I love how, where other channels would splice in clip art to illustrate different designs over time, Matt has a pile of swords on the table in front of him.
For the first part, they actually did some research. Not saying its any historical accurate, but the writes wanted to get some details right. Such as the weaponry, general outfits and such. Later on all that went outta the window and ofcourse they took their artist's freedom also in the first. But generally im surprised how much the 1st got right in some details ^^
That first film has great hero props. Norrington was a (noble)tit, but that small sword he gets from Turner is pretty damned cool looking. Not a fair trade for Keira, but I can understand why he made the trade :P
Coqui Marinero “Remember my super cool cutlass? My cutlass is different from regular cutlasses. It’s like my cutlass is in the top percentage of cutlasses." - Pirate Joey
Coqui Marinero I like broadseaxes. They are comfy and easy to wear, useful as tools, and devestating hand weapons. And I can have runes carved into them. And when we raid and sail to war, my seax shall bring me glory, and when I travel to Valhöll, I will bring it with me that the other Einherjar can bask in my tales of conquest and battle, and look upon my favored long knife, most trusted of companions.
It should be pointed out that the Golden Age of Piracy was often a result of government sanctioned programs ending. Some captains and crews became rich through privateering, which is (mostly) legal, and when their Letters of Marque expired at the end of conflicts such as the War of Spanish Succession, continued to operate as both merchants, and pirates when convenient. The standing U.S. Navy was in fact brought into existence to deal with piracy. The Continental Navy had been disbanded at the end of the Revolutionary War, and the Naval Act of 1794 was signed into law primarily to deal with the Barbary Pirates (Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and the Sultanate of Morocco, all part of the Muslim Ottoman Empire). Although often not covered in history classes, over 1 million Europeans were captured and sold into slavery between the 16th and 19th century by the Barbary Pirates.
@@martinbeagle6448 Well...pirates were also American colonials, British, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, et cetera. And piracy is still rampant in the South Sea thanks to Thai and Burmese pirates. Not just Somalia. It's almost as though being a criminal scumbag isn't necessarily facilitated by one's political/religious beliefs but by what one stands to personally gain by being the aforementioned scumbag.
@@BigPuddin Aye, I know a bunch of fisherman in New Jersey who'd love to turn to piracy if they knew they could get away with it right about now. They've just done drug running instead. Damned economy.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 pirates didn't just raid ships and drink themselves into a stupor. They also did smuggling, blackmail, basically any criminal enterprise was fair game.
I find the Portuguese Carrack Black Sword (or Crab Sword) the most peculiar sword used on board of ships. It was "painted" black so it did not rust and did not shine on the sun and the guard had sharp disks that could be used to strike as well.
People forget piracy in India and Southeast Asia was also a huge problem during this period, and persisted long after piracy in the new world ceased to be a major issue. I'd like to see more pirates with Malaysian, Philippine, Indonesian, Indian, Burmese, Cambodian and Vietnamese weapons. These seem to account for the majority of reports of piracy I've read where the weapons used are described, with the kris apparently being an especially popular option.
The classic Disney Peter Pan cartoon seems pretty historically accurate then. Hook carries a cup-hilt rapier, and most of his crew is carrying falchions and scimitars.
Great video! Fascinating subject. Of course there were other pirates before and after the Pirates of the Caribbean era. While Somalis with AK47s is not really the sort of subject you cover, perhaps you could do a video on the subject of the weapons of the Barbary Pirates from Tripoli, Algiers and Salee. I believe that they were bold enough to raid England for slaves in the 16th and 17th century and even set up a camp on an island in the Severn Estuary to attack ships going to and from Bristol. There were also pirates in the Mediterranean that the Roman Empire suppressed and there was a book in the Flashman series that touched on a British raid against pirate bases somewhere near Singapore in the 1830s or 1840s. Anyway, lots more to be said about pirate weapons.
Not to mention accounts early in this decade of Chinese Naval vessels occasionally moonlighting with acts of piracy. Also off the coast of South America with some of those navies with captains tempted by some of what is out there owned by the various cartels.
I'm Japanese and near the end of the video I realized you're wearing a T shirt with Japanese characters. TOKYO CITY SUPER DRY™ COMPANY ... alright and... スボーン（スポーン＝Spawn?）and 僭（or沓?）の星！ SUPER is スーパー in Japanese, idk what スボーン means, and 僭の星 means Star of ... something? I'm not familiar with that Kanji. If you come to Japan, people often wear T shirt with English characters and sentences, and most of the time they doesn't make any sense - it's kinda hilarious. It's funny to know that same thing happens there too :) Please note that I don't mean to embarrass you or something, I just thought that it's a bit funny. Keep up the great work!
Stussy sometimes has Japanese or at least the Asian style of writing that looks like Japanese on their t-shirts and a ton to people wear it in Australia and have no idea what any of it means.
Superdry is a british company and it does this on purpose. If I remember correctly the founders went to japan and see japanese clothing company print english nonsense on their shirts, think it is funny and do it in reverse.
Seems sensible to have symmetrical hand guards for a sword that will be issues first-come-first-serve from a rack. You don't have to worry about whether someone is right handed or left handed.
Matt Lentzner Right!, as you're being boarded and some Coxswain running around, "anyone else have a Right handed Cutlass?" "I need a a righty but they only have lefties on my part of the ship!"
I'd always thought that hanger-type swords could be called cutlasses when used in a naval context. I've never really heard of a cutlass being defined as having a bowl hilt. But I appreciate you defining what a historical pirate sword would look like.
Same here. I think this might be an English thing on the bowl hilt as important. Neuamann (a late American weapons writer) in his book on bladed weapons of the American Revolution that starts with the 17th century treats a cutless as a cutless based on blade form and maritime usage not hilt style and treats hanger and cutless as often one in the same prior to c.1750 design wise with the difference being use on land or sea. In the US Navy the standard cutless from the 1840s to shortly before the Civil War had only a single knuckle bow and the older models saw use until at least 1865 even after the Model 1860 with a semi-bowl guard was officially adopted.
Good stuff; thanks for this. I was reading Roderick Random (published in 1748) and the author mentioned a hanger and I had to look it up to figure out what he meant. Nice to know the difference between it and its more well known descendent. Since I am very likely to write something set at sea in the mid 18th century (a period I find particularly fascinating and under represented in fiction), I am very glad to know cutlesses did not exist yet; you saved me from making my readers wonder how cutlesses came to learn time travel. :)
My grandfather Jacinto Lobrano came from Isola Di Procida off the coast of Italy in the 1700's. He was a pirate with Jean Lafitte in the Caribbean. His hanger sword is in a glass case at the Confederate museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
I can't help but think of this particular line, quote from Admiral Arleigh Burke. More particularly when asked what he thought the ship class he shared a name with needed. Word for word, so I'm lead to believe, a brace of cutlasses.
