[Randall Moffett]

James,

I do not know for sure but it was almost a matter of course to make people right handed.... lefties could not be trusted. Sinister people

RPM

[Al Muckart]

Hi Randall,

[Xan Stepp]

Additionally a 45 degree strike may seem like a vertical strike just seconds later. If de Bohun were leaning forward (which is a reasonable assumption while riding on horseback with a lance), a 45 degree strike could easily enter the top of the helmet, and when all the motion was sorted out, make it look like a vertical strike.

[Dan Howard]

[Al Muckart]

Hi Dan,

[James Arlen Gillaspie]

Ordinarily I wouldn't even have thought to ask, but - he was king. I have vague memories of coming across sporadic evidence that some VIP's of a sinister persuasion had more lattitude than most soldiers. In any case, reaching across one's body, considering how short the typical surviving horseman's axes are... I just don't think so.

[Bill Tsafa]

[Lin Robinson]

[J.D. Crawford]

A few follow up comments:

From my meager experience with fencing, I know its a lot harder to make fancy offensive maneuvers when the other guy is also trying to hit you. In the 'weapons that made Britain' reenactment, if you watch closely, the actor playing de Bohun actually turns his 'lance' away from 'the Bruce' during his slight swerve. In the real situation the de Bohun would have been tracking the Bruce with the tip of his Lance, and trying to compensate for his movements. Maybe he got excited about knocking off the general and got sloppy, but I doubt it was as smooth and easy as what they show.

I also saw the other episode mentioned where they tested a broadsword against a conical helm. Yes, not much of a dent. But then that is generally why knights were switching to axes and hammers at that time. A lot more momentum when the weight is placed at the end, and blunt force trauma to the head is just as effective at killing as a cut. Even a hit that did not penetrate the helm at all would produce a sever concussion if it accelerates the skull fast enough (against the brain).

But 'split him to the brisket'? Well, that sounds a bit poetic to me. Medieval chroniclers are notorious for exaggeration.

(On the other hand, I'm distantly related to The Wallace, so I absolutely believe every wild tale about him).

[James R.Fox]

Sirs-you are forgetting some variables, which are that a good axe head weighs about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, Bruce was a strong man ( his leprosy, of which he finally died 13 yrs later was not that bad then) , axes swing on hafts like levers, and Bruce was used to using an axe . Therefore it would have been a mericle if de bohun's helm and head were Not split.
His leprosy is why he was fighting battles in 1314 (most experts say he should not have fought Bannockburn,)and begging for a peace, or at least a long truce in 1327, In his last 3-4 years, by all accounts he was blind and paralyzed. By 1314 he knew he was a leper,and had a limited time to force the English to recognize Scots independance and his heir which he finally did in the campaign of 1327. (He campaigned from his litter his last few years) The best account I have read is "The Wars of the Bruces"). It is still available from Amazon, I think.

[J.D. Crawford]

For what it's worth, I read somewhere that historians now think the Bruce did not have leprosy but rather a skin disease like psoriasis.

[James R.Fox]

Hi-I heard that too but don't believe it. In Wars of tBruces there is a photo of his skull done when his grave was opened. All his facial bines are eaten off the left side of his skull. First time I've ever heard of psoriasis doing That!

[Jean-Carle Hudon]

I don't know much about how psoriasis could attack the bone structure of the skull, but a journeyman's knowledge of politics and nationalism would lead me to conclude that if the English could somehow diminish the appeal of De Brus finishing off a Bohun with one good shot from his axe, though the Bohun had the presumed advantage of charging with his lance, it would already have been done. The only attempt so far to take something away from the Scot King is the insistance that De Bohun was a ''young'' knight, thus leading one to conclude that De Brus was lucky to get away with having a fairly inexperienced opponent... it's the old justification : yeah we lost, but we had our second string quarterback out there...
I am quite sure that if this event was not feasible, others would have attacked its credibility well before the advent of the internet.
By the way, the Bohun family had deep pockets back then and would certainly have had the means to hire some monks to rewrite the event, had it not already been so notorious as to make the exercise futile.

Cheers. Go, de Brus, go!!! JCH

[J.D. Crawford]

[Lafayette C Curtis]

The Bruce dodging the lance? Extremely plausible. Hitting and killing the Bohun with exactly one blow? Not exactly something you see every day, but there's no reason to doubt that it can happen so it very probably did happen in this case. However, when it comes to cleaving the Bohun from crest to chin...

...I'm not so sure. I haven't been able to find the primary source quotation for this (none of the Scalacronica, Lanercost Chronicle, or Vita Edwardi Secundi mention it), and even if it exists it'd be only one source among several others that don't mention that part of the tale at all. So I remain quite skeptical about this specific part of the tale, especially since you don't need to cleave a man's helmet entirely in two in order to kill him with a blow to the head.

[Lin Robinson]