I was wondering if anyone has any further information on the sword pictured below.



It is in Osprey's English Medieval Knight 1300-1400 on page 16. I am not sure how easy to read the text will be so I will paraphrase. A sword made for a child found in the River Thames believing to date from the first half of the 14th century.

Scott

The picture is upside down.....but the sword is a "stock"....do you know where it was found??...it was usual that the nobles ordered small swords for they young sons...so they could initiate they practice to be kniths when they get the proper age...try to find about the noble family`s in the area where sword was found.....that´s a beginning....

Hmm I was wondering why they described it as made for a boy considering its listed size of 40 inches....but then i realized that the book had a typo.....78.5 cm isn't 40 inches.....it's much closer to 30.....so the child-sized reference made sense.
Dan

30" sword might as well be a knight's riding sword. I'm not very convinced it is a child's sword.

I read somewhere that is not always so short swords were for children. Some, especially the nobles, loved carrying swords shorter, less bulky. Mmmm ... is it true?
Maurizio

Hello Scott.... I think that´s not a dress Sword...the dress Sword i think only appears in the xvi cent. ....the so called Rapier..... the Sword of the picture by the type of pommel and blade y think is from early xiv cent....that´s when blades became to be used more to thrust than.... to cut...because the increasing of armours there was the need to find small openings and week points in the armours and coats of mail...... By other side...usually the Swords used by a knigth were longer than this one..so they could reach a foot soldier from the saddle of the horse....usually a knigth uses at least 2 swords......one on his belt ...and another longer...hanged in the saddle near the neck of the horse......

Civilian swords, riding swords, what ever you call them, are not specific for renaissance. You have them from viking age on... Warrior of any era understood that if his battle sword is too big to be carried on all occasions he needs one which is appropriate for that but can still do the job and protect him better than ordinary knife or dagger.

Luka,
Thank you for responding to Jorge's post. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say to explain my last post and you did an excellent job of describing what I was trying to say.

I would still like to learn more about this sword if anyone has any more information about it.

Scott

Hello luka!!!.....And thank´s for your reply....but no matter what you say.....the fact is that knigths INDEED.use very long swords!!!!....there are many books about that ....See ARMS & ARMOUR OF THE MEDIEVAL knigth...by David Edge & John Miles Paddock..... Another Thing...a Knigth does not depends of his Sword to defense!!!...In fact the is weapon is the SPEAR!!!.. and if he breaks or looses it he would use is AXE!!... and finally the ...SWORD..!!!.. and that´s because his SWORD is his most valuable weapon....and his own symbol....By the way ....what do you think about the CLAYMORE....and the landsknecht.......Big Swords!!!!! and not easy to carry on...?????.... But they exist!!!!....... Cheers!

Jorge Santos-

Stop yelling. Change your tone.

Jorge,
I agree that for war the knight uses a sword with a long blade so as to fight more effectively from horseback. What both Luka and I are speaking about are times when peace reigns and they are doing other things. Say on a courtly hunt with other knights, nobles, or even royalty. Would they carry their heavier swords made for heavy combat? Or smaller blades that would allow them to defend themselves when needed.

Scott

Hello Scott... your rigth....when not at war the big Swords were resting....and there was no need for a knigth to wear those heavy weapons.....but surely they would always keep is belt Sword....and that one was for battle...duel..or peace times..and they wear the daggers too...who could be more propper for hunting...I do believe that in the XIV cent. there were not the kind of Sword you mean to say....it apears latter in the XVI cent....i presume......So i´m still convinced thats a child Sword......Cheers!!

Hello Nathan!....Excuse me for my tone!.........but let me explain i was not yelling i was only marking the important words....as i do when i write the name of a book.....or an author.....it was not my inttencion to yell with no one.....But I´m sorry if it looks like i was yelling.....that was not the intencion......Cheers!!!

XVI.4, from Oakeshott's Records of the Medieval sword, is type XVI sword with the blade length of only 53.4cm and it is accepted as such knightly riding sword, and it is dated to 1300-1325.

No Jorge, it is exactly the type of sword I am talking about. As Luka pointed out, with a dated example, there are examples of this type of sword showing up much earlier then you think.

Anyhow, I did not ask to debate what people think this sword was used for or is. I want to see if there is anymore information about it. So let us keep on topic about that instead wasting time with something that I was not looking for when I started this thread. You could start a different thread about this if you wanted to.

Scott