Matt, whenever you say" ill cover it in a future video" it makes my soul cry out in anguish because i know it will be forever until my curiosity will be sated because of all of the other things that you want to do videos on. alas i gues i will just have to keep watching every vid you put out
I would love to see this remade with some images cut in to show whats being discussed. As a neophyte, some of the detail is flying straight over my head and some of the differences I do (partially) understand seem negligible but might not if I could see the differences.
Late (and kind of long) question here, but you mention that most sailors in the British and French Navies during the Napoleonic Wars stored their cutlasses (and presumably other arms) on racks rather than on their person. This makes a lot of sense considering that the work aboard a sailing ship would be rather labor intensive, sailors would be packed closely together with a lot of other men and, depending on your specific job, could involve needing to do things such as climbing up the masts to adjust sails and such... in which case a sword of any kind dangling from your hip would be quite the hindrance, I imagine. That said, was it common at all for the Officers aboard, say, a Royal Navy ship during the Napoleonic Wars to carry their own side-arms? You did very quickly touch on Navy Officers sometimes carrying swords such as smallswords or spadroons instead of the common cutlass. I get that most of the sailors would be various levels of ordinary or able seaman that did much of the so-called hard grunt work such as helping with hull repairs, manning cannons, keeping the deck clean, adjusting the sails, tying knots and general seamanship while others would be Warrant Officers (or similar) that had more specific tasks such as carpenters, boatswains, sailing masters, gunners mate's, quartermasters, coopers, and so on and that these men likely didn't carry much more than perhaps a knife, marlinspike or other type of tool specific for their duties and would get their arms from racks when needed. However, did Lieutenants and Captain (or maybe even some Midshipmen?) often tend to bring and carry their own, higher-quality side arms, be they cutlasses, smallswords or pistols, and carry them on their person? It seems like it would make sense, to some degree, for some Officers to bring their own, better weapons if they could and, assuming their main duties were more leadership-focused such as standing watches, leading gun crews during battle, focusing on navigation and tactics et al. rather than doing quite as much physical work compared to their men, that they might even carry them on their person from time-to-time. Was this ever a common thing or did the Officers, much like their men, more often simply use whatever weapons the ship had in its weapons racks or have their own personal side arms, but still only arm themselves when battle was imminent?
Most swords and cutlasses ever made were never used in combat. On a ship armed with cannons, even less so. If a ship got into a fight, it would normally be by exchanging cannon fire. If a boarding action followed, then there would be musket fire, grapeshot, and then, as Matt says, boarding pikes and bayonets. With that in mind, the need to carry a cutlass all day every day was even less than for a man on land who might conceivably end up in a scuffle or skirmish at any time. A cutlass would be an unnecessary encumbrance when climbing the rigging. Also, naval discipline was harsh, with many sailors being "pressed men" (forcibly conscripted) and they were poorly educated and had little prospect of improving their circumstances. It would be foolish to let each man carry a weapon. There would be a risk of fights between crew members and a risk of mutiny. So common sailors would not carry weapons day to day. Officers probably did as a symbol of authority and a way of enforcing that authority if the need arose. A boarding action would not normally be a surprise. The racks would be in an easily accessible place if the weapons needed to be issued in a hurry.
Officers had to buy their own uniforms and side arms, at least until the very late 18th century when 'sea service' weapons started to be mass produced for the more fomalised Navy. Common sailors would not even have access to the ship's weapons under normal conditions. Pirates on the other hand... Incidentally there was a custom among pirates (at least English ones) that the first man to spot a prize ship would be awarded 'the best pair of pistols on board'.
@@mikefule Common sailors were not permitted to carry a knife other than the "Pussers dirk", a work knife with a ground off tip that could be bought from the ship's Purser at the sailor's own expense, should he consider that his work required it. (Rather like slop clothing before uniforms were regularised.) The dirk part of the name is an ironic reference to the dirk carried by Midshipmen, the officers in training.
Kolgur Gods, man, stop yer blabberin! Drink yer mead and shut up about the Redguards' genitalia. Talos, who raised you? A cow and a goat? We don't talk about other men's genitals. It pisses off Hulda. Remember what happened last time that happened?
In Black Sails I've seen a few different hilts, I noticed Flint has a basket hilt on his Cutlass, Singleton had a Hanger, Anne Bonny's twin short cutlasses have knucklebows.
Good points Matt! We must remember that much of what we think about Caribbean/European pirates is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island which was written in the late 19th century and the focus of the events was some 30 years after the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. The map in the book is dated 1750.
I recently watched a movie about Cromwell & his Round Heads, they started out carrying cup hilt rapiers, then at the last battle ,every one on both sides were using naval cutlasses. Oliver Reed of course died with style.
Black Sails does have some interesting weapon choices, some good some not. I'm not as knowledgeable about the weapons of the period so I'm sure I miss a lot. I've seen a few smallwords/spadroons, and various basket hilts in the mix. Blackbeard uses a Scottish basket-hilt I believe. I think the guns may tend to be more anachronistic than the sword. It just doesn't seem like there are nearly as many reproduction guns of the late 16th early 17th century as late 17th and 18th century, including in prop-houses.
It really feels like the image of pirates carrying cutlasses is about the same as the image of Vikings wearing helmets with horns on them. Both largely false, and yet both are so deeply ingrained into people's minds by modern popular culture that they really can't be erased from there.
I don't think I'd go as far as to say it's largely false. The golden age pirates did use cutlasses, but a different style of cutlass than we're used to. It's still a mistake, but a fairly minor one for movies.
Blokewood3 the problem is also that most "weapon classifications" are contemporary classifications, spawned by the likes of DnD and fantasy RP. Back then, weapon names weren't as set.
Yeah, the names aren't quite set. The term cutlass did seem to originally refer to the earlier hangers, but then mostly became used for the beefier naval-specialized cutlasses that we normally think of. And apparently today it's used as a term for a machete in parts of the Caribbean.
