The most likely reason the Italian Basalard became popular in England, and slightly lower status in England, is English mercenaries fighting in Italy, and getting introducted to the style there. Units such as the white company, were very involved in the fighting among some of the Italian city states, and the English got something of a reputation. That explaines how the English were introduced to the style. As to the lower status, English longbow men, and soldiers were not high status, the knights forming the officer corps likely weren't guys that inherited the titel and land from their father, so by definition these guys would lower the status of the blade in England. I think this is the most likely reason.
My thought was that it went the opposite way, that the English Baselard was popular among among mid status English mercenaries who brought it with them to Italy where it was adopted by the Italian nobility and other high status fighters. With the English mercenaries having a reputation for effectiveness it seems to me that the Italians would emulate some aspects off their fashion equipment.
@@Dennis-vh8tz That is possible, but unlikely due to it being much harder to make something that commoners have, to be high status in another country, especially if said states were wealthier. Add that the Italian states to a large degree were more advanced in weapon manufactoring and smithing and your deduction is more unlikely.
bandholm also, if the original ones did indeed come from Basel, it’s a much shorter and simpler journey from there to northern Italy than it would have been to England. Not impossible that a Swiss weapon was carried to England and became popular, but less likely I would have thought. And we might expect to see more examples in France or parts of the Holy Roman Empire if it spread as a fashion towards England from Basel.
@@eldricgrubbidge6465 I am not really convinced that a Baselard does have anything to do with the city... It might, but I would like something more than just the similarit of the name. That being said, it makes very good sense that Swiss weapons get addopted in Italy, again with the amount of mercenaries in the city-state wars.
@@MrBandholm The name could come from the first English/Italian encounter with them being related to Basel, for example: they were first seen used by mercenaries from Basel, a batch were sold by a merchant from Basel, they were made in Italy for sale to a merchant in Basel before being sold domestically, etc..
One of my ancestors was a Florentine knight, and on his tomb is an engraving of him, in mail with a bascinet, arming sword, and baselard. It's interesting to see what a real one looks like, when most of what one sees are eating knives, Rondel daggers, or quillon daggers.
I am a german man, only using my girlfriends account. For some reasons weapons are now seen as a bad thing in Germany, and the knowledge about weapons is rather low. So many people in germany simply do not really know what is the diffrence between knife and dagger, between sword saber and rapier or smallsword, and also between pistol and revolver or between rifle and shotgun, so they use the wrong word. A longer time ago i read the Nibelungen tale , in this book on the left page the text was in Mittelhochdeutsch/ medieval german, on the right page the text was in Hochdeutsch/ Standart German of today. I was rather surprised when i read in the medieval german text the words ,der snêlle Degen' in the sense of ,der flinke/geschickte Held' (in english about: the quick hero/warrior). So in middle age german Degen could also mean a person, and the english Thegn is probably the equivalet(?).
In Dutch 'degen' is used for anything from a rapier to a modern fencing sword, basically all one-handed straight-sword styles that came after the classic arming sword
@@masterdimsen I’ve heard that too I think, and also a Persian connection, I don’t remember where, that may very well preceded them all. But the town of Pistoa did make the earliest wheel locks and shortly after came flintlocks in pairs for Calvary. I just believe given other industry and development, the Italian connection is most likely.
I've just received my two English/Italian Baselard's from your Tod Cutler range and I'm very happy with them. I wondered what type of wood you use for them? Thanks
I don't know how closely connected the baselard is to the city of Basel, but in German, the commonly used name is Schweizerdolch, i.e. Swiss dagger. So, it can be assumed that the baselard was a dagger that was popularized by Swiss mercenaries called "Reisläufer", who at that time were regarded as one of the best would be a good way to explain it's widespread adoption. And the theory that the dagger was brought back to England by mercenaries that had served along the Italian Condottiere is quite plausible. By the way, the longer bladed weapons are called Schweizerdegen in Germany, which is also an old term for a person who was both a printer and a typesetter. This was because the Schweizerdegen was said to be very versatile and good both in the cut and in the thrust. Some even say that the baselards high reputation for multifunctionality was later transferred to the Swiss army knife.
