European Sword Pommels


Book Description

In this book, the most comprehensive collection of sword pommels of the Middle Ages and Renaissance is published. Von Schwerzenbach collected during his lifetime hundreds of different types of sword pommels from different centuries and countries and could thus make a significant contribution to the history of the European sword for historians and collectors.In this book 680 swords and sword pommels are described and depicted. The Blacksmith marks, which are so important to collectors for the determination of authenticity, are illustrated. This work is a comprehensive reference work for the dating and determination of swords and rapiers. This book provide a deep insight into the history of the development of the sword in Europe as well as in the thinking and in the craftsmanship of the armorers of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.The Text is written by Dr. Robert Forrer, at his time a popular art historian, archaeologist and museum director. This is the revised edition of 1905. The photos have been digitally revised.







The Sword in the Age of Chivalry


Book Description

The Resplendent image of the medieval knight is concentrated in the symbolism of his sword. The straight, two-edged, cross-hilted knightly sword of the European middle ages was an object of vital importance, a lethal weapon on the battlefield and a badge of chivalry in that complex social code. Ewart Oakeshott draws on his extensive research and expert eye (and hand, for he has a special sense for the feel of a sword) to develop a typology for and recount the history of the sword, from the knightly successors of the Viking weapon to the emergence of the Renaissance sword - that is, roughly from 1050 to 1550. Within this time-span, two distinct groups of swords successively evolved. Problems of dating are acute, and evidence is adduced from literature and art as well as from archaeology, for a sword (or some parts of a sword) could have been in use several generations after it first saw battle. To deal with such overlap, Ewart Oakeshott develops, refines and illustrates a detailed typology of swords which takes in entire swords, pommel-forms, cross-guards, and the grip and scabbard.




Swords of the Viking Age


Book Description

This title surveys some 60 examples of swords made and used in northern Europe during the Viking Age, from the mid 8th to the mid-11th century. It contains an illustrated overview of blade types and construction, pattern-welding, inscriptions and handle forms and Jan Petersen's classification.




Records of the Medieval Sword


Book Description

An extensive and thorough study of the origins, development and usage of the glamorous two-edged knightly sword of the European middle ages, with a complete typology. Spanning the period from the great migrations to the Renaissance, this book presents a selection from a very large body of photographs and research and gives a full and detailed record of the swords of that turbulent time.




Arms and Armour in Spain


Book Description




In Saint George's Name


Book Description

The medieval knight was a well-trained fighting man, expert in the use of sword, lance, spear and dagger, and member of a warrior aristocracy whose values, virtues and vices helped shape European society for over 500 years. As a window into the knight and his craft, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts brings readers a treasure trove of historic combat treatises, musings on the culture and context of the martial arts in the late Middle Ages, and hands-on training exercises for wrestling, dagger, falchion, and poleaxe. Join medieval combat expert Christian Henry Tobler on an expansive journey into the lost world of chivalric fighting arts, certain to thrill martial artists, arms and armour enthusiasts, and lovers of history alike.




The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England


Book Description

This study concerns the importance of the sword in Anglo-Saxon and Viking society, with reference to surviving swords and literary sources, especially Beowulf.




The Archaeology of Weapons


Book Description

British arthority on medieval weapons surveys European arms and armor from the Bronze Age to the time of triumph of gunpowder.




The Sword


Book Description

A multidisciplinary overview of current research into the enduringly fascinating martial artefact which is the sword.