Good to see You are showing the actual lenght too, swords in movies and computergames are often pictured ridiculos short bladed (or with an unrealistic hevy blade, but in movies when a real human actor hawe to use it and it´s not possible to swing that much weight, even if it´s light alloys like aluminium in the prop swords, the blade are often way to short instead... Especiially sabres like those are wictims of that and looks extremly ridiculous with those short prop blades... Unfortunatly that is waht so many Smiths try to reconstruct... ). (Sorry for my English...)
i know this has nothing to do with the video, but when did Arabs star using curved swords ? and what's the difference between an Arab Saber and a Persian Saber (if you have pictures that would be even more helpful) please answer !
if you're talking about fighting styles, i dont know, but if you're talking about the blades persian sabres tend to be more curved, and sometimes have a pommel at the end. arab swords may have that too but much rarer. the arabs started using curved swords largely when the turks came (11th century) , the turks were cavalry warriors and were already using curved swords, and they influenced the whole area.
Short answer - I believe around the 13th century in general, though it's a very big topic and Arabic culture covered a large and diverse area of course, not all of which used similar weapons.
they had curved swords much earlier than 11th or 13th century, muhammed himself has some curved swords. though i remember reading they started using it as "the sword" because of turkish influence, do you remember the name of the source that says 13th century ?
12th century Turks brought their sabers to the Middle East and their fighting style eventually took over, although straight swords took a while to dissapear and still were used in Africa.
They seem to have appeared in the middle east around the 12th century. Not sure what you mean by "Arab" vs Persian, but I'll give a go at some different types. Shamshir: Persian, highly curved, straight crossguard. Wooden, ivory or horn grip is pinned to tang and has a swelling at the base that projects forwards. Killij: Turkish and Egyptian. As for Shamshir, but also has a yelmen, or false edge that projects away from the back of the blade. Nimcha: Moroccan, slightly curved, multiple short, highly upswept quillons, most have knucklebows. Grip is more angular, but similar in overall shape to the killij and shamshir Pulwar: Afghan, highly curved. Upswept grossguard with flower shaped finials. Hilt is all-metal and glued to the blade, occasionally having a single pin. Short grip is straight with a small palm swell and a cup-shaped pommel. Tulwar: Indian, as for pulwar, but with short, generally straight crossguard with flared ends and a disc shaped pommel. Later ones can sport knucklebows. Curvature varies. These swords are all related as they were introduced by the conquests of Persian and Turkic cultures through North Africa and South Asia following the breakup of the Mongol empire, especially the by Mamluks and the Timurids.
Cornelis Tromp carried several types of middle eastern/North African swords like the Persian Shamshir and the North African Nimcha. his swords are currently in display at the rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Typical practice in most navies was to lock up bladed and hand held gun powered weapons. To minimize mutinies. I think boarding pikes/axes are actually general tools used on the ship which are ready for use.
Blackbeard was killed in 1718 by a basket hilt broadsword. The privateer squadron tasked with hunting him down included a highlander called Demelt, who apparently preferred a massive broadsword to the lighter hanger that was more common aboard ship. This was a very good thing, because Blackbeard actually broke the lighter sword used by Lt. Maynard, at which point the Scot stepped in and saved his commander by severing Blackbeard's head.
For those saying these stories sound made up... if they were, they were probably made up back in the 18th century. I've vacationed in North Carolina including Atlantic beach, off which his ship Queen anne's revenge was sunk and done some reading on the subject. The general consensus is that he succumbed after many wounds, either pistol shot or sword, and it was indeed a rough and brutal fight. Given the stories are all so similar, I cannot help but think there is truth there.
Really excellent video this time- thanks so much. Fascinating stuff. Hollywood should come to you anytime they want to do some kind of historical show because.....what is out there is such garbage. Movies like pirates of the carib are very disappointing to people who like militaria or the finer details.
Would love to see a review of the opening fight scene in First knight, and well maybe even the finale fight. Loved that film as a kid and I would love to hear about things I miss when I watch the fights.
I hope i just missed it and can be directed but you mention a follow up on the ivory handled hanger. If you still have it, i'd love to see a video on it and hangers in general. Cheers!
As I understand it the main use for boarding axes was cutting away rigging (including the wood bits it was attached to), either to immobilize the ship being boarded, to clear a path for easier boarding, or by a ship that didn't want to be boarded to cut away grapples and entangled rigging.
Oberstgreup I am highly skeptical they carried dedicated boarding axes: they would have had a carpentry kit on board the same as you carry a spare tire in your car. And if you didn't want to be grappled you would grab anything sharp to cut away the ropes, an axe simply being better suited in that situation.
Illustrations from the book "The Buccaneers of America" published in 1678, show the pirates Roche Braziliano and Francois L'ollonais with cutlasses that have a hand guard shaped like a clamshell.
funny the cutless seems to be quite similar to the German "Korbschläger" used in stutends fighting called Mensur. Similar to the cutless the Schläger will be held downwards with the "korb" or the handguard faceinc upwards, however a pary will be tried on the blades face.
It's gratifying that Howard Pyle, the artist who pretty much created the modern conception of pirate's looks, pretty much got it right. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Pyle_pirates_deckfight_edited.jpg
Out of curiosity, and you may have done a video on this before, but of the swords (and other weapons) in your collection, which is your favorite? Just out of curiosity, which do you find most fun for cutting, which do you like the aesthetics of best, that kind of thing.
From perhaps 1525 when wheelock pistols came into use to after 1700 when the socket bayonet finally replaced the pike would seem to have been the last gasp of close quarters battle with hand weapons. I would like to hear your views on the 200 years (1500-1700) of transition between the age of close combat and the full control of the battlefield by gunpowder. What is interesting to me is how the cavalry survived during this time and beyond. For scouting and lancing fleeing soldiers running away is all they would seem to be good for. Horses are such huge targets why did cavalry continue?
If I was an pirate back in those days, I'd totally carry a katana. Not because I think they're the sword to end all sword, but I want to have people stop and ask "what the fuck is that?"
The boarding axes were carried as much for their utility against the ship, rather than the crew, from what I've read. In cutting out operations (stealing a ship) mooring warps would be cut (hence the cutting in cutting out), and a cutlass would take far too long to get through a 6 inch cable, whereas an axe is much quicker. It could also be used to cut the halyards to lower the yards when sail needed to be set, or to bring down rigging to stop a ship in motion. In extremis, obviously, the axeman would use it to wallop the opposing crewmen and marines.
Nice to see more on the British 1845 Naval Cutless. They seem to be very rare here in the US. I wish someone would make a quality replica. Same with the French 1833 style. How do both cutlasses handle?
Many accounts I've read from the Napoleonic wars generally refer to the use of boarding axes by "Landsmen" (ie raw recruits or pressed men) who would have little experience with any type of sword and chose a "boarding axe", which was just a typical axe used on board ship, which the landsmen was likely familiar and comfortable with. In almost all cases, however - when a boarding action took place the crews would be almost entirely equipped with swords or pikes, both being readily available and more useful than an axe.
