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Last updated on 05/08/2024

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THE SWORD IN THE AGE OF CHIVALRY

$ 40.00 $ 100.00

Author

Oakeshott, R. Ewart

Publisher

Frederick A. Praeger

Publish Date

1965

Catalog No.

L-10

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 and refines a detailed typology of swords which takes in entire swords, pommel-forms, cross-guards, and the grip and scabbard.

A good reference for a narrow slice of history. This book will help you better understand the styles and variations typical of the time. Useful in interpreting items found in museums or depicted in works of art.