Thats also what I have been told by a Swiss collector friend. Highely likely that it became popular in North Italy by the numerous Swiss mercenaries who served in the armies of the city states
The type models for the SS, SA and Wehrmacht Heer daggers are in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt, an old garrison town between Nurnberg and Munich. They are Renaissance pieces if memory serves.
The I shaped handle lets you brace against impact effectively without breaking hand be that a shield, shoving to make space, or falling. I can attest to the fact that if you fall holding something in a fist and don't let go your phalanges will fracture/break like every person with a go-pro shooting themselves skateboarding or what have you. The I design looks like it would transfer the impact to your palm which is made for it.
How much did blade length vary in medieval times? Seems like regardless of style, length of reproductions can range from as low as ~16cm up to as much as ~45cm. Most of your reproduction daggers fall into the 25-35cm range it seems, is this typical? Are the other reproductions I'm looking at ahistorical? Or did they really range as broadly as the numbers I gave suggest?
Are your blades forged? If yes, do you forge them yourself? I only ask because I am a hobbyist bladesmith(mostly full tang skinners and EDC knives, but a few fancier pieces here and there), and am interested in hearing about other smiths.
Concerning the English/Italian connection: I've heard many times (e.g. from Dr Tobias Capwell, on some of Matt's videos), about how there was some friendship and mutual exchange, between England and Italy, during the Middle Ages, so it doesn't really surprise me.
i was always told that it originated in basel in switzerland and used by the reislaufers. ironically they fall into the forbidden weapons category in switzerland now.
Great content! A small note on framing: the top half of the frame was basically empty, while it was very difficult to see all of the daggers, the points were mostly cut by the bottom of the frame
Possibly the term "baselard" was applied to the daggers based on looks, the way that many clip-point knives are called "Bowie" knives (even if they aren't-Bowie knives have a brass insert on the back of the blade ). As to the grip on the Italian-English, that's simple: it won't slip out of your hand when it's coated with someone's blood and slippery.
I have found that most all people's whom descend from the indo-europeans have some type of double or back edged weapon that can range in size from small dagger all the way up to short sword. Scottish have the Dirk, Irish the Skean, Persians have the Qame, Russians the Kindjal etc. Which I have a theory that they all have some connection to the Scythian Acenakes. It will still require a LOT of research to prove but i think it has merit.
Swiss-German names of the time for these specifically (seen worn by Reislaeufer mercenaries and also in earlier Swiss chronicles) would have been "Degen", "Basler" or "Schweitzerdegen", all attested in the late 15th/early 16th century.
I just got myself a Tod Cutler rondel dagger & it’s gorgeous but now there’s a problem... Now I’m addicted & I want to buy ALL the daggers. I can’t afford any more right now but I crave them. I wanna get both flavors of basilard & a quilon dagger & an antenna dagger & a seax & more rondels & I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. I’ve been very thoroughly interested in historical arms & armour for some time now but I didn’t own any legit replica pieces until now & it’s just so satisfying to have now. I didn’t want to skimp on quality so I got me the best affordable dagger I could find & it’s unfathomably cool. I want more. Just need some spare money.
A knife which has blazoned a generation with infamy and bullshit, the shape f this historical knife shape waw captured by the Nazis back in the 30s. It had been realised a long time ago it was a perfect secondary weapon if you were a pikeman, just so happened tge Swiss were selling themselves around Europe as mercenaries and stumbled on that fact, Best handheld close-quarter stabbing weapon in battlefield conditions.seemingly. Not my choice, but lovely looking form.
Swiss/german or German/swiss? (Not the same) Baselard - Basler - yes city of Basel Degen is german for sword and the E is pronounced like the E in elephant
The reason the Italian styles became popular is the same as today... it’s considered the hub of artistic creativity in places like Florence and Milan.... fashions and trends are not a new thing
A question for Tod would medieval smith have copys of items they made a like a catalog or a portfolio or would you have to have a artist made a example of what you want to then take to the smith to have made for you.
Hey so is the typical knightly dagger of the 12th century technically called a Baselard? I just got a nice pattern welded one, I don't know much about dagger terminology, which is probably bad for a smith lol.