Sri lankan kastane sword was not an easy sword to find the spelling of, I gotta admit. Also this video was really informative, I never really thought this in depth about pirate swords before.
I'm going to have to view a lot more of this channel, but of course there were weapons of conquest and opportunity, ease of use or familiarity. I'm really wondering about blade thickness, weight, balance and feel.
I would love to have your thoughts on the fight between Obi Wan and Maul in rebels. I've always held that it is the most realistic fight in the entirety of the star wars canon, mostly on the basis that when masters of weapons like this meet, it would be a very quick, one-mistake-and-its-over affair.
Hey mat im not sure if you have much knowledge in the area but could you do a video on mongolian weapons and tactics,...i feel that the topic doesnt get covered as a whole often comsidering there success particularily when people say oh they were good because they had horse archers as if that were the only reason they conquered so much
MrJpc1234 If you are looking for a relatively short read that tangentially examines the broad impact of Mongol warfare in China, I'd suggest " Firearms to 1700: a global history".
I think bowl guards as a major feature might be a unique British Isles linguistic thing. Here in the US cutlasses are defined more by size and maritime usage. Any plain short sword used at sea is a cutless. George G. Neumann in his main books on weapons of the American Revolution shows multiple examples of cutlasses with all sorts of hilt styles and treats hangers and cutlasses as basically the same thing c.1710 or so with difference being where it was used rather than physical features. Also the US Navy M1841 Cutless has only a knuckle bow.
The swedish navy used axes extensively during the 18the century, collectively known as "änterbilor" (boarding axes). The one you find most commonly on auctions is the Änterbila mod 1780, a sturdily built axe with a hooked spike on the back. The only naval sword that I've seen has been the m/1748 hanger sword (huggare) for officers.
2:10 When I do an image search for pirates or cutlass I actually mostly see swords with simple knuckle bows and other earlier basket hilts. So maybe they are wrong to call them cutlasses I don't know when that term came into use but most cartoon pirates seem to have period hilts with knuckle bows or cross guards.
What are your thoughts on cup-hilt rapiers and the Spanish Destreza? I just started practicing it and am curious as to what's the view on it from other countries and other traditions.
yes bro you see little mistakes in movies all the time, was a carpenter on There will be blood Had to drive nails with hammer instead of nail gun and no Philips hed screws. Very informative love the Cutlass
QUESTION: There is a video of Matt speaking about the peculiarity of german fencing schools not focusing on stabbing opponents as much as contemporary fencing schools do. I can't find the video (and I have binge-watched enough by now to hear Matts voice in my head when I read something). Anyone remember which video it was?
The german word for the typical Piratsword is Entermesser. And was mostlikly a version of the Langes Messer or Grosses Messer, which easily could have evolved into the sword, the english call cutlass. Though you might think of Pirates only in the caribbeans there was a healthy piracy scene in the hanseatic sea in the 14th and 15th century, with the legendary german pirat captain Störtebeker
They were kept in racks because manning a sailing ship is quite a task. You would not want to be carrying a sword whilst working in the rigging, sails etc, but you would want quick access to one when a prize came into view lol
I love how, where other channels would splice in clip art to illustrate different designs over time, Matt has a pile of swords on the table in front of him.
Just checked, Pirates of the Caribbean get their swords correct. Exactly as you described.
The swords in Pirates of the Caribbean are not bad historically, for the most part, indeed.
scholagladiatoria well they do say you can break one rule of reality
Jack sparrow's sword was an actual antique from the 1740s (the non-stunt one, anyway).
For the first part, they actually did some research. Not saying its any historical accurate, but the writes wanted to get some details right. Such as the weaponry, general outfits and such. Later on all that went outta the window and ofcourse they took their artist's freedom also in the first. But generally im surprised how much the 1st got right in some details ^^
That first film has great hero props. Norrington was a (noble)tit, but that small sword he gets from Turner is pretty damned cool looking. Not a fair trade for Keira, but I can understand why he made the trade :P
I worry about Matt's right ear.
camouflet hahaha "the weapons in the video are handled by professionals. Do not try this at home"
Apparently, regular machetes are still known as "cutlasses" in the Caribbean, so the word seems to have had a very broad application.
When you search "cutlass fight", you'll find a lot of Caribbean and African machete fights for some reason.
KorKhan89 like broad swords
I like swords. They are comfy and easy to wear
Coqui Marinero “Remember my super cool cutlass? My cutlass is different from regular cutlasses. It’s like my cutlass is in the top percentage of cutlasses."
- Pirate Joey
Coqui Marinero
I like broadseaxes. They are comfy and easy to wear, useful as tools, and devestating hand weapons.
And I can have runes carved into them.
And when we raid and sail to war, my seax shall bring me glory, and when I travel to Valhöll, I will bring it with me that the other Einherjar can bask in my tales of conquest and battle, and look upon my favored long knife, most trusted of companions.
Coqui Marinero
I got the reference. Would have served him better.
It should be pointed out that the Golden Age of Piracy was often a result of government sanctioned programs ending. Some captains and crews became rich through privateering, which is (mostly) legal, and when their Letters of Marque expired at the end of conflicts such as the War of Spanish Succession, continued to operate as both merchants, and pirates when convenient.
The standing U.S. Navy was in fact brought into existence to deal with piracy. The Continental Navy had been disbanded at the end of the Revolutionary War, and the Naval Act of 1794 was signed into law primarily to deal with the Barbary Pirates (Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and the Sultanate of Morocco, all part of the Muslim Ottoman Empire). Although often not covered in history classes, over 1 million Europeans were captured and sold into slavery between the 16th and 19th century by the Barbary Pirates.
MrVvulf I can't think of any where in the modern world where piracy flourishes that Islam doesn't also flourish.
@@martinbeagle6448 Well...pirates were also American colonials, British, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, et cetera. And piracy is still rampant in the South Sea thanks to Thai and Burmese pirates. Not just Somalia. It's almost as though being a criminal scumbag isn't necessarily facilitated by one's political/religious beliefs but by what one stands to personally gain by being the aforementioned scumbag.
@@BigPuddin Aye, I know a bunch of fisherman in New Jersey who'd love to turn to piracy if they knew they could get away with it right about now. They've just done drug running instead. Damned economy.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 pirates didn't just raid ships and drink themselves into a stupor. They also did smuggling, blackmail, basically any criminal enterprise was fair game.
Were those barbary pirates also the barbary slave traders?
