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Edged weapons have been a part of our history for as long as records have been kept. In fact, some of the earliest tools used by primitive man were sharpened pieces of stone. Swords and knives have played a significant role in every major civilization. Even in today's modern society, swords are used in many of the most important military or state ceremonies and functions. Think about the commercials for the U.S. Marine Corps and how they focus on the Marine saber, or the knighting ceremony performed by the Queen of England where a sword is used to touch the shoulders of the knighted individual.

The earliest known swords were made from copper, one of the most common metals available. Copper swords were very soft and dulled quickly. Later on, swords were made from bronze. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. An alloy is a mixture of two or more base metals or elements to create another metal with certain specific properties. In the case of bronze, the combination of copper and tin created a metal that is:

• Stronger than copper
• More flexible than copper
• Stays sharp for longer than copper

Historically speaking, a sword was a product of the given technology and skill of the maker who created it. Some swords might be stronger or sharper than others, and some better made than others. Any design would be one that a fighting man needed to meet the kind of challenges he expected to face in combat. These conditions varied around the world at different times. This resulted in different sword designs. But every type of sword was crafted as a solution to similar problems of self-defense. Every sword had two essential functions: to guard (or parry) and to strike (by cut, thrust, or both).

Since ancient times both cutting and thrusting swords were known to be effective in single-combat as well as the battlefield of war. Any sword would be expected to face other weapons as well as armors. Armor could be of either hard or soft material, each with differing degrees of resistance and maneuverability. All manner of swords intended for cutting or for thrusting or for both were constantly developed and tested to meet these challenges. Their blades might be wide or narrow, thick or thin, straight or curved, single or double-edged, tapered or un-tapered, sharply edged or not, and for one or two hands.

But any sword design is a compromise between certain contradictory traits: a sword has to be hard to hold a sharp edge or sharp point but resilient so as not to bend or break under stress. A must guard or ward against other weapons as well as successfully damage targets (armored or unarmored(. No one sword achieves all the best effects of every other kind. Some might be better used on foot than on horseback, some better at fighting with a shield or second weapon, some better for single combat or for the battlefield, and some superior at penetrating soft armors or hard armor or even at fighting entirely unarmored. That's why in various cultures throughout history specialized varieties of swords came to exist through generations of trial and error experiment.

These will all have different cross-sectional shapes and edge-geometries that make them either stiffer or more resilient and thus better at cutting or at thrusting. Over time different swordmakers experimenting and working in different places came up with many different ways of making swords with assorted characteristics that achieved the fighting needs of swordsmen in one way or another.

What is important to understand with the eventual development of styles of single-hand thrusting swords for unarmored civilian dueling is that they were not simply new "thinner" versions of earlier wider swords for war. They were types that had different cross–sectional shapes. Differences in blade geometry–in thickness as well as width along its length–is an attribute of many kinds of swords. This variation is precisely how various sword types are stiffer or more resilient than another, may feel heavier or lighter in their hilt or blade, and can be more adept at either thrusting or cutting at different materials.

Not all sword types perform in the same manner. Sword designs are actually specialized tools. Depending upon their cross-sectional geometry, dimensions of length and width, and edge and point configurations, some types will do one thing very well but not another. The historical challenges of different battlefield and self-defense needs resulted in a wide range of long bladed weapon designs (and methods for effectively employing them). Some may have been intended more for cutting or slashing at either hard or soft targets, thrusting only at hard or soft targets, or a compromise somewhere in between. The characteristic qualities that permit one action will hinder the other. This gives different sword types different strengths and weaknesses depending upon how and why they were expected to be used.

Each sword design differs as to what it can do best within whatever kind of fighting conditions it was created to perform under. Each has its specialization, even if it is generalized. The effectiveness of any sword strike depends on the kind of target area hit in regard to the form or shape of the blade and severity of the blow. Both cutting and thrusting techniques can each be more effective or less effective depending upon the tactical context. Writing on thrusting in his fighting treatise of the 1480s, the Italian fencing master Filippo Vadi for example noted how, – Against one man the thrust is good, but against many it does not work,–adding that both books and actions confirmed this.