I'm not an expert but am Swiss and from what I know is that the original design is Swiss and was later adopted by the Germans such as the Landsknecht who were a rip-off copy of our Reisläufer and so copied the weapons as well as the tactics. Before that happened though we invaded Northern Italy down to Milan and were successful there, I am assuming that's how they got their hands on the Baselard or at least from the mercenary years of the Reisläufer. Oh and Basel is pronounced Bar-zul not like Basil Fawlty, at least that's modern dialekt. Great collection though.
I have watched this channel for a while,.... and it's amazingly informative..... but the saying of one's own name so frequently in the third person is goddamn Monty python style hillarious. I'm tod of tods tod tod, and this is the tods range of tods best range of tods best tods work Wolf nipple chips anyone?
Definitely interested in the English/Italian one and for 90 pound too it definitely sparked my interest, I've been looking for bollock dagger or something similar for a while now. Time save up abit for a dagger and a mace I think
I always assume it was some misuse of language, such as attempting to say 'a peasant dagger' using a popular term of the time. I wonder if English/Italian trade might've been particularly good at that time? English mercenaries brought them home?
The name reminds me of my native pronounciation of the name Basil (Bazyli), which could refer to a saint or an individual. Still, the etymology can be lost in history, we will never know for shure.
I was just reading a book that was done with Dr Tobias Capwell, and it seems that at that time in Western Europe, they referred to any dagger with (especially those with the capital I outline) that had the pommel protrusions longer than the guard as a Baselard.
I've got an idea on why the dagger would be high status in Italy but not in England. Perhaps an Italian noble was gifted one and started wearing it around. Even though it was commonplace in England, the first person in Italy seen with one was a noble, so it was seen as a big deal. Full disclosure: I know absolutely nothing on the subject, this is all just conjecture
On the spelling topic, I believe even today the French spelling of Basel is basle. Edit and it looks like it’s basilea in Italian. So there’s a potential root for all three spellings that still connects them to Basel in Switzerland. Mind you there’s towns in Italy with names like basilicata, so you never know.
@@yanicmaurer6669 Fair enough. I thought I had seen the spelling with an s in modern documents, but maybe I was wrong. Or it was another place with the same name. I think there are a few dotted around. One in Alsace possibly? You will hopefully agree that the reason for that circumflex is to show where an s used to be though?
@@eldricgrubbidge6465 I don't know, maybe "Basel" is still sometimes used in the Alsace or even in the Romandie (french speaking part of Switzerland), I can just say that Bâle is how they normally spell it. And yea, the accent circonflexe defenitly indicates an s that was originally there, probably coming from the name Basilia which the Romans used. Greetings
I think that form of dagger particularly the Italian/English one would be useful for punching through the gaps in plate armour to reach the vital organs
I like seeing different examples of the same type of weapon. The differences highlight the similarities that that "class" of weapon has, and the differences show how it can be adapted. The way different individuals, militaries, cultures, etc adapt the weapon shows the context they were in and what they preferred.
I enjoy your work. Im no expert at all. But years ago i went to a museum in NY with a lot of armor. They had knives like that with the I or spool handle. The curator told us that was a speciality knife used by armored knights. In combat if you unhorsed your opponent then you got on top of him on foot. That knife was designed for the armored glove. The knife was used to penetrate slits or joints in the armor IF you choose not to capture your foe for ransom. Apparently many knights were worth more alive than dead. And then if not that knife would make them so.
My guess on the English/Italian style baselard is that one of the parties involved saw the other wearing them when the English were buying yew from the Italians and it just became popular with the two regions through trade.
Damn, those are really huge daggers. Can you make a video about dagger family tree? Like from Viking Seax to Baselard to WW2 era SS daggers and fairbern-sykes dagger.
@@pcka12 so, none of these are daggers? Not what I was taught. Fairburn-Sykes commando "dagger" was developed in Shanghai pre-ww2 by the police. Never was permitted to refer to it as a knife. Our C.O. would have had a coniption fit if he heard knife... Seax is an old English term for knife.