I find the Portuguese Carrack Black Sword (or Crab Sword) the most peculiar sword used on board of ships. It was "painted" black so it did not rust and did not shine on the sun and the guard had sharp disks that could be used to strike as well.
I like to point out that Black Sails shows plenty of hangers; the gallows in Nassau are used quite intensively throughout the series.
Unfortunately many of the swords are from the end of the 18th century and a few are from the 19th century.
Damnit! My pun missed the mark *hangs head in shame*.
@@glenndemoor3020 That was pretty funny
@@scholagladiatoria missed the gallows humor
People forget piracy in India and Southeast Asia was also a huge problem during this period, and persisted long after piracy in the new world ceased to be a major issue. I'd like to see more pirates with Malaysian, Philippine, Indonesian, Indian, Burmese, Cambodian and Vietnamese weapons. These seem to account for the majority of reports of piracy I've read where the weapons used are described, with the kris apparently being an especially popular option.
19th century anti-piracy around Sarawak and suchlike is a subject dear to my heart :-)
You should do a video then. Maybe we could get some nautical Malay for talk like a pirate day.
Watch Swiss Family Robinson with John Mills. Or Project A with Jackie Chan.
No to mention that many famous pirate captains were active in the indian ocean as well. Captain Kidd for example.
This is a video topic I'd very much like to see.
You manage to make historical references sensical, comprehensible, entertaining and quite enjoyable and easy to process and absorb. Kudos.
The classic Disney Peter Pan cartoon seems pretty historically accurate then. Hook carries a cup-hilt rapier, and most of his crew is carrying falchions and scimitars.
Yeah, flying boys were serial pests back then.
Is it really a cup hilt though ? Hook's Rapier has no knuckle guard are there any examples of Rapiers with no knuckle guards ?
Peter Pan i think some examples of roperas
What are Roperas? Isn't that just rapier in Spanish (pardon my ignorance)
kwanarchive
They were, Grimm wrote a whole book about it!
Great video! Fascinating subject.
Of course there were other pirates before and after the Pirates of the Caribbean era. While Somalis with AK47s is not really the sort of subject you cover, perhaps you could do a video on the subject of the weapons of the Barbary Pirates from Tripoli, Algiers and Salee. I believe that they were bold enough to raid England for slaves in the 16th and 17th century and even set up a camp on an island in the Severn Estuary to attack ships going to and from Bristol.
There were also pirates in the Mediterranean that the Roman Empire suppressed and there was a book in the Flashman series that touched on a British raid against pirate bases somewhere near Singapore in the 1830s or 1840s.
Anyway, lots more to be said about pirate weapons.
Mark Kelly
Weapons of the Víkingarnir - the best sea-warriors and raiders to have even had stories written about them by a 13th century poet?
Not to mention accounts early in this decade of Chinese Naval vessels occasionally moonlighting with acts of piracy. Also off the coast of South America with some of those navies with captains tempted by some of what is out there owned by the various cartels.
it's like a form of therapy watching these videos. Great voice. Very relaxing. Relaxes my mind before going back to work
I'm Japanese and near the end of the video I realized you're wearing a T shirt with Japanese characters.
TOKYO CITY SUPER DRY™ COMPANY ... alright and... スボーン（スポーン＝Spawn?）and 僭（or沓?）の星！
SUPER is スーパー in Japanese, idk what スボーン means, and 僭の星 means Star of ... something? I'm not familiar with that Kanji.
If you come to Japan, people often wear T shirt with English characters and sentences, and most of the time they doesn't make any sense - it's kinda hilarious. It's funny to know that same thing happens there too :)
Please note that I don't mean to embarrass you or something, I just thought that it's a bit funny. Keep up the great work!
I have now learned two things from one video, apparently Super Dry is a British company using "Japanese inspired designs."
Stussy sometimes has Japanese or at least the Asian style of writing that looks like Japanese on their t-shirts and a ton to people wear it in Australia and have no idea what any of it means.
Superdry is a british company and it does this on purpose. If I remember correctly the founders went to japan and see japanese clothing company print english nonsense on their shirts, think it is funny and do it in reverse.
@@dickiewongtk Reverse nonsense. Is it a parody? Or still nonsense?
@@BigPuddin Good question. When it's intentional it's not quite the same, is it?
Seems sensible to have symmetrical hand guards for a sword that will be issues first-come-first-serve from a rack. You don't have to worry about whether someone is right handed or left handed.
Matt Lentzner Right!, as you're being boarded and some Coxswain running around, "anyone else have a Right handed Cutlass?" "I need a a righty but they only have lefties on my part of the ship!"
most people were forced to be right handers
In those days you had to learn right handed combat regardless of yer wanking hand.
I'd always thought that hanger-type swords could be called cutlasses when used in a naval context. I've never really heard of a cutlass being defined as having a bowl hilt. But I appreciate you defining what a historical pirate sword would look like.
Same here. I think this might be an English thing on the bowl hilt as important. Neuamann (a late American weapons writer) in his book on bladed weapons of the American Revolution that starts with the 17th century treats a cutless as a cutless based on blade form and maritime usage not hilt style and treats hanger and cutless as often one in the same prior to c.1750 design wise with the difference being use on land or sea. In the US Navy the standard cutless from the 1840s to shortly before the Civil War had only a single knuckle bow and the older models saw use until at least 1865 even after the Model 1860 with a semi-bowl guard was officially adopted.
I love having a channel that deals in such detail with history. I will never understand why you don't have more subscribers.
There were types of bowl hilt in the 18th century, although they were usually smaller, and many were brass.
Black Sails is set in Nassau in 1715. Glad it got a mention, I'm a massive fan of the show! :D
Good stuff; thanks for this. I was reading Roderick Random (published in 1748) and the author mentioned a hanger and I had to look it up to figure out what he meant. Nice to know the difference between it and its more well known descendent. Since I am very likely to write something set at sea in the mid 18th century (a period I find particularly fascinating and under represented in fiction), I am very glad to know cutlesses did not exist yet; you saved me from making my readers wonder how cutlesses came to learn time travel. :)
Excellent video! Something I've always been curious of, but hadn't gotten the chance to research.
My grandfather Jacinto Lobrano came from Isola Di Procida off the coast of Italy in the 1700's. He was a pirate with Jean Lafitte in the Caribbean. His hanger sword is in a glass case at the Confederate museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
I can't help but think of this particular line, quote from Admiral Arleigh Burke. More particularly when asked what he thought the ship class he shared a name with needed.
Word for word, so I'm lead to believe, a brace of cutlasses.
