Hey everybody, I've got an easy 1000 level class standing between me and my BA in History, and I've got to do a paper, of course! The class is Western World to 1500, and we have to cover something that has changed over time, and the prof liked my idea of the changes in the sword from its earliest forms up to the year 1500. Ewart Oakeshott's is a no-brainer, and my searches have turned up a few other sources, but could anybody point me in the direction of some good sources on the topic? Please make sure they are publicly available and not hidden behind the access page of a journal or database I might not have access to. Thanks!

I suggest using the "Books" link in the myArmoury header above and use the search function therein.

As a (very) general outline you might try Charles Ffoulkes, though he focused more on armour. Much more research has been conducted since he published "Armour & Weapons" in 1909. That being said, the 2005 reprint is an enjoyable read.

As you mentioned, Oakeshott is a no-brainer. "The Archaeology of Weapons" and "Sword in Hand" are two of my favorites. "A Knight and His Weapons" is a really good place to start for a general overview.

M.P. LaCombe's "Arms & Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages" translated by Charles Boutell is a bit dry and very dated (1869, translated 1901, reprinted 1996).

Look for more recent publications by Dr. Tobias Capwell as well as other resources found on the "links" button in the header above.

I like that you're doing something that suits your interests. As others have mentioned, Western swords to 1500 is a (very) broad topic. If the paper is 4000 words or less, you could easily (and probably should) focus on a specific country (Italy and Germany would both be good choices, or maybe a region e.g. Scandinavia, Mediterranean). I don't know what your criteria are, but you could possibly also target a more specific time span e.g. swords of the vikings.

As mentioned, the book list on this site would be a great place to start. Besides the Oakeshott, I'd recommend Ian Pierce's "Swords of the Viking Age', which does a good job cataloging a variety of viking blades, and perhaps Spada / Spada 2 for some background information of the use and effect of various swords. You probably know this (then again, I have friends who probably never used the library in college) but your university/library might have subscriptions to several online databases which you can browse.

Thanks for all the suggestions! A little clarification though, it's not a full-blown dissertation, just a 6-8 page paper on something that has "changed over time". It's just an entry level history course that I have to take to finish out, so the paper isn't too demanding (not like the 20+ page papers I've written :eek: )

My basic goal is to outline the evolution of the sword from its earliest inception in metal (not going to bother with obsidian-studded club-swords) and work up to the general shape of European swords at 1500 without getting into too much detail over italian vs german vs flemish ad infinitum....... As much as i'd love to go turbo-nerd on the paper and write the next greatest text on swords since Oakeshotte, there's more than enough out there to meet the requirements for the paper, I just need a little help tracking it all down, which is why I decided to crowdsource my favorite forum. Knew I could count on everybody here! :D