"Medieval and Renaissance Knife Fighting History" Topic

" During the Middle Ages, roughly the 14th-15th Centuries, the warriors of Europe developed a powerful style of combat that proved equally victorious on the battlefield in times of war, on the street for suppressing riots, and in personal defense. These men fought personal and judicial duels to the death, as well as taking part in organized "melees", or tournaments. Though the tournaments may have appeared civil, and were fought with wooden or blunted swords and referees, they often ended up with crossbow men becoming involved in the fray, trying to prevent their knight from being beaten, captured, and ransomed back later by another knight! Forget the chivalrous notions you may have had about the lives these men lead – they were killers, or they were dead, plain and simple. As the wars raged across Europe, fighting techniques were tempered in the forge of battle, and the swordsmen of each country perfected the art which they would pass on to the next generation.

These techniques of killing, known to men who had fought and survived many battles and challenges, became part of an oral military tradition, passed on from one warrior to another. Then, starting in the late 1300's, books that taught fighting techniques were made in small numbers, each one carefully reproduced by hand. Some of these books contained only a few dozen illustrated techniques, but others, such the works by Fiore dei Liberi and Hans Talhoffer, catalog literally hundreds of individual techniques and counters. By the 1400's these manuscripts were produced in an ever increasing number, with several authors writing multiple books in their lifetime. This continued throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, with books being written in many countries, though the vast majority came from Germany and Italy. The 1400's saw the height of Medieval close combat, and this was the golden era of the "Fechtbuch" or "fight-book."…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Unfortunately, much of the large sword fighting styles has been lost to time while small sword techniques have been better preserved. From what I can glean, the last of the large sword practitioners were predominately stage performers as the larger blades fell out of favor. It's very interesting how very real battlefield techniques became stylized performance arts, and in turn, those very stylized arts (and sloppy history) were used to, especially by the Victorians, denigrate how effective earlier fighting must have been!

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand

jamemurp what do you mean by large sword and small sword?