Pirates and a super dry shirt, you’ve won a subscriber. Totally cool,guy has fashion sense.
Matt, whenever you say" ill cover it in a future video" it makes my soul cry out in anguish because i know it will be forever until my curiosity will be sated because of all of the other things that you want to do videos on. alas i gues i will just have to keep watching every vid you put out
How I always look forward to the "However" :D greetings from Hamburg
Could you do a video about Pikeman's swords?
I would love to see this remade with some images cut in to show whats being discussed.
As a neophyte, some of the detail is flying straight over my head and some of the differences I do (partially) understand seem negligible but might not if I could see the differences.
Late (and kind of long) question here, but you mention that most sailors in the British and French Navies during the Napoleonic Wars stored their cutlasses (and presumably other arms) on racks rather than on their person. This makes a lot of sense considering that the work aboard a sailing ship would be rather labor intensive, sailors would be packed closely together with a lot of other men and, depending on your specific job, could involve needing to do things such as climbing up the masts to adjust sails and such... in which case a sword of any kind dangling from your hip would be quite the hindrance, I imagine. That said, was it common at all for the Officers aboard, say, a Royal Navy ship during the Napoleonic Wars to carry their own side-arms? You did very quickly touch on Navy Officers sometimes carrying swords such as smallswords or spadroons instead of the common cutlass.
I get that most of the sailors would be various levels of ordinary or able seaman that did much of the so-called hard grunt work such as helping with hull repairs, manning cannons, keeping the deck clean, adjusting the sails, tying knots and general seamanship while others would be Warrant Officers (or similar) that had more specific tasks such as carpenters, boatswains, sailing masters, gunners mate's, quartermasters, coopers, and so on and that these men likely didn't carry much more than perhaps a knife, marlinspike or other type of tool specific for their duties and would get their arms from racks when needed. However, did Lieutenants and Captain (or maybe even some Midshipmen?) often tend to bring and carry their own, higher-quality side arms, be they cutlasses, smallswords or pistols, and carry them on their person?
It seems like it would make sense, to some degree, for some Officers to bring their own, better weapons if they could and, assuming their main duties were more leadership-focused such as standing watches, leading gun crews during battle, focusing on navigation and tactics et al. rather than doing quite as much physical work compared to their men, that they might even carry them on their person from time-to-time. Was this ever a common thing or did the Officers, much like their men, more often simply use whatever weapons the ship had in its weapons racks or have their own personal side arms, but still only arm themselves when battle was imminent?
Most swords and cutlasses ever made were never used in combat. On a ship armed with cannons, even less so. If a ship got into a fight, it would normally be by exchanging cannon fire. If a boarding action followed, then there would be musket fire, grapeshot, and then, as Matt says, boarding pikes and bayonets. With that in mind, the need to carry a cutlass all day every day was even less than for a man on land who might conceivably end up in a scuffle or skirmish at any time. A cutlass would be an unnecessary encumbrance when climbing the rigging. Also, naval discipline was harsh, with many sailors being "pressed men" (forcibly conscripted) and they were poorly educated and had little prospect of improving their circumstances. It would be foolish to let each man carry a weapon. There would be a risk of fights between crew members and a risk of mutiny. So common sailors would not carry weapons day to day. Officers probably did as a symbol of authority and a way of enforcing that authority if the need arose. A boarding action would not normally be a surprise. The racks would be in an easily accessible place if the weapons needed to be issued in a hurry.
Officers had to buy their own uniforms and side arms, at least until the very late 18th century when 'sea service' weapons started to be mass produced for the more fomalised Navy. Common sailors would not even have access to the ship's weapons under normal conditions. Pirates on the other hand...
Incidentally there was a custom among pirates (at least English ones) that the first man to spot a prize ship would be awarded 'the best pair of pistols on board'.
@@mikefule Common sailors were not permitted to carry a knife other than the "Pussers dirk", a work knife with a ground off tip that could be bought from the ship's Purser at the sailor's own expense, should he consider that his work required it. (Rather like slop clothing before uniforms were regularised.)
The dirk part of the name is an ironic reference to the dirk carried by Midshipmen, the officers in training.
curved swords....
they've got curved swords
Kolgur
Gods, man, stop yer blabberin! Drink yer mead and shut up about the Redguards' genitalia. Talos, who raised you? A cow and a goat? We don't talk about other men's genitals. It pisses off Hulda.
Remember what happened last time that happened?
In Black Sails I've seen a few different hilts, I noticed Flint has a basket hilt on his Cutlass, Singleton had a Hanger, Anne Bonny's twin short cutlasses have knucklebows.
Good points Matt! We must remember that much of what we think about Caribbean/European pirates is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island which was written in the late 19th century and the focus of the events was some 30 years after the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. The map in the book is dated 1750.
I recently watched a movie about Cromwell & his Round Heads, they started out carrying cup hilt rapiers, then at the last battle ,every one on both sides were using naval cutlasses. Oliver Reed of course died with style.
Black Sails does have some interesting weapon choices, some good some not. I'm not as knowledgeable about the weapons of the period so I'm sure I miss a lot. I've seen a few smallwords/spadroons, and various basket hilts in the mix. Blackbeard uses a Scottish basket-hilt I believe.
I think the guns may tend to be more anachronistic than the sword. It just doesn't seem like there are nearly as many reproduction guns of the late 16th early 17th century as late 17th and 18th century, including in prop-houses.
It really feels like the image of pirates carrying cutlasses is about the same as the image of Vikings wearing helmets with horns on them. Both largely false, and yet both are so deeply ingrained into people's minds by modern popular culture that they really can't be erased from there.
TheSeekingOne except vikings did use horned helmets outside of battle, that is ceremonial and rank helmets.
I don't think I'd go as far as to say it's largely false. The golden age pirates did use cutlasses, but a different style of cutlass than we're used to. It's still a mistake, but a fairly minor one for movies.
Blokewood3 the problem is also that most "weapon classifications" are contemporary classifications, spawned by the likes of DnD and fantasy RP.
Back then, weapon names weren't as set.
Yeah, the names aren't quite set. The term cutlass did seem to originally refer to the earlier hangers, but then mostly became used for the beefier naval-specialized cutlasses that we normally think of. And apparently today it's used as a term for a machete in parts of the Caribbean.
Always enjoy your videos. Nicely presented and good information
I've seen several period examples (particularly dutch) with S quillions and a shell guard too.
I would be interested in hearing more about the British cutlass exercises mentioned in passing as relevant to the hilt differences.
