| Question Home |
Position:Home>History> Why did swords become so long during the middle ages?Question: Why did swords become so long during the middle ages!? A stab to the gut from an ancient short sword I think would kill you better than a swing to the arm from a medieval great sword, even if it did sever you arm you'd still be alive!
Plus short swords like the Roman Gladius, or especially the ancient Greek kopis or xiphos swords could still deliver a pretty good hack!. So why during the middle ages did some swords have blades 4 feet or more in legenth!? I think it seems unnessceary and inneffective, or am I wrong!?Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: they used the shorter swords for closer combat like the turtle formantion from the romans it was 22 1/2 inches so it could be used close to the enemy mainly to jab the longer medievil swords were mostly hacking swords heavier then the gladus even thrusting swords from then weighed less then the longer hacking swords plus you need a longer sword to kill people from horse back plus i think a longer sword would keep an enemy farther away letting there be space for actual sword play rather then shove and stab techniques like with the romansWww@QuestionHome@Com People on horseback coud fight with shorter swords, such as the Arabic scimitar!. However, the people that fought with swords in the Middle ages were wearing suits of armor!. A scimitar couldn't penetrate that armor!. A knight on horseback first tried to unhorse his opponent, by a jousting-match, with lances against shields!. A long, heavy sword, called a Broadsword in English and a "Claymore" in Gaelic, was then used, either on horseback or on foot!. It had to be long and heavy, to be effective!. The Battle of Adrianople demonstrated that heavy cavalry could dominate a battlefield, and marked an end of the supremacy of heavy infantry, represented by the Roman legions!. The theory of cavalry supremacy lasted until the Battle of Morgarten, when the Swiss infantry defeated Austrian knights!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Armour!. By the late Middle Ages, plate armour had developed to the extent that it was pretty much impossible to pierce with an edged weapon!. Therefore the important factor in a sword was not sharpness but weight!. The idea was not to impale your opponent but to bludgeon him to death inside his armour!. This is also why, though swords were still carried for chivalric reasons, on the battlefield knights often wielded axes, maces or flails instead!. With the development of gunpowder, armour became useless and was discarded, and swords became smaller and lighter as a result!.Www@QuestionHome@Com R U Serious!? Women are advised not to wear ties, as they are phallic symbols!. In the Middle Ages, codpieces in South Europe (moneyed classes) became huge, same deal!. My daddy's bigger than your daddy!. My sword's!.!.!. also, longer reach means the big sword guy can blood his opponent, who has to be very good at footwork to even reach the big sword guy!. In the Crusades, the Saracens used lithe, curved blades and moved like the wind!. However, the guy with the claymore could split the guy top-to-bottom if he got in the first lick!. (The claymore was Scottish and generally acknowledged to be bigger than anyone not a Scot would want to bother trying to heft!. Those guys toss cabers - think telephone pole - for training and "fun" - no wonder they and the English had such fighting way back when!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com What you're forgetting is that these medieval swords were for people on horseback!. Remember, this was the era of mounted knights in armour!. That explains the extra length!. http://www!.sword-and-dagger!.com/ http://www!.tabula-rasa!.info/JamesAdams/t!.!.!. http://www!.medievalcollectibles!.com/norm!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com You might be thinking about 'pikes' , or very long swords held by infantry to fight against cavalry!. Spanish pikemen, from about the 13th century on, became the dominant force in Europe - Pikemen, properly trained, could easily stop and defeat a cavalry charge!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Different uses and styles of fighting required different shapes, lengths and styles of swords!. also the strength of the "average" person using the sword dictated its size!.Www@QuestionHome@Com These sort of swords were designed to penetrate heavy armor that knights wore in the middle ages!. A short sword wasn't strong enough to break through the armor but with the weight of a long sword armor could be more easily penetratedWww@QuestionHome@Com The Germanic tribes started with the longer swords to begin with!. The during the middle ages that become the sword!. The smaller sword works better information!.Www@QuestionHome@Com To reach the other guy first!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |