People have tried to discuss this on this forum but weren't specific enough. :confused:
Anyway my interest lies in the late 14th century.

What I'm asking is, were waisted sword grips used in the 14th century? (because I love them :D ). Anyone who has seen or handled many pieces in museums, gone through manuscripts or art, someone who knows what they are talking about. Please help me! :confused:
I know there are more people than just me who are asking the same question.
And this question has gone unanswered (for me at the very least) for too long. ;)

Thanks! to whomever helps me (and others).

P.S. The Ewart Oakeshotte article on here does not help much with dates on the grips.
P.P.S. I hope I didn't seem too angry in this post, I just want some help here. :p

I think this link may be useful to you. Some of the longswords seem to have a slight waisted look to the grip...

http://hemareviews.blogspot.sg/2013/09/origin...h.html?m=1

As far as I can see, there are two swords on the blog site that could be argued to have waisted grips, namely sword 8 and sword 14. Sword 8 does not date to the 14th century; it's overall appearance looks like a federschwert, and stylistically belongs to no earlier than the 16th century. So that's one sword ruled out.

As for sword 14, its appearance makes me suspicious it is a fake. The pommel looks a bit odd to me, and overall it is visually quite similar to other swords that are known fakes. I have seen fakes that have a partly surviving wooden grip and leather wrap that are alike to this sword. Given these doubts, I would be hesitant to use it as evidence.

Yeah all the 14th century longswords i could find seem to have the tapered grips or no grip left at all... and all the waisted longsword grips i could find date to the 15 and 1600s

I've been thinking about it and, there isn't a definitive line between waisted and tapered grips.
Because many have convex grip taper. And if that is done with a raised ring in the middle it almost looks like a waisted grip, and is much to my liking.

Im surprised no one thought to mention XVIIIa #4 in Oakeshotts, records of the medieval sword.

Pretty sure #8 is a type XIX which I believe do date all the way back to the later 14th century but the side ring suggests it's much younger.

My overall impression is that waisted swords are so rare on 14th century swords that they represent more of an anomaly, rather than the norm. If I wanted a 14th century long sword, I would go without a waisted grip. It seems too much out of place.