5246-429: The length of the blade, and "two-handed" for any sword that could be wielded by two hands. The term two-handed sword may refer to any large sword designed to be used primarily with two hands: The term "hand-and-a-half sword" is modern (late 19th century). During the first half of the 20th century, the term "bastard sword" was used regularly to refer to this type of sword, while "long sword" or "long-sword" referred to

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5332-503: The longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance . The height of the small sword's popularity was between the mid-17th and late 18th century. It is thought to have appeared in France and spread quickly across the rest of Europe . The small sword was the immediate predecessor of the Épée de Combat from which the Épée developed and its method of use—as typified in the works of such authors as Sieur de Liancour, Domenico Angelo , Monsieur J. Olivier, and Monsieur L'Abbat—developed into

5418-442: The mid-20th century, a small number of professional fight directors for theatre, film and television – notably including Arthur Wise. William Hobbs and John Waller , all of them British – studied historical combat treatises as inspiration for their fight choreography. In the 1980s and 1990s, Patri J. Pugliese began making photocopies of historical treatises available to interested parties, greatly spurring on research. In 1994, with

5504-517: The name implies; as such they require at least 25 cm (9.8 in) for the hilt . Zweihänders that were 4 kg (8.8 lb) in weight or more were confined to parade and ceremonial use. Early Zweihänders were simply larger versions of longswords . Later examples had Parierhaken ("parrying hooks") at the top of the ricasso as well as side rings on the hilt. Swords continued to be made without one or both features. Some Zweihänders had wavy blades, and were called Flammenschwert . The weapon

5590-505: The native German traditions of fencing. Fabris was followed by Italian masters such as Nicoletto Giganti (1606), Ridolfo Capo Ferro (1610), Francesco Alfieri (1640), Francesco Antonio Marcelli (1686) and Bondi' di Mazo (1696). The Elizabethan and Jacobean eras produce English fencing writers, such as the Gentleman George Silver (1599) and the professional fencing master Joseph Swetnam (1617). The English verb to fence

5676-538: The rapier style of the innovative Roman, Neapolitan and Sicilian School of Fencing in Italy's 16th and 17th century was pioneered by M° Francesco Lodà, PhD, founder of Accademia Romana d'Armi in Rome, Italy. While research focused on the Marcelli family of fencing masters and their pupils in Rome and abroad (e.g. Mattei, Villardita, Marescalchi, De Greszy, Terracusa), through publication of papers and books on rapier fencing, attention

5762-555: The rise of the Hammerterz Forum, a publication devoted entirely to the history of swordsmanship . During the late 1990s, translations and interpretations of historical sources began appearing in print as well as online. Since the 1980s and 1990s, historical European martial arts communities have emerged in Europe, North America, Australia, and the wider English-speaking world . These groups attempt to reconstruct historical European martial arts using various training methods. Although

5848-708: The sound the blade makes when it comes into contact with another blade. There is no historical Italian equivalent to the English word "rapier". Some swords categorised as rapiers are completely edgeless or have only a partially sharpened blade, however the majority have effective cutting blades. The Panzerstecher ("armour stabber") is a German and East European weapon with a long, edgeless blade of square or triangular cross-section for penetrating armour. Early models were either two-handers or "hand-and-a-half" hilted, while later 16th and 17th century models (also known as koncerz ) were one-handed and used by cavalry. The "tuck" (French estoc , Italian stocco )

5934-403: The sport of boxing were Englishmen James Figg and Jack Broughton . Throughout the course of the 18th century, the French school became the western European standard to the extent that Angelo, an Italian-born master teaching in England, published his L'École des Armes in French in 1763. It was extremely successful and became a standard fencing manual over the following 50 years, throughout

6020-465: The studies of Francesco Lodà on Spetioli (Marche) and Pagano (Neaples). Italian rapier instructors Tom Leoni (US) and Piermarco Terminiello (UK) have published annotated English translations of some of the most important rapier treatises of the 17th century, making this fencing style available to a worldwide audience. Leoni has also authored English translations of all of Fiore de' Liberi's Italian-language manuscripts, as well as Manciolino's Opera Nova and

6106-568: The teachings of Liechtenauer. From the late 15th century, there were "brotherhoods" of fencers ( Fechtbruderschaften ), most notably the Brotherhood of St. Mark (attested 1474) and the Federfechter . An early Burgundian French treatise is Le jeu de la hache ( The Play of the Axe ) of ca. 1400. The earliest master to write in the Italian language was Fiore dei Liberi , commissioned by

6192-540: The techniques of the French classical school of fencing. Small swords were also used as status symbols and fashion accessories; for most of the 18th century anyone, civilian or military, with pretensions to gentlemanly status would have worn a small sword on a daily basis. These are single-cutting edged, usually thick or curved construction bladed swords, typically designed for slashing, chopping, severing limbs, tripping or broad sweeping techniques; but were often very poorly designed for stabbing. Swordsmen were trained to use

6278-545: The term spada da lato into "side-sword". Furthermore, there is a deprecation of the term "broadsword" by these associations. All these newly introduced or redefined terms add to the confusion of the matter. The most well-known systematic typology of blade types of the European medieval sword is the Oakeshott typology , although this is also a modern classification and not a medieval one. Elizabethans used descriptive terms such as "short", "bastard", and "long" which emphasized