The seaxes (Saxe in german) which are shown in the Heimatmuseen/ home region museums in Germany have different sizes, some look like a short machete, some like sword only shorter than a spatha, others look like a big kitchen/outdoor knife. It is like the Messer weapon in later middle age- eary renaisance, the shortest had been the Bauernwehr, which could be used as tool, while the Kriegsmesser had been very long. Also later the Hirschfänger/ hunters hanger(?) had blades from 10'' to two feet for military use. But most of the seaxes, Messer or Hirschfänger have single edged blades and are so, carefully descibed, knives and no daggers which have double edged or spike type blades (in the european context). For some reasons i think the seax is still in use: the billhook! Most germans say Messer to all kind of knive, but in some regions the word Kniep is used for smaller knives.
*Relevant and Supportive Comment* (And now to get some shut-eye, as it's 1:58 here right now. I'm also curious if you will discuss the usage of larger cooking knives being used in historically in combat, and perhaps we could even see some more popping up in your store since they are easier to carry here in commiefornia.) Edit: Which would make my life easier for walking around in my low to mid status man-at-arms kit, after all I don't want to be pulled over for a dangerous assault dagger. (We need to ban daggers with short grips, 'bumped" handle scales, and extended points.)
Daggers are dangerous, designed to launch quick and hard. Then back off. To finish, enemy, with king hit of the fist. (I think banned to carry, today) bud@
@wood1155 You can own them easily enough but if you want to carry them in public you must have a very good reason. You can thank the gangs, neds and chavs for that. For a while Japanese style swords were banned (You could buy the expensive ones but not the cheaper replicas) since certain people were using the replicas to attack each other in the street.
I Know this may sound silly, but the first thing that came to mind was a Roman Gladius , whether it was the style of the handle or just the shape of the blade in a similar form , but very nice.
The Nazis stole a lot of iconographies, be it the Swiss knife designs, and hell--they even stole/appropriated the infamous Swastika from the Buddhists that were using it for thousands of years before them.
There are three types of daggers in modern days. These include push dagger, fantasy dagger, and medieval dagger. Here is a brief explanation of these types. www.sharpimport.com/3-types-of-daggers-and-their-uses
The most likely reason the Italian Basalard became popular in England, and slightly lower status in England, is English mercenaries fighting in Italy, and getting introducted to the style there.
Units such as the white company, were very involved in the fighting among some of the Italian city states, and the English got something of a reputation.
That explaines how the English were introduced to the style.
As to the lower status, English longbow men, and soldiers were not high status, the knights forming the officer corps likely weren't guys that inherited the titel and land from their father, so by definition these guys would lower the status of the blade in England.
I think this is the most likely reason.
My thought was that it went the opposite way, that the English Baselard was popular among among mid status English mercenaries who brought it with them to Italy where it was adopted by the Italian nobility and other high status fighters. With the English mercenaries having a reputation for effectiveness it seems to me that the Italians would emulate some aspects off their fashion equipment.
@@Dennis-vh8tz That is possible, but unlikely due to it being much harder to make something that commoners have, to be high status in another country, especially if said states were wealthier.
Add that the Italian states to a large degree were more advanced in weapon manufactoring and smithing and your deduction is more unlikely.
bandholm also, if the original ones did indeed come from Basel, it’s a much shorter and simpler journey from there to northern Italy than it would have been to England. Not impossible that a Swiss weapon was carried to England and became popular, but less likely I would have thought. And we might expect to see more examples in France or parts of the Holy Roman Empire if it spread as a fashion towards England from Basel.
@@eldricgrubbidge6465 I am not really convinced that a Baselard does have anything to do with the city... It might, but I would like something more than just the similarit of the name.
That being said, it makes very good sense that Swiss weapons get addopted in Italy, again with the amount of mercenaries in the city-state wars.
@@MrBandholm The name could come from the first English/Italian encounter with them being related to Basel, for example: they were first seen used by mercenaries from Basel, a batch were sold by a merchant from Basel, they were made in Italy for sale to a merchant in Basel before being sold domestically, etc..