The variety of swords in history is immense. Different sword types were rarely identified by their own distinct labels so modern arms historians have classified or categorized them into families of assorted kinds. Cutting and thrusting types could each be decisive in sword combat but combined together they could be even more so. Thus, the study of sword types and their characteristics, or spathology, is an ongoing process that recognizes no one sword as absolutely superior to any other. All this is why there is no such thing as the "perfect sword."

A better sword was developed with the advent of iron. Iron ore was easily found in every part of the ancient world. Iron ore contains iron combined with oxygen. To make iron from iron ore, you need to eliminate the oxygen to create pure iron. The most primitive facility used to refine iron from iron ore is called a bloomery.

In a bloomery you burn charcoal with iron ore and a good supply of oxygen (provided by a bellows or blower). Charcoal is essentially pure carbon. The carbon combines with oxygen to create carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (releasing lots of heat in the process). Carbon and carbon monoxide combine with the oxygen in the iron ore and carry it away, leaving a porous, sponge-like mass called a bloom. The bloom was then hammered to remove most of the impurities. The resulting metal was easy to work with, but iron swords did not hold an edge well and were still too soft.

Iron became the metal of choice for swords and other weapons, and helped forge new empires. Both iron and bronze weapons and tools made an incredible impact on the balance of power during the eras of their respective prominence. In fact, those periods of history are now known as the Iron Age and the Bronze Age. Eventually, steel was discovered. Steel is an alloy of iron (ferrite) and a small amount of carbon (cementite), usually between 0.2 and 1.5 percent. Steel was originally made using a process called cementation. Pieces of iron were placed inside of a container made from a substance with a very high carbon content. The container was placed in a furnace and kept at a high temperature for a length of time that could range from hours to days. During this time, carbon migration would occur, which means the iron would absorb some of the carbon from the container. The resulting mixture of iron and carbon was steel.

Until the eventual takeover by the firearm, the sword was one of the primary weapons of a soldier. The name comes from the Old English sweord (or to Old High German swert) which means, roughly, "a wounding tool". Simply put, a sword is a (primarily) metal weapon with one or two cutting edges and a place to grip it at one end. A sword primarily consists of the blade and the hilt.

Foils and Rapiers were long, slender bladed types of swords designed to empathize the thrust and were one of a very few civilian swords ever devised. Appearing first in the 16th century, these swords were primarily used for dueling, a popular "fad" of these times and for several centuries after.

Surprisingly heavy, a true rapier was much longer and slower than the types of swords used in modern fencing. There are also several types of swords related to the rapier, such as the epee or the 'smallsword'.

Two handed swords or Great swords were a specialized weapon around 6- long that became popular in the 1500s to 1600s, the precise military role of these swords is a matter of debate for scholars, though many tend to believe that they were primarily used in 1 on 1 duels and single combat, though would have also been useful in the front lines for -shock troops- to cleave a path through the enemy.

The term Claymore is a derivate of the Gaelic "claidheamh-more" (great sword) and was frequently used by the Scottish Highlanders against the English in the 16th Century.

The term 'long sword' is actually quite nebulous and can refer to many different types of swords depending on the context and time period.

However, these days, it is generally accepted by modern sword scholars that the term long sword is used to describe was what previously called a 'Bastard' sword or 'hand and a half sword', in other words a straight, double edged sword that is between 4 to 4 and ½ feet long, with an average weight of 3 to 4lbs.

In other time periods, longswords referred to one handed swords that were typically used in conjunction with a shield or buckler (also known as 'broadswords'(. These days, such types of swords are generally called 'Arming Swords'.

The Falchion was the principal side arm of medieval peasant conscript soldiers as it was easy to use and its heavy blade weighted towards the point was capable of delivering tremendous blows that were effective against heavy armor.

Short Swords usually have a total length of around 2' and historically were designed to be used with a shield in one hand. Favored by the Roman Army, these swords include the Spatha, the Gladius and several other variations.

