And here you can find out more about how medieval battles were fought in the first place.īut back to why the wounds on the legs are so important for us. Here you can find out more about that and the other events that happened after a medieval battle had ended. However, normally one important activity after a battle was to plunder the enemies dead and wounded and take their precious armor. Burying the dead as quickly as possible was important to stop the spread of diseases that were the bane of every medieval army! The reason for that can probably be found in the sheer number of dead and the warm weather after the battle. But medieval armies could be larger than one might expect, more on that here.īy the way, the mass graves of the battle of Visby are an anomaly since many of the fallen were buried with their armor. Now the number of 1,200 fallen soldiers might sound way too high for a medieval army. Excavations of the mass graves at the battlefield of Visby have shown that about 70% of the 1,200 skeletons show signs of severe injuries to the legs. That is actually supported by archaeological evidence. The graves at the battlefield of Visby – insights into how medieval swords were used So most swordsmen during the Middle Ages wouldn`t try to cut or stab through armor but would try to attack the less well-armored or even completely unarmored body parts, for example, the legs. And while modern experiments show that good swords were able to cut through poorly made chainmail, banking on that was usually not wise. Obviously, the quality (as well as the price, more on that here) of both swords but also armor heavily depended on the skill of the blacksmith. And when an extremely good sword met a hauberk of suboptimal quality then modern tests show that the sword might have cut or pierced the chainmail. While a one-handed sword was hardly able to cut or pierce through a shirt of chainmail, the so-called hauberk blows and stabs that were delivered with enough force could still cause blunt force impacts or even broken bones. Here you can find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of medieval armor. The most robust armor that that kind of one-handed sword would face were Gambesons or, even more robust, chainmail. You can find out more about that (and whether medieval swords were sharp or not) in my article here. Have you heard the myth that medieval swords weren`t sharp at all? Like most myths that one also has a grain of truth to it. It was mostly used to deliver cuts and blows but could also be used for stabs. For more information on the reasons for that and which weapon instead of swords dominated (and decided) medieval battles you might want to check out my article here.ĭuring the 12th century, the typical sword was one-handed, weighed 2,8 lb (1,3 kg), was roughly 40 in (1 m) long, had a double-edged broad blade, a short tip, and was extremely sharp. The typical Early & High medieval swordīy the way, it might come as a surprise to you but swords were not that common, especially not during the Early and parts of the High Middle Ages. You can find that article here.īut let`s start out with the typical one-handed sword that was used during the Early and High Middle Ages. Because of that, I wrote a sister article where I talk about the effectiveness of medieval armor. Generally, it is important to state that there was a constant race between swordsmiths and armorsmiths to adapt to the newest developments in weapon or armor technology. The second type, the two-handed Longsword was developed in the 14th century as a response to the spread of Plate armor against which a one-handed sword was less effective. The first type, the one-handed sword that was used together with a shield, was used during the Early and High Middle Ages. When we look at how effective a medieval sword was then we can roughly split these swords into two types. Sources How effective were medieval swords against Gambesons & Chainmail?.How effective were medieval swords against Plate armor?.The graves at the battlefield of Visby – insights into how medieval swords were used.The typical Early & High medieval sword.How effective were medieval swords against Gambesons & Chainmail?.
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