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"They all hold swords, being expert in war" - The Sword in Combat

It is a common belief that swords were useless in war, or hardly used at all (or only used when the situation was not ideal). And these are ...

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Weapons at the Knight's Saddle

The miles wields the lance and shield in hand, and the sword and dagger girt at the waist. However, his person is not the only place he can keep his arms, for he is a horseman first and foremost, and, therefore, has a saddle. Saddle weapons, particularly hand weapons at the saddle, is not the most common knowledge (I've even seen it argued that it wasn't done!), and it is rarely depicted; however, there are plenty of primary sources that explicitly prove that hand weapons were carried at the saddle, and across a broad period of time.

The focus on this article will be on the saddle weapons of the knight (and man at arms); though light horsemen likewise carried weapons at their saddles as well (especially in the 16th century), for the sake of brevity and my sanity, I will be limiting the scope of said article to the armed cavalryman.