Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe: From the Iron Period of the Northern Nations to the End of the Thirteenth CenturyHewitt, John
History
Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe: From the Iron Period of the Northern Nations to the End of the Thirteenth Century
Hewitt, John
Armor; Weapons
The Sword was of the old form: straight, broad, two-edged, and
pointed. The cross-piece was generally straight: in other cases,
curved towards the blade. Examples of the latter fashion occur in the
great seal of King Henry II., here given; in Harl. MS. 603, _passim_;
and in Cotton MS., Titus, D. xvi. See also our woodcut, No. 41.
The pommel was round, hemispherical, square, lozenge, trefoiled or
cinquefoiled. All these forms may be seen in Harl. MS., 603, Titus,
D. xvi., the Bayeux tapestry, Addit. MS. 11,695, and the effigy of
Henry II., figured by Stothard. This effigy also shews very clearly
the Belt with its buckle, by which the sword was fastened round the
waist. Compare also the second plate of the Bayeux tapestry, where
the form of this short belt is very distinctly exhibited. We have
already noticed that the sword was sometimes worn with its handle
projecting through a cleft in the hauberk, the scabbard being fixed
beneath the hauberk. See cut 34, and Bayeux tapestry, Plate VI. As
in our own day, swords attributed to ancient heroes had an especial
value, and became the most cherished gifts of kings and nobles. Thus,
when Richard Cœur-de-Lion was on his way to the Holy Land, "the
king of Sicily sent to him many presents of great value, consisting
of gold and silver, of horses and cloth of silk. But the king of
England would receive nothing from him, except a little ring, which
he accepted as a token of their mutual esteem. On the other hand,
King Richard gave to King Tancred that most excellent sword which the
Britons call _Caliburn_, and which had been the sword of Arthur, once
the valiant king of England[213]."
The Sword of William the Conqueror became the feudal instrument
by which the Umfrevilles held the lordship of Riddesdale, in
Northumberland:--"In the tenth year of William the Conqueror, Robert
de Umfranvil, knight, obtained from that king a grant of the Lordship,
Valley and Forest of Riddesdale, by the service of defending that part
of the country for ever from Enemies and Wolves, with that Sword which
King William had by his side when he entered Northumberland[214]."
From a very curious drawing in the Psalter of Eadwine, written at
Canterbury in the middle of the twelfth century, and now preserved
in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, we learn the exact
manner in which the soldiery of this day furbished and ground their
swords. The implement for furbishing is in the form of an ordinary
axe-head, fixed in the centre of a rod or staff, which is held by
both hands. This curious subject has been engraved by Mr. Westwood in
his _Palæographia Sacra_.
The Mace does not often appear in the pictorial monuments of the
period. It is, however, seen in the Bayeux tapestry, in the hands of
both armies. The heads are quatrefoil, or of a heart-shape. What Wace
calls the "gibet" is considered to be the mace, and it is carried at
the right-hand side of the knight, to be used when the lance had been
broken:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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