Good to see You are showing the actual lenght too, swords in movies and computergames are often pictured ridiculos short bladed (or with an unrealistic hevy blade, but in movies when a real human actor hawe to use it and it´s not possible to swing that much weight, even if it´s light alloys like aluminium in the prop swords, the blade are often way to short instead... Especiially sabres like those are wictims of that and looks extremly ridiculous with those short prop blades... Unfortunatly that is waht so many Smiths try to reconstruct... ).
(Sorry for my English...)
i know this has nothing to do with the video, but when did Arabs star using curved swords ? and what's the difference between an Arab Saber and a Persian Saber (if you have pictures that would be even more helpful)
please answer !
if you're talking about fighting styles, i dont know, but if you're talking about the blades persian sabres tend to be more curved, and sometimes have a pommel at the end. arab swords may have that too but much rarer.
the arabs started using curved swords largely when the turks came (11th century) , the turks were cavalry warriors and were already using curved swords, and they influenced the whole area.
Short answer - I believe around the 13th century in general, though it's a very big topic and Arabic culture covered a large and diverse area of course, not all of which used similar weapons.
they had curved swords much earlier than 11th or 13th century, muhammed himself has some curved swords. though i remember reading they started using it as "the sword" because of turkish influence, do you remember the name of the source that says 13th century ?
12th century Turks brought their sabers to the Middle East and their fighting style eventually took over, although straight swords took a while to dissapear and still were used in Africa.
They seem to have appeared in the middle east around the 12th century. Not sure what you mean by "Arab" vs Persian, but I'll give a go at some different types.
Shamshir: Persian, highly curved, straight crossguard. Wooden, ivory or horn grip is pinned to tang and has a swelling at the base that projects forwards.
Killij: Turkish and Egyptian. As for Shamshir, but also has a yelmen, or false edge that projects away from the back of the blade.
Nimcha: Moroccan, slightly curved, multiple short, highly upswept quillons, most have knucklebows. Grip is more angular, but similar in overall shape to the killij and shamshir
Pulwar: Afghan, highly curved. Upswept grossguard with flower shaped finials. Hilt is all-metal and glued to the blade, occasionally having a single pin. Short grip is straight with a small palm swell and a cup-shaped pommel.
Tulwar: Indian, as for pulwar, but with short, generally straight crossguard with flared ends and a disc shaped pommel. Later ones can sport knucklebows. Curvature varies.
These swords are all related as they were introduced by the conquests of Persian and Turkic cultures through North Africa and South Asia following the breakup of the Mongol empire, especially the by Mamluks and the Timurids.
What I would give that every time Matt mentions sword type, picture shows on screen of mentioned weapon!
Cornelis Tromp carried several types of middle eastern/North African swords like the Persian Shamshir and the North African Nimcha. his swords are currently in display at the rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Gorgeous hanger! Looking forward to the video about that sword when you do it :)
Hi Matt! Have you seen "Alatriste" with Viggo Mortensen? It would be really cool if you could talk about the duels and weapons in that movie.
Typical practice in most navies was to lock up bladed and hand held gun powered weapons. To minimize mutinies. I think boarding pikes/axes are actually general tools used on the ship which are ready for use.
Thanks for all these videos, this is really instructing and I was desperately searching for informations like that ! good work !
Blackbeard was killed in 1718 by a basket hilt broadsword. The privateer squadron tasked with hunting him down included a highlander called Demelt, who apparently preferred a massive broadsword to the lighter hanger that was more common aboard ship. This was a very good thing, because Blackbeard actually broke the lighter sword used by Lt. Maynard, at which point the Scot stepped in and saved his commander by severing Blackbeard's head.
That series of events sounds like someone at some point made something up.
Yeah I seriously doubt Blackbeard broke the other dudes sword.
For those saying these stories sound made up... if they were, they were probably made up back in the 18th century. I've vacationed in North Carolina including Atlantic beach, off which his ship Queen anne's revenge was sunk and done some reading on the subject. The general consensus is that he succumbed after many wounds, either pistol shot or sword, and it was indeed a rough and brutal fight. Given the stories are all so similar, I cannot help but think there is truth there.
Any bucklers for hand protection?
Really excellent video this time- thanks so much. Fascinating stuff. Hollywood should come to you anytime they want to do some kind of historical show because.....what is out there is such garbage. Movies like pirates of the carib are very disappointing to people who like militaria or the finer details.
Ahh Matt, first you take away my boarding axes, then my cutlasses. At least I still have the backsword. About time I subbed.
I have been waiting for this for a while. Thanks very much.
Lol, that notification sound actually made me check my IM messages and phone.
Would love to see a review of the opening fight scene in First knight, and well maybe even the finale fight. Loved that film as a kid and I would love to hear about things I miss when I watch the fights.
I hope i just missed it and can be directed but you mention a follow up on the ivory handled hanger. If you still have it, i'd love to see a video on it and hangers in general. Cheers!
As I understand it the main use for boarding axes was cutting away rigging (including the wood bits it was attached to), either to immobilize the ship being boarded, to clear a path for easier boarding, or by a ship that didn't want to be boarded to cut away grapples and entangled rigging.
You forget the most cinematic: Cutting away the ropes that connect you to a burning ship before it explodes.
Oberstgreup I am highly skeptical they carried dedicated boarding axes: they would have had a carpentry kit on board the same as you carry a spare tire in your car. And if you didn't want to be grappled you would grab anything sharp to cut away the ropes, an axe simply being better suited in that situation.
Illustrations from the book "The Buccaneers of America" published in 1678, show the pirates Roche Braziliano and Francois L'ollonais with cutlasses that have a hand guard shaped like a clamshell.
Yes clamshell guards were quite popular in the second half of the 17th century.
funny the cutless seems to be quite similar to the German "Korbschläger" used in stutends fighting called Mensur.
Similar to the cutless the Schläger will be held downwards with the "korb" or the handguard faceinc upwards, however a pary will be tried on the blades face.
It's gratifying that Howard Pyle, the artist who pretty much created the modern conception of pirate's looks, pretty much got it right.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Pyle_pirates_deckfight_edited.jpg
Thank you. I wish I had found this video sooner. Now I have to go back and edit my novel AGAIN! "Once more into the breach..." Damnit.
Out of curiosity, and you may have done a video on this before, but of the swords (and other weapons) in your collection, which is your favorite? Just out of curiosity, which do you find most fun for cutting, which do you like the aesthetics of best, that kind of thing.
Sketches of Anne Bonny tend to show her with boarding axes. They're not only a good close quarter weapon, they can easily be thrown.