Also called the Hand and a Half Sword. The Bastard Sword was a European sword used primarily in the late 14th and the 15th centuries. The Bastard Sword is a long, straight bladed weapon with a rather plain, undecorated grip. While the blade could be used for thrusting, most often the wielder would swing it like a baseball bat. Ordinarily the weapon could be wielded with one hand, but the grip was long enough to accomodate a two-handed grip when necessary. The blade length was rarely much longer than that of a simple longsword, but because the weapon could be used with two hands (although there was really just enough room on most grips for about one and a half hands), it really couldn't be categorized as either a one or two handed weapon, making it a bastard as far as swords go. Interestingly, the executioner's sword of the 16th century developed from the Bastard Sword design.

The medieval longbow, or English Longbow, as it is traditionally known in military history was the battlefield weapon of choice for the English army nearly 700 years ago. The characteristics that allowed the longbow to stand out from other bows was the power, precision and the possible rate of fire that could be achieved in all three of these categories by a skilled archer. The medieval longbow was a Welsh invention and incorporated into the English armies by Edward I and brought about a devastating element of artillery fire that had not been seen on the battlefield for some time.

Archers made up a vast portion of many armies for hundreds of years, going back into the times of ancient warfare. Egypt, the Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans all fielded some form of this artillery firing soldier. Egyptian archers were well respected for their close fighting skills as well as their accuracy. Clad in lengthy armor, the archer could switch to a powerful sword for close-in fighting when the battle went south. Most, if not all archers, were armed with a sword or dagger for close range combat (English Longbowmen were issued 3-foot long longswords). This assured that the archer could still be part of the battlefield should ranges begin to decrease – though most were often held behind battle lines. For additional self-defense, archers could be set up behind a wall of forward-facing stakes (similar to the pike) that could protect the soldier from oncoming cavalry charges.

Longbows are traditionally made out of yew, which was a wood grown in England at the time of the Medieval Ages. The string of the longbow would be construed out of linen or hemp. The grass was then processed into the fiber, creating a string-type material that could later be woven into the bow. English Longbows measured about 6 feet tall when standing and required a lot of upper body strength to fire the system with any accuracy. Archers were expected to train for up to ten full years to develop the strength and accuracy needed to maintain the rate of fire required the thick of battle. English archers were the prize of Edward III's armies for some time and, as a result, became the highest paid soldiers.

Arrows used by medieval longbow archers varied on the type of enemy they faced. Archers would rely on an armor-piercing arrow tip to help break through knight armor, or chainmail. Other types included a standard tip that could be used against horses – bring down the ride and you in effect bring down the charging rider, creating evermore havoc to the charging horses behind him. This particular arrow tip was called the swallowtail. Other arrows available to the archer could include a flammable tip that acted more as a psychological tool of warfare than a direct attack one. Effective ranges for Longbowmen are reported to be between 50 yards and 250 yards.

Armor of the Longbowman consisted of nothing more than a leather cap reinforced with iron and a sleeping/rain cloak to keep their bowstrings dry. Some were even provided with a fast pony for quick entries and departures from the field of battle.

The longbow maintained many advantages on the field of battle for many years. As mentioned above, rate of fire was the true advantage to the expert archer as much as the range of the system. A trained army archer could shoot upwards of ten to twelve arrows in one minute, making him the world's first "machine gun" in some ways. With the advent of powder rifles in the 16th Century, the day of the archer – and knight for that matter – would see its closing days.

The counterpart of the longbow during this time was the crossbow, which can be seen as a "rifle" version of the longbow. Though powerful in their own right, crossbows were harder to aim and were heavier in construction than that of the longbow. Their rate of fire could also not match that of the medieval longbow. The crossbow slightly outranged the longbow but the longbow remained a more efficient weapon in terms of rate-of-fire. Also, since bowman had a tendency to lean into their shots and stand sideways, more longbowman could be put in one spot of the formation as opposed to the wider stance relegated to soldiers using the crossbow. Thusly advantaged lay in the utilization of either system.

The 14-century crossbow could fire a variety of bolts and was extremely accurate in its own right. Its major drawback was that the tension would have to be rewound after every shot, exposing the reloading crossbowman to an enemy charge or volley all their own. A trained crossbowman could get off about 1 bolt per minute, vastly inferior to the twelve a trained Longbowman might achieve.

In all, the crossbow could easily compliment any army and was particularly aggressive when defending high points like castle walls from sieges. Though not the perfect weapon of choice, it was nonetheless a step forwards in artillery design and could be considered one of the earlier attempts at arming infantrymen with a rifle-type weapon. Some armies made extensive use of the crossbow, preferring it even to the regular bow in most cases, as the piercing power was much more relied upon than the artillery facet.

MACES, FLANGES AND FLAILS

A development of the club, a mace consists of a strong, heavy wooden, metal-reinforced, or metal shaft, with a head made of stone, copper, bronze, iron or steel.The medieval Mace is one of the very earliest of weapons from the Middle Ages. It dates back as early as the war hammer or possibly even earlier. It was something that could be constructed reasonably easy without too much weapon building skill. The earliest maces had heavy objects attached to the end rather than metal blades or spikes. The overwhelming usefulness of the mace was its ability to generate enormous swinging force that could bring a tremendous blow to an opponent. This is why it had a heavy end. It generated more force than a sword. As weapons, armor, and metal working skills developed over the centuries the mace also developed many ingenious ways to cope by the use of spikes or blades that could pierce or even slice through armor. It was also very economical to make. Maces came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The most critical aspect of a mace was the sheer power in delivering a hammer-like blow but many maces also integrated the ability to slice, to puncture and to wreak havoc on an enemy's armor and weapon. This is an interesting variation of a mace because it has a large number of slicing/stabbing protrusions that go down the handle

Flanged maces

Flails

The weapons used during the Middle Ages include the Flail. The description of the Flail which provides basic facts and information about the weapon is as follows: The Medieval flails were used as armor-fighting weapons. The flail developed from a steel ball on a wooden handle, to an elaborately spiked steel war club.   Both Knights on horseback and foot soldiers used flails   The Knights version of this weapon was generally smaller and lighter   The flail is a weapon used during the Middle Ages initially made of a spiked metal ball attached to a handle with a hinge or a chain   The Flail weapon was mounted on a short shaft   Multiple chains and balls were later attached to the shaft making the weapon even more formidable   The chain allowed the weapon to build up momentum before striking the enemy   The flail was highly effective as an offensive weapon but difficult to use in defence   A variation of the flail is a weapon called a chain mace leading to some confusion between these two Medieval weapons     Used as a versatile, close contact weapon     A blow could apply tremendous force   The weapon struck with force and momentum could apply significant injury to a knight in armor   The weapon was primarily used for bludgeoning an opponent and the hammer was particularly effective against opponents wearing plate armor and reducing the effectiveness of the shield   Type or group of weapons – Bludgeoning Weapon

The weapons used during the Middle Ages include the Flail. The description of the Flail which provides basic facts and information about the weapon is as follows: The Medieval flails were used as armor-fighting weapons. The flail developed from a steel ball on a wooden handle, to an elaborately spiked steel war club.   Both Knights on horseback and foot soldiers used flails   The Knights version of this weapon was generally smaller and lighter   The flail is a weapon used during the Middle Ages initially made of a spiked metal ball attached to a handle with a hinge or a chain   The Flail weapon was mounted on a short shaft   Multiple chains and balls were later attached to the shaft making the weapon even more formidable   The chain allowed the weapon to build up momentum before striking the enemy   The flail was highly effective as an offensive weapon but difficult to use in defence   A variation of the flail is a weapon called a chain mace leading to some confusion between these two Medieval weapons     Used as a versatile, close contact weapon     A blow could apply tremendous force   The weapon struck with force and momentum could apply significant injury to a knight in armor   The weapon was primarily used for bludgeoning an opponent and the hammer was particularly effective against opponents wearing plate armor and reducing the effectiveness of the shield   Type or group of weapons – Bludgeoning Weapon

