The English Civil War BROADSWORD that SOLDIERS preferred to RAPIERS
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- An English mortuary hilted broadsword, examined by Matt Easton at Olympia Auctions: www.olympiaauctions.com/aucti...
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#civilwar #broadsword #rapier
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That is a gorgeous sword. Small wonder it fetched such a high price at auction.
That would look really good on my wall, next to the cheap rapier replica.
High price??? Oh, dear you must live in poverty you poor fool. No family wealth to speak of, hmmm? Lmao
I always remember in James Henderson's book, the phrase 'there was something un English' about making a small hole through someone as opposed to hacking them to pieces, this is not exact but you get the drift.
Ooga booga
Smallswords and rapiers 🍷
Arming swords, falchions 🍻
Similar to in Star Wars Jedi (or at least Obi Wan) considering shooting someone with a blaster to be "so uncivilized" compared to dicing them with a lightsaber.
I found this tidbit as a reference in an old thread about this topic:
MORTUARY sword term: Perfectly explained by Stuart Mowbray in his "British Military Swords: 1600-1660", 2013, p.180.
"...perhaps a more believable explanation for the 'mortuary' name would be that 19th c. antiquarians , who were the first people to appreciate these weapons, often purchased them from churches where they had been painted black and used as part of funereal (i.e.mortuary) displays. In a tradition that dates back to ancient times, the arms of Britains Civil War heroes were deposited by their loved ones in places of worship.".
"...memories never last forever, though, and during the 19th c. countless rural English churches were in the process of 'spring cleaning'-pulling down all those dusty, rusty and altogether too depressing funeral achievements to make room for more modern decorations".
These helmets and swords still bearing black paint made it to the antiques markets, and of course with thier somber provenance gained the Victorian sobriquet 'mortuary' swords. Strangely it does not seem helmets or armor were called this.
The notion of the 'death mask' of Charles I came later, as an explanation for the term, and as has been shown, is easily defeated as these varied types of figures (many of the 'green man' type) existed as motif long before the Kings execution in 1649.
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this!
The amount of work put into the hilt must've been staggering. It's a really ornate and beautiful looking grip.
Sometimes the faces are attributed to an act of remembrance for the father of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate. He was considered to be a Protestant martyr for his death while supporting the Protestant population of Bohemia against their Catholic king. He was known as 'The Winter King' because of his short reign as King of Bohemia. The fighting in Bohemia was the catalyst for the Thirty Year's War. His especial connection with England was through his wife, who was the sister of Charles I, King of Gt. Britain and Ireland.
His reign in the lands of the Crown of Bohemia was abysmal, however.
@@morriganmhor5078 No effect on the reputation of a martyr, however.
If I think of Jacobean wood carving, there are lots of slightly scary looking human/anthropomorphic figures (eg. on the fronts of houses, those brackets for overhanging windows, fireplace surrounds). I'm not sure when exactly this style went out but you could see why it would spread to swords.
I’ve loved these since I was a kid a read Robert E Howard’s “Adventures of Solomon Kane”
Hi Matt, despite being Italian, I see the English soldiers' point here, for melee, I'd take the broadsword any day over the rapier. This specific sword has a problem as a military weapon: it is pretty enough that it will attract more enemies than average, who may want to kill you to get it. I'd use it as a dress sword and carry a plain one in combat.
Reminds me of a Munich Town Guard sword. I really love this mixing of what I view as more medieval style blade with a later more elaborate hilt for hand protection. Would love to see a more modern take on that combination too, maybe with some Spanish innovation too, like the deep finger rings for greater control.
It’s probably the best ever sword design
Me too. There were Spanish examples of that: cut and thrusts blades with shell or cup hilts for military purposes, 17th century. Close to Munich Town Guard, to my non-expert eyes…
Beautiful sword! Another treat. Mortuary hilts - knew little (nothing) about them. The standard context; the infectious enthusiasm. Thank you very much.