6364-509: The third book of Viggiani's Lo Schermo . Ken Mondschein, one of the few professional academics working in this field, translated Camillo Agrippa 's treatise of 1553 as well as the Paris manuscript of Fiore dei Liberi and written several academic articles. The martial traditions of the Netherlands are researched by Reinier van Noort, who additionally focuses on German and French martial sources of

6450-479: The time of the Chu and Han dynasty were up to 58 in (150 cm) long. In modern times, the term longsword most frequently refers to a late Medieval and Renaissance weapon designed for use with two hands. The German langes Schwert ("long sword") in 15th-century manuals did not necessarily denote a type of weapon, but the technique of fencing with both hands at the hilt. The French épée bâtarde and

6536-458: The traditional "vulgar" approach to fencing inherited from the medieval period. Significant masters of Destreza included Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza ("the father of Destreza", d. 1600) and Luis Pacheco de Narváez (1600, 1632). Girard Thibault (1630) was a Dutch master influenced by these ideals. The French school of fencing also moves away from its Italian roots, developing its own terminology, rules and systems of teaching. French masters of

6622-420: The turn of the 20th century). Some existing forms of European stick fighting can be traced to direct teacher-student lineages from the 19th century. Notable examples include the methods of Scottish and British Armed Services singlestick , la canne and bâton français , Portuguese jogo do pau , Italian Paranza or Bastone Siciliano , and some styles of Canarian juego del palo . In

6708-575: The use of the sword were granted the title of Meister des langen Schwertes (lit. Master of the Long Sword) by the Mark Brotherhood . Frisian hero Pier Gerlofs Donia is reputed to have wielded a Zweihänder with such skill, strength and efficiency that he managed to behead several people with it in a single blow. The Zweihänder ascribed to him is, as of 2008, on display in the Fries Museum . It has

6794-507: The weapons which they describe. Others are modern or early modern terms used by antiquarians , curators , and modern-day sword enthusiasts for historical swords. Terminology was further complicated by terms introduced or misinterpreted in the 19th century by antiquarians and in 20th century pop culture , and by the addition of new terms such as "great sword", " Zweihänder " (instead of Beidhänder ), and "cut-and-thrust sword". Historical European Martial Arts associations have turned

6880-755: The world. Normally, several modes of combat were taught alongside one another, typically unarmed grappling ( Kampfringen or abrazare ), dagger ( Degen or daga , often of the rondel dagger ), long knife ( Messer ), or Dusack , half- or quarterstaff , polearms , longsword ( Langesschwert , spada longa , spadone ), and combat in plate armour ( Harnischfechten or armazare ), both on foot and on horseback. Some Fechtbücher have sections on dueling shields ( Stechschild ), special weapons used only in trial by combat . Important 15th century German fencing masters include Sigmund Ringeck , Peter von Danzig (see Cod. 44 A 8 ), Hans Talhoffer and Paulus Kal , all of whom taught

6966-515: Was a double-edged longsword used by the Romans. The idea for the spatha came from the swords of ancient Celts in Germany and Britain. It was longer than the gladius , and had more reach, so the spatha was most popular with soldiers in the cavalry. The blade could range between 0.5 and 1 m (1 ft 8 in and 3 ft 3 in) long while the handle was usually between 18 and 20 cm (7 and 8 in). The term " broadsword "

7052-568: Was a specialist weapon wielded by certain Landsknechte (mercenary soldiers), so-called Doppelsöldners . These are double-edged, usually straight-bladed swords, designed for optimized balance, reach and versatility. Jian ( simplified Chinese : 剑 ; traditional Chinese : 劍 ; pinyin : jiàn ; Cantonese : gim ) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China . The first Chinese sources that mention

7138-599: Was also paid to the influences of 16th century's masters active in Rome, such as Agrippa, Cavalcabò, Paternoster, or of the early 17th like D'Alessandri. Within Accademia Romana d'Armi historical research has continuously been carried out also on Fiore de' Liberi's longsword system, publishing the first Italian analysis and transcription of MS. Par. Lat. 11269, Radaelli's military saber and MS. I.33 sword and buckler, and more recently on Liechtenauer's tradition of fencing. Research into Italian sword forms and their influence on

7224-403: Was far more capable of being thrust through gaps in the enemy's shield wall and armour, where there was little to no room for longer edged weapons. The groin and throat were among the favourite targets. The term " rapier " appeared in the English lexicon via the French épée rapière which either compared the weapon to a rasp or file; it may be a corruption of "rasping sword" which referred to

7310-525: Was never used historically to describe the one-handed arming sword . The arming sword was wrongly labelled a broadsword by antiquarians as the medieval swords were similar in blade width to the military swords of the day (that were also sometimes labeled as broadswords) and broader than the dueling swords and ceremonial dress swords. Knives such as the seax and other blades of similar length between 30 and 60 cm (1 and 2 ft), they are sometimes construed as swords because of their longer blades. This

7396-560: Was the sidearm of the franc-archers (French or Breton bowmen of the 15th and 16th centuries). The term passot comes from the fact that these swords passed ( passaient ) the length of a "normal" short sword. The "Masters of Defence" competition organised by Henry VIII in July 1540 listed "two hande sworde", "bastard sworde", and "longe sworde" as separate items (as it should in Joseph Swetnam's context). Antiquarian usage in

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