Flail Training: Skill in the use of Medieval weapons and understanding the strategy of Medieval Warfare was necessary and a played a vital part in Medieval life. The training required by Knights and Foot Soldiers to use the Flail :   Training method – The training method practised in the use of the flail was based on strength and accuracy in hitting, or 'bashing' the target using momentum to increase the force   A "hit" was scored in Medieval weapons training by making light contact with a defined target area. A blunted or wooden weapon was used when practising with an opponent. The Makers and Making of the Flail This Medieval weapon was made by a blacksmith. The materials required to make this weapon were:   Iron   Steel Blacksmiths are usually associated with making weapons in a village smithy but blacksmiths were an important part of a fighting army, making new weapons and repairing and the maintenance of old weapons. The Medieval Flail is not as varied as the Mace but it did have some interesting variations. The basic concept is a heavy weight that is attached to the end of a handle by a chain. When this is swung it generates enormous force – much more force than the Mace could deliver. It also had the added advantage of being able to reach over or around armor and shields. The flail was a weapon that did not actually see a lot of action among knights in the middle ages. This was because the sword was held in such high esteem and was the weapon of choice.

The Middle Ages was an extremely violent era in history featuring battles in both Europe and the Holy Land when the crusades, and the crusaders who fought them, were numerous. Feudal Lords and Knights used such weapons as the Flail in different types of warfare. The quest for power led to invasions of lands and territories which had to be fought for. Siege warfare, waged to win a castle or a walled town or city, was a frequent occurrence during the Middle Ages. Warfare during the Middle Ages, or Medieval era called for a variety of weapon expertise. Knights and men-at-arms (foot soldiers, or archers) used different types of weapons. The Flail was predominantly used by Knights and Foot Soldiers. The weapons used were dictated according to status and position. The weapons, armor and horse of the Knight were extremely expensive – the fighting power of just one knight was worth 10 ordinary soldiers.

POLE ARMS

Fauchard

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A fauchard is a type of polearm which was used in medieval Europe from the 11th through the 14th centuries. The design consisted of a curved blade put atop a 6-7 foot long pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length, however unlike a glaive the cutting edge was only on the concave side. This made the fauchard blade resemble that of a sickle or a scythe. This was not a very efficient design for the purposes of war, and was eventually modified to have one or more lance points attached to the back or top of the blade. This weapon is called a fauchard-fork, but is very often erroneously referred to as a guisarme or bill-guisarme since it superficially appears to have a "hook".

Glaive

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A glaive is a polearm consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole. It is similar to the Japanese naginata. However, instead of having a tang like a sword or naginata, the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head. Typically, the blade was around 18 inches long, on the end of a pole 6 or 7 feet long. Occasionally glaive blades were created with a small hook on the reverse side to better catch riders. Such blades are called glaive-guisarmes.

Guisarme

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A guisarme (sometimes gisarme or bisarme) was a pole weapon used in Europe primarily between 1000—1400. It was used primarily to dismount knights and horsemen. Like most polearms it was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles: in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a spear shaft. While hooks are fine for dismounting horsemen from mounts, they lack the stopping power of a spear especially when dealing with static opponents. While early designs were simply a hook on the end of a long pole, later designs implemented a small reverse spike on the back of the blade. Eventually weapon makers incorporated the usefulness of the hook in a variety of different polearms and guisarme became a catch-all for any weapon that included a hook on the blade.

Halberd

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A halberd (or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm (staff), and Barte (axe). The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. It is very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge.

Voulge

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A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver) is a type of polearm that existed alongside the similar glaive in medieval Europe. Superficially, a voulge might strongly resemble a glaive, but there are some notable differences in construction. First, the attachment of the voulge blade to the shaft was usually done by binding the lower two thirds of the blade to the side of the pole; the glaive would often have a socket built into the blade itself and was mounted on top of the pole. In addition, while both had curved blades, that of the voulge was broad and meant for hacking, while that of the glaive was narrow and meant more for cutting. Indeed, a voulge looks something like a squashed bardiche head, or just a meat cleaver attached to a long pole.