In Hugo Wittenwiler's Fechtbuch, the baselard is referred to as a "Bassler", which does strongly imply that the name comes from the city.
One of my ancestors was a Florentine knight, and on his tomb is an engraving of him, in mail with a bascinet, arming sword, and baselard. It's interesting to see what a real one looks like, when most of what one sees are eating knives, Rondel daggers, or quillon daggers.
Aesthetically I prefer the Swiss/ German style of baselard.
Same, but the English/Italian has the length advantage
What are the maintenance procedure of these daggers? To keep them from rusting and cracking up when you are out and about in the weather.
"Degen" is generally used as a word for smallish sword. For example, smallswords and fencing foils are also referred to as "Degen" in German.
But an officers sabre or a rapier can be a Degen too
I am a german man, only using my girlfriends account. For some reasons weapons are now seen as a bad thing in Germany, and the knowledge about weapons is rather low. So many people in germany simply do not really know what is the diffrence between knife and dagger, between sword saber and rapier or smallsword, and also between pistol and revolver or between rifle and shotgun, so they use the wrong word. A longer time ago i read the Nibelungen tale , in this book on the left page the text was in Mittelhochdeutsch/ medieval german, on the right page the text was in Hochdeutsch/ Standart German of today. I was rather surprised when i read in the medieval german text the words ,der snêlle Degen' in the sense of ,der flinke/geschickte Held' (in english about: the quick hero/warrior). So in middle age german Degen could also mean a person, and the english Thegn is probably the equivalet(?).
In Dutch 'degen' is used for anything from a rapier to a modern fencing sword, basically all one-handed straight-sword styles that came after the classic arming sword
I think the Italians were selling them like Alfa Romeo and Ferraris, and the English just liked the style
many english in the 14th century were working as mercenaries.. bringing italian fashions back
Handguns designs were primarily developed in Pistoa Italy. Hence the names origin “pistol.” It’s probably the same kind of thing.
I read that the word pistol comes from a czech word for whistle
@@masterdimsen I’ve heard that too I think, and also a Persian connection, I don’t remember where, that may very well preceded them all. But the town of Pistoa did make the earliest wheel locks and shortly after came flintlocks in pairs for Calvary. I just believe given other industry and development, the Italian connection is most likely.
I've just received my two English/Italian Baselard's from your Tod Cutler range and I'm very happy with them. I wondered what type of wood you use for them? Thanks
Awesome channel Tod, glad I found you!
I suspect this channel is going to blow up soon.
I don't know how closely connected the baselard is to the city of Basel, but in German, the commonly used name is Schweizerdolch, i.e. Swiss dagger. So, it can be assumed that the baselard was a dagger that was popularized by Swiss mercenaries called "Reisläufer", who at that time were regarded as one of the best would be a good way to explain it's widespread adoption.
And the theory that the dagger was brought back to England by mercenaries that had served along the Italian Condottiere is quite plausible.
By the way, the longer bladed weapons are called Schweizerdegen in Germany, which is also an old term for a person who was both a printer and a typesetter. This was because the Schweizerdegen was said to be very versatile and good both in the cut and in the thrust.
Some even say that the baselards high reputation for multifunctionality was later transferred to the Swiss army knife.
Thats also what I have been told by a Swiss collector friend. Highely likely that it became popular in North Italy by the numerous Swiss mercenaries who served in the armies of the city states
The type models for the SS, SA and Wehrmacht Heer daggers are in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt, an old garrison town between Nurnberg and Munich. They are Renaissance pieces if memory serves.
The I shaped handle lets you brace against impact effectively without breaking hand be that a shield, shoving to make space, or falling. I can attest to the fact that if you fall holding something in a fist and don't let go your phalanges will fracture/break like every person with a go-pro shooting themselves skateboarding or what have you.
The I design looks like it would transfer the impact to your palm which is made for it.
That one's a Swiss-German? What do you call that model, the "Andy Richter" ?
excellent explanation, examples and history. Start work on my first baselard next week.
How much did blade length vary in medieval times? Seems like regardless of style, length of reproductions can range from as low as ~16cm up to as much as ~45cm. Most of your reproduction daggers fall into the 25-35cm range it seems, is this typical? Are the other reproductions I'm looking at ahistorical? Or did they really range as broadly as the numbers I gave suggest?
