Maximilien de Béthune (1560-1641) wrote in his memoirs (which were written in the second person) his own recollection of the Siege of Cahors (1580); which while lacking in the particulars of note to the siege itself, is a great first-hand account of Early Modern urban combat. It is a great scene, so I have translated it out of the French.
This one is a little different to my other posts. The title basically explains it; this is a compilation of accounts of Roman legionaries fighting outside of their "usual" manner, which for most of their existence was by charging by throwing pila, and then closing with swords, with shields in hand.
We very rarely see infantry in the 16th century with closed helmets; while this is likely not without reason, we do, however, read of them being commended in the military treatises of the time, particularly in the middle of the century.
Anyone who has read Froissart has noted the quite frequent accounts of axes in the hands of men at arms. This is not just limited to Froissart, and many works that cover the second half of the 14th century will note just how common axes are used; and to be frank, this is quite strange. While you will find accounts of axes being used both prior and after this period, when compared to the status, frequency, and their use in this period, a stark difference can plainly be seen; and of these three, I will mostly focus on the last.
There's not a whole lot on the coustillier, both online and in modern sources, especially in English, so I will attempt to shed some light them. I have translated quite a few sources for this, so enjoy!
The Battle of Omdurman is particularly famed for a cavalry charge recorded by Winston Churchill (who was an officer who partook in the said charge). I have seen Churchill's recollection referred to frequently, yet only recently did I sit down to read it. It is quite enlightening, and confirms many of my suspicions. It is quite a famous account, and many of my conclusions are not at all hard to get to, but committing things to writing is good to form one's argument and knowledge, and I have seen opinions espoused that are contradicted by this account, so I will analyze it regardless, specifically to the end of understanding the Medieval and Early Modern cavalry charge better. You may read the full account of the battle here.
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 not strawmen! I have personally seen all of these things (and more) said! Even the some of the most generous claims are still quite harsh and backhanded ("only good for duels", "great civilian weapon", etc.). But the fact of the matter is, the sword was a weapon of war, carried for centuries, sometimes in areas where they didn't have refined metallurgy either! So how could that be if swords were useless against armor and defeated entirely by reach? I have gathered up quite the collection for this one over the years, so enjoy!
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.
Hello and welcome to my first post! This will be a big one, so get comfortable.
Often it is said "We don't know how zweihanders/montantes/spadoni were used in war," but frankly, this is far from the truth. There is plenty of information as to their purpose and role in battle, but there is some piecing together to do.
Before I continue, it must be noted zweihander, schlachtschwert, slaugh sword, slaughter sword, montante, spadone, espadon, two handed sword, and sometimes longsword are one and the same. Even though some of these names are more common today, and perhaps more clear, I will use the term "two handed sword," as it is the most common term in period English texts.
