Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

seem that to attack with hand weapons was a more aggressive act. When Matilda's
supporters sallied out of Lincoln and launched their attack against Stephen's forces,
the latter were thrown into contusion because their attackers did not joust with them
but instead came to close quarters with swords.
Not that the sword was unsophisticated. It was a very refined weapon, and going
into a sword fight blindly hacking at an opponent would get a warrior quickly killed.
Instead fighting with a medieval sword, whether on foot or horseback, was like a
modern fencing bout; it was about feints and parries, combinations of cuts and thrusts.
The Fechtbiicber demonstrate a bewildering range of moves and counter-moves,
utilizing both the sword's point and edge with equal effectiveness. As noted above
they also include 'plays' (sets of actions and counter-actions) that are specifically
designed for combats between armoured opponents. Here the cut and thrust at
distance, the mainstay of the unarmoured techniques, are foregone in favour of closing
with the opponent and engaging him at 'half sword' with the left hand grasping
the blade about halfway along its length. From this position the sword could be more
deftly aimed at the gaps in armour, through the visor or under the rim o( helmets
such as the sallet, into the armpit or groin. The sword could also be readily reversed
to strike with the pommel or wielded axe-like to strike an opponent with the points ol
the guard. Whilst such attacks were unlikely to penetrate an opponent's armour they
might render him insensible or at least put him off balance, enabling a more lethal
attack to get through. The cross could also be used to hook an opponent's neck or his
arm or leg in order to throw him off balance.
Some of the Fechtbiicber include instructions for fighting with spears, pollaxes and
other hafted weapons. What is striking about these treatises is how similar the plays
are to those for the sword. Many of those given for fighting with the longsword,
the hand-and-a-half sword typically used on the battlefields of the mid-14th century
onwards, are also to be seen in the illustration of pollaxe fighting, for example. On
reflection this should not be surprising. Delivering a cut with a longsword and a strike
with a pollaxe required the same movement of legs, body and arms, and the most
obvious counter to it — a mirror-image move to block the blow followed by a thrust to
the face — would be equally effective with either weapon.
Whilst the Fechtbiicber show the sophistication of medieval combat techniques,
every bit as complex and nuanced as the martial arts of east Asia, they were not, as we
shall see later, primarily intended to train the warrior for the battlefield. Some of
the more complex plays are far too involved and risky to have been performed in the
middle of the mele'e with enemies on all sides. Similarly whilst individual prowess
and skill at arms was of great importance to the knight culturally, on the field of battle
that skill was insufficient.
TACTICS AND TRAINING -}=>•
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