Just saw Tod drop a piano on some bike pump shocks on an old Richard Hammond Engineering Connections rerun. Worth it.
He also in Junkyard wars AKA Scrapheap Challenge
Are your blades forged? If yes, do you forge them yourself? I only ask because I am a hobbyist bladesmith(mostly full tang skinners and EDC knives, but a few fancier pieces here and there), and am interested in hearing about other smiths.
Concerning the English/Italian connection:
I've heard many times (e.g. from Dr Tobias Capwell, on some of Matt's videos), about how there was some friendship and mutual exchange, between England and Italy, during the Middle Ages, so it doesn't really surprise me.
i was always told that it originated in basel in switzerland and used by the reislaufers. ironically they fall into the forbidden weapons category in switzerland now.
This new intro and logo is very nice!
Great content! A small note on framing: the top half of the frame was basically empty, while it was very difficult to see all of the daggers, the points were mostly cut by the bottom of the frame
Huh, what a wealth of interesting knowledge for a bladesmith. Wish you a long happy life!
Possibly the term "baselard" was applied to the daggers based on looks, the way that many clip-point knives are called "Bowie" knives (even if they aren't-Bowie knives have a brass insert on the back of the blade ). As to the grip on the Italian-English, that's simple: it won't slip out of your hand when it's coated with someone's blood and slippery.
EVERYTHING U DO IS SICK BUDDY...... I really appreciate the historical context in all that fine work you do man!! Top Shelf!
I have found that most all people's whom descend from the indo-europeans have some type of double or back edged weapon that can range in size from small dagger all the way up to short sword. Scottish have the Dirk, Irish the Skean, Persians have the Qame, Russians the Kindjal etc. Which I have a theory that they all have some connection to the Scythian Acenakes. It will still require a LOT of research to prove but i think it has merit.
You should send those 2 baselard daggers to your USA distributor. Good stuff
Swiss-German names of the time for these specifically (seen worn by Reislaeufer mercenaries and also in earlier Swiss chronicles) would have been "Degen", "Basler" or "Schweitzerdegen", all attested in the late 15th/early 16th century.
Ahh, the infamous Bobsknife! A challenging piece of smithwork indeed. I'll be failing at constructing one later today!
I just got myself a Tod Cutler rondel dagger & it’s gorgeous but now there’s a problem... Now I’m addicted & I want to buy ALL the daggers. I can’t afford any more right now but I crave them. I wanna get both flavors of basilard & a quilon dagger & an antenna dagger & a seax & more rondels & I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. I’ve been very thoroughly interested in historical arms & armour for some time now but I didn’t own any legit replica pieces until now & it’s just so satisfying to have now. I didn’t want to skimp on quality so I got me the best affordable dagger I could find & it’s unfathomably cool. I want more. Just need some spare money.
A knife which has blazoned a generation with infamy and bullshit, the shape f this historical knife shape waw captured by the Nazis back in the 30s. It had been realised a long time ago it was a perfect secondary weapon if you were a pikeman, just so happened tge Swiss were selling themselves around Europe as mercenaries and stumbled on that fact, Best handheld close-quarter stabbing weapon in battlefield conditions.seemingly. Not my choice, but lovely looking form.
Swiss/german or German/swiss? (Not the same)
Baselard - Basler - yes city of Basel
Degen is german for sword and the E is pronounced like the E in elephant
Oi mate, hope you've got a loicense for that
The reason the Italian styles became popular is the same as today... it’s considered the hub of artistic creativity in places like Florence and Milan.... fashions and trends are not a new thing
Did the English-Italian version ever have a sword variant like the Swiss-German?
A question for Tod would medieval smith have copys of items they made a like a catalog or a portfolio or would you have to have a artist made a example of what you want to then take to the smith to have made for you.
Whats a holbein dagger?
That last one is barely a knife though, innit? Just seems a mite too big.
