| The knight�s weapons The primary weapon of the knight at this time was of course the sword. The sword was the symbol of knighthood, and it held the place of honour among the weapons of the period. It was the only weapon which could confer knighthood; it was sanctified by the Church; it was a symbol of military power and justice. A knight would often keep the same sword throughout his entire life and then pass it on to his son. Many swords were objects of great value and luxury: they were given names, decorated with costly gold, silver or precious stones, and sometimes even contained relics. On a practical level, a sword consisted of a blade; a hilt comprising a cross-guard (now called the quillons, but this is a 16th century term), and a grip; and a pommel. Blades varied in length and width, but generally during the period in question it would be 70-90cm long and 4-6cm wide, double edged and with a point at the end which would suggest that it was used for thrusting as well as cutting. The sword was held in the right hand (even left-handed people would be trained like this), and was carried at the left side by means of a scabbard suspended from the belt. There are also a number of references to a second sword being carried on the saddle, to be used as a spare or in an emergency. Jean de Joinville, for example, writes of a horseman who charged at him from the side and bore him down across his horse�s neck, and says "et me coucha sur le col de mon cheval, et me tint si press� que je ne pouvoie traire l�esp�e que j�avoie ceinte. Si me convint traire l�esp�e qui estoit a mon cheval." ("and left me lying across the neck of my horse, and kept me pinned down so that I could not draw the sword at my belt. So I had to draw the sword which was on my horse.") An example of a thirteenth century sword, Royal armouries item no. IX-12. Photo reproduced by kind permission of the Board of Trustees of the Armouries. The second knightly weapon was the lance. Not endowed with the same sort of personality as a sword, lances were seen as tools of war rather than treasured possessions, and they did not last long as they broke frequently. The lance in the 12th and 13th centuries was approximately 8 feet long (it later became longer, reaching an extreme length of 15 feet in the 15th century), and was of a uniform thickness throughout - the tapering shape with a grip between two expansions did not appear until later, in the 14th century . The favoured wood for the shaft was ash, but there are references to shafts made of applewood, hornbeam, pine, laurel and sycamore. The head was made of iron or steel and was generally lozenge- or leaf-shaped. The custom of painting lances in bright colours appears occasionally, but does not appear to have become common until the 14th century. Some examples of different spearheads: Royal Armouries item nos. VII-1269, 1270, 1282, 1328. Photo reproduced by kind permission of the Board of Trustees of the Armouries. In the 10th and 11th centuries the lance was held like a javelin, but in the 12th century a new position called couching was adopted. The lance was pointed over the left side of the horse but was held with the right hand and gripped under the right arm, giving greater stability. This meant that the knight could put his entire weight behind the lance which greatly improved the effect of his charge. The sword and the lance were the two main knightly weapons of the period, but there are a few others which should be mentioned. The dagger was one of the few weapons used by knights, brigands and common soldiers alike. It could be used to cut through straps of armour, to pierce hauberks, to parry blows with the left hand, or in an extremity to replace a lost sword. In the 12th century a particular type of dagger known as a mis�ricorde was developed, which was very short, sharp and pointed. When a fallen enemy saw this raised above him he knew it was time to cry for mercy - one possible reason for the name. The axe was also used as a knightly weapon during this period: previously it had been thought fit only for commoners. Several different forms were used, the most common being the francisque, often referred to in texts as a Danish axe. This had one cutting edge with a beak or spike on the reverse end and was very widely used between the 12th and 14th centuries. There was also a form of axe with one cutting edge which was horizontal, rather than vertical, and a spike on the reverse end: this was sometimes referred to simply as an axe, but was also known as a besagu�. This seems to have developed from the mattock, a carpenter�s tool of a similar shape. The mace was also used, not only by knights but also by churchmen who fought but who wanted to circumvent the injunction against "smiting with the edge of the sword". It took the form of a short shaft with a heavy metal head which could be flanged or be a solid ball. It could be a very effective weapon but its major drawback was that it was shorter than either sword or axe, meaning that the wielder had to get within reach of his enemy�s blade before he could use it. It must be mentioned here that a great distinction was drawn between "knightly" and "unknightly" weapons. The latter included all missile weapons such as bows, crossbows, slings and javelins; also the long staff weapons with hooked or pointed ends used by foot soldiers - in essence, anything which prevented close hand-to-hand combat. Any knight using such a weapon would bring great dishonour on himself. This led to another common literary device: any knight in a text who willingly uses such an unknightly weapon is immediately identifying himself as the baddie! |