From perhaps 1525 when wheelock pistols came into use to after 1700 when the socket bayonet finally replaced the pike would seem to have been the last gasp of close quarters battle with hand weapons. I would like to hear your views on the 200 years (1500-1700) of transition between the age of close combat and the full control of the battlefield by gunpowder. What is interesting to me is how the cavalry survived during this time and beyond. For scouting and lancing fleeing soldiers running away is all they would seem to be good for. Horses are such huge targets why did cavalry continue?
If I was an pirate back in those days, I'd totally carry a katana. Not because I think they're the sword to end all sword, but I want to have people stop and ask "what the fuck is that?"
thank you for making this video! i hoped you would pick up on black sails after my question last week =)
The boarding axes were carried as much for their utility against the ship, rather than the crew, from what I've read. In cutting out operations (stealing a ship) mooring warps would be cut (hence the cutting in cutting out), and a cutlass would take far too long to get through a 6 inch cable, whereas an axe is much quicker. It could also be used to cut the halyards to lower the yards when sail needed to be set, or to bring down rigging to stop a ship in motion. In extremis, obviously, the axeman would use it to wallop the opposing crewmen and marines.
I like the way the hanger guard looks
I'd like to see a video on Sri Lankan swords sometime.
What about the knives and daggers pirates used
I like the fact that in a duel, they show Blackbeard fighting with a Highland pattern broadsword, which was quite available at the time period.
Should Captain Hook in Peter Pan( not the 1991 Hook movie) be using a 17C Spanish Rapier? Was the Spanish Rapier popular with pirates?
Commercial was timed perfectly.. "what you should see is...(insert commercial here)"
Matt, could you do a Fight Review of Flint vs Singleton from STARZ Black Sails?
I have filmed one, but it's stuck in a copyright dispute.... STARZ seem to be very inefficient at reviewing such automated claims.
Ah, that sucks. Well, here's hoping the claim is settled soon and we get to enjoy the video!
Nice to see more on the British 1845 Naval Cutless. They seem to be very rare here in the US. I wish someone would make a quality replica. Same with the French 1833 style. How do both cutlasses handle?
Many accounts I've read from the Napoleonic wars generally refer to the use of boarding axes by "Landsmen" (ie raw recruits or pressed men) who would have little experience with any type of sword and chose a "boarding axe", which was just a typical axe used on board ship, which the landsmen was likely familiar and comfortable with. In almost all cases, however - when a boarding action took place the crews would be almost entirely equipped with swords or pikes, both being readily available and more useful than an axe.
Sri lankan kastane sword was not an easy sword to find the spelling of, I gotta admit. Also this video was really informative, I never really thought this in depth about pirate swords before.
I'm going to have to view a lot more of this channel, but of course there were weapons of conquest and opportunity, ease of use or familiarity. I'm really wondering about blade thickness, weight, balance and feel.
I would love to have your thoughts on the fight between Obi Wan and Maul in rebels. I've always held that it is the most realistic fight in the entirety of the star wars canon, mostly on the basis that when masters of weapons like this meet, it would be a very quick, one-mistake-and-its-over affair.
Thanks again for another great video!
(also, nice shirt! haha really dig it.)
My mind wandered to the taking of the Altmark the last (conflicting reports) RN boarding action with a cutlass.
Hey mat im not sure if you have much knowledge in the area but could you do a video on mongolian weapons and tactics,...i feel that the topic doesnt get covered as a whole often comsidering there success particularily when people say oh they were good because they had horse archers as if that were the only reason they conquered so much
MrJpc1234 If you are looking for a relatively short read that tangentially examines the broad impact of Mongol warfare in China, I'd suggest " Firearms to 1700: a global history".
Excellent video. Now you have to show us some dusacks.
Does anyone have some source material on the swords pirates used during the early 18th century I'd appreciate it
I think bowl guards as a major feature might be a unique British Isles linguistic thing. Here in the US cutlasses are defined more by size and maritime usage. Any plain short sword used at sea is a cutless. George G. Neumann in his main books on weapons of the American Revolution shows multiple examples of cutlasses with all sorts of hilt styles and treats hangers and cutlasses as basically the same thing c.1710 or so with difference being where it was used rather than physical features. Also the US Navy M1841 Cutless has only a knuckle bow.
i really like that hanger
I like the looks of that hanger sword thing. Kind of evil-looking.
Royal Navy "1804" Pattern Boarding Cutlass looks like that Lead Cutter that you have.
The 1845 pattern is the basis for the lead cutter.
Yeah, those hangers are what people want. Really nasty fun blades those.
Insta-liked this video as soon as I saw it suggested :D
The swedish navy used axes extensively during the 18the century, collectively known as "änterbilor" (boarding axes). The one you find most commonly on auctions is the Änterbila mod 1780, a sturdily built axe with a hooked spike on the back.
The only naval sword that I've seen has been the m/1748 hanger sword (huggare) for officers.
2:10 When I do an image search for pirates or cutlass I actually mostly see swords with simple knuckle bows and other earlier basket hilts. So maybe they are wrong to call them cutlasses I don't know when that term came into use but most cartoon pirates seem to have period hilts with knuckle bows or cross guards.
I have a shortened talwar (replica) for my pirate costume.
What are your thoughts on cup-hilt rapiers and the Spanish Destreza? I just started practicing it and am curious as to what's the view on it from other countries and other traditions.
yes bro you see little mistakes in movies all the time, was a carpenter on There will be blood Had to drive nails with hammer instead of nail gun and no Philips hed screws. Very informative love the Cutlass
Can you do a video on arms and armor of the latter half of the 19th century leading into the 20th century?
QUESTION: There is a video of Matt speaking about the peculiarity of german fencing schools not focusing on stabbing opponents as much as contemporary fencing schools do. I can't find the video (and I have binge-watched enough by now to hear Matts voice in my head when I read something). Anyone remember which video it was?
The german word for the typical Piratsword is Entermesser. And was mostlikly a version of the Langes Messer or Grosses Messer, which easily could have evolved into the sword, the english call cutlass. Though you might think of Pirates only in the caribbeans there was a healthy piracy scene in the hanseatic sea in the 14th and 15th century, with the legendary german pirat captain Störtebeker
I'd love to hear your view on the 80's year war.
Recommend a tutorial on cutlass, thank you in advance.
In medieval times thru 1700? There were pirates in the English Channel. Using rowboats? Weapons seem likely to be th SS cheaper ones available?
They were kept in racks because manning a sailing ship is quite a task. You would not want to be carrying a sword whilst working in the rigging, sails etc, but you would want quick access to one when a prize came into view lol