Hey so is the typical knightly dagger of the 12th century technically called a Baselard? I just got a nice pattern welded one, I don't know much about dagger terminology, which is probably bad for a smith lol.
la baselarde vient de bâle (basel) en suisse, le service d'italie était courant chez les reislaufer (mercenaire)
Todd flexing his luck stat with the bird shit on his shirt
I'm not an expert but am Swiss and from what I know is that the original design is Swiss and was later adopted by the Germans such as the Landsknecht who were a rip-off copy of our Reisläufer and so copied the weapons as well as the tactics. Before that happened though we invaded Northern Italy down to Milan and were successful there, I am assuming that's how they got their hands on the Baselard or at least from the mercenary years of the Reisläufer.
Oh and Basel is pronounced Bar-zul not like Basil Fawlty, at least that's modern dialekt. Great collection though.
I have watched this channel for a while,.... and it's amazingly informative..... but the saying of one's own name so frequently in the third person is goddamn Monty python style hillarious.
I'm tod of tods tod tod, and this is the tods range of tods best range of tods best tods work
Wolf nipple chips anyone?
Definitely interested in the English/Italian one and for 90 pound too it definitely sparked my interest, I've been looking for bollock dagger or something similar for a while now. Time save up abit for a dagger and a mace I think
I always assume it was some misuse of language, such as attempting to say 'a peasant dagger' using a popular term of the time. I wonder if English/Italian trade might've been particularly good at that time? English mercenaries brought them home?
The name reminds me of my native pronounciation of the name Basil (Bazyli), which could refer to a saint or an individual. Still, the etymology can be lost in history, we will never know for shure.
What's the difference between Todcutler and Todsworkshop?
I was just reading a book that was done with Dr Tobias Capwell, and it seems that at that time in Western Europe, they referred to any dagger with (especially those with the capital I outline) that had the pommel protrusions longer than the guard as a Baselard.
Wonderful as usual sir.
Can you do a video on Scottish Dirks? I saw the ones you make when I was at Fightcamp, amazing!
I've got an idea on why the dagger would be high status in Italy but not in England. Perhaps an Italian noble was gifted one and started wearing it around. Even though it was commonplace in England, the first person in Italy seen with one was a noble, so it was seen as a big deal.
Full disclosure: I know absolutely nothing on the subject, this is all just conjecture
So germans made their knives like swords and swords like knives. Lol.jk
On the spelling topic, I believe even today the French spelling of Basel is basle.
Edit and it looks like it’s basilea in Italian. So there’s a potential root for all three spellings that still connects them to Basel in Switzerland.
Mind you there’s towns in Italy with names like basilicata, so you never know.
Today, the french spelling of Basel is Bâle.
@@yanicmaurer6669 Fair enough. I thought I had seen the spelling with an s in modern documents, but maybe I was wrong. Or it was another place with the same name. I think there are a few dotted around. One in Alsace possibly? You will hopefully agree that the reason for that circumflex is to show where an s used to be though?
@@eldricgrubbidge6465 I don't know, maybe "Basel" is still sometimes used in the Alsace or even in the Romandie (french speaking part of Switzerland), I can just say that Bâle is how they normally spell it.
And yea, the accent circonflexe defenitly indicates an s that was originally there, probably coming from the name Basilia which the Romans used.
Greetings
Bandholm speaks sense
I know them as holdein..they had a mercenary reputation ..much akin to the Swiss guard...
It would be nice if in future you could give links to the actual web pages for your wonderful products please. Just a suggestion.
I think that form of dagger particularly the Italian/English one would be useful for punching through the gaps in plate armour to reach the vital organs
I like seeing different examples of the same type of weapon. The differences highlight the similarities that that "class" of weapon has, and the differences show how it can be adapted. The way different individuals, militaries, cultures, etc adapt the weapon shows the context they were in and what they preferred.
Bandholm has hit it on the head... the reputation grew and people have always taken mementos from foreign trips.. that has not changed
I enjoy your work. Im no expert at all. But years ago i went to a museum in NY with a lot of armor. They had knives like that with the I or spool handle. The curator told us that was a speciality knife used by armored knights. In combat if you unhorsed your opponent then you got on top of him on foot. That knife was designed for the armored glove. The knife was used to penetrate slits or joints in the armor IF you choose not to capture your foe for ransom. Apparently many knights were worth more alive than dead. And then if not that knife would make them so.
What you describe is called a "misericorde". It was more or less a steel or iron spike hilted in a few different ways.
My guess on the English/Italian style baselard is that one of the parties involved saw the other wearing them when the English were buying yew from the Italians and it just became popular with the two regions through trade.
Makes sense. Less expensive daggers made in Italian style for the English market.
' Could you make the blade a bit longer mate?'
Very informative Video, much appreciated!
The English version looks like a short sword to me.
Nice information. Thanks
On average, how large are daggers?
Cool daggers
Excellent video mate
Very nice
Cool !
very nice. i need to pick up a quillon dagger soon
Look on my page i have a video of me using the dagger on a water bottle
the Germans would the Italian brit one Basil Fawlty
Damn, those are really huge daggers.
Can you make a video about dagger family tree? Like from Viking Seax to Baselard to WW2 era SS daggers and fairbern-sykes dagger.
Dimitri Zaitsew the ‘seax’ is the single edged weapon/tool of the Saxons, ‘Fairburn Sykes’ is the name of the Commando ‘fighting knife’
The seax (Sax in german language) gave the saxons/ Sachsen their name, but was also used of the other tribes which are now the Germans.
Britta Kriep but not really ‘Viking Age’ seax, more ‘Saxon age seax’, Alfred (king of the West Saxons in Britain) would have had one!
@@pcka12 so, none of these are daggers? Not what I was taught. Fairburn-Sykes commando "dagger" was developed in Shanghai pre-ww2 by the police.
Never was permitted to refer to it as a knife. Our C.O. would have had a coniption fit if he heard knife...
Seax is an old English term for knife.
The seaxes (Saxe in german) which are shown in the Heimatmuseen/ home region museums in Germany have different sizes, some look like a short machete, some like sword only shorter than a spatha, others look like a big kitchen/outdoor knife. It is like the Messer weapon in later middle age- eary renaisance, the shortest had been the Bauernwehr, which could be used as tool, while the Kriegsmesser had been very long. Also later the Hirschfänger/ hunters hanger(?) had blades from 10'' to two feet for military use. But most of the seaxes, Messer or Hirschfänger have single edged blades and are so, carefully descibed, knives and no daggers which have double edged or spike type blades (in the european context). For some reasons i think the seax is still in use: the billhook! Most germans say Messer to all kind of knive, but in some regions the word Kniep is used for smaller knives.
*Relevant and Supportive Comment*
(And now to get some shut-eye, as it's 1:58 here right now.
I'm also curious if you will discuss the usage of larger cooking knives being used in historically in combat, and perhaps we could even see some more popping up in your store since they are easier to carry here in commiefornia.)
Edit: Which would make my life easier for walking around in my low to mid status man-at-arms kit, after all I don't want to be pulled over for a dangerous assault dagger.
(We need to ban daggers with short grips, 'bumped" handle scales, and extended points.)
Daggers are dangerous, designed to launch quick and hard. Then back off.
To finish, enemy, with king hit of the fist. (I think banned to carry, today)
bud@
Love the Dolch.
@wood1155 You can own them easily enough but if you want to carry them in public you must have a very good reason. You can thank the gangs, neds and chavs for that. For a while Japanese style swords were banned (You could buy the expensive ones but not the cheaper replicas) since certain people were using the replicas to attack each other in the street.
I Know this may sound silly, but the first thing that came to mind was a Roman Gladius , whether it was the style of the handle or just the shape of the blade in a similar form , but very nice.
The Nazis stole a lot of iconographies, be it the Swiss knife designs, and hell--they even stole/appropriated the infamous Swastika from the Buddhists that were using it for thousands of years before them.
I thought they stole it from Scandinavia, and it was just a coincidence that it was also Hindu?
There are three types of daggers in modern days. These include push dagger, fantasy dagger, and medieval dagger. Here is a brief explanation of these types.
www.sharpimport.com/3-types-of-daggers-and-their-uses