Would love some more English civil war content. Not something many TH-camrs cover as in much detail as the medieval era. Some information on the armour and weapons of the time would be much appreciated!
This sounds like yet another of those comfortable, practical cut-and-thrust swords I like so much.
I have absolutely zero fencing/swordmanship experience, but I just like the idea of having at least a DECENT amount of cutting ability in a sword- thrusting may be best for 1 on 1, but when the "stuff hits the fan" in battle, I want to be able to swing and chop.
+scholagladiatoria *Mortuary-hilt backswords and broadswords were used by both sides during the English Civil War.*
Great vid - beautiful sword, sooo much work!
Outstanding video
Nice video. Thank you for the knowledge.
That looks beautiful
Difficult to imagine Parliamentary soldiers carrying a sword commemorating the king, even if there were no problems with the dating. Maybe the faces of martyrs, that might work.
Thanks again for the information ⚔️
Calvary’s preference for a better cutting blade than a rapier makes perfect sense to me
Baskethilted swords are a personal favoriete of mine. I love the esthetics they have.
I bet the inverted quillion was deliberate and functional as the cross inside the basket. it would act as a little bumper stopping the basket from deforming when warding blows.
Definitely one of my favourite swords. Always loved mortuary hilts and basket hilts...
After Charles was executed there were "Memorial" basket hilted swords made with King Charles ' likeness engraved in the basket. Then, as often happens, all the basket hilted swords, even those from before Charles' execution became known as Mortuary basket hilted swords. I believe Oliver Cromwell's favoured sword was a basket hilted sword. I found that quite ironic. Good post, I lived very close to the English civil war site a Roundway Down, Wiltshire, you can access the general area, sometimes when it is quiet you can imagine the sight and sounds of the battle.
that little cross geared also allows the thang to have a more gradual taper, so you can have more mass in that section without comprising the handle material
I'm wondering if inherited broadsword blades might have been mounted with "mortuary hilts" baring representations of the previous owners, a custom which then got politicized by Royalists stamping portraits of the King and Queen on newer swords?
I really hope we get a vid on the beautiful little sword (small sword?) in the yellow scabbard - I've had my eye on it the last several vids!
Today I bought my first British saber at an auction. An M 1885 Cavalry Troopers Sword. Dear Mr Easton, I noticed that you dont have a video about this model yet...😿
Love it! 🥰
Just over US$6400.00. I think it's worth that price, easily.
I bid on the beautiful English rapier that was hanging just before this mortuary sword (unsuccessfully). Please tell me that theres a coming video of it.
PS. If you bought it, I’m beyond jealous… please get in touch so i can ask a few questions about it.
Mortuary and Basket Hilts are just arming sword blades with hilts meant for unarmored hands, opposed to, say, a cruciform hilt meant to be used with a gauntlet or glove.
Not exactly. One difference is that they are generally single edged whereas older types of cruciform hilted swords tended to be double edged
*All* swords are "just another type of sword with some difference". 😉
There's a style of sword handle that is distinctly ergonomic and organic looking. It fits your hand perfectly and aligns the blade much more closely to how your finger points. Does anyone know what that's called?
@KyIeMcCIeIIan do you mean like a modern fencing foil? If so, I think that's called a pistol grip. It doesn't actually look like a pistol grip, but your hand ends up looking like you're gripping a pistol.
@@grimmriffer Yes, that's it! How would that handle fare on an arming sword lol
I once handled a mortuary hilt sword that had both Andrea Ferrara and a Running Wolf on the blade. Got a good chuckle from that.
A lot of Scots broad and backswords had the exact same thing.
That's a nice looking sword!
Love this sword!
The fact that it's a relatively short-lived design (only 30 years) makes this fascinating to me. Since they probably made a lot of them for the civil war, this iconic type is still around in relative large numbers. I kinda remember seeing the basket itself, without the mortuary look, into the 1700s if I'm not wrong. But that's probably more to do with its simple design elements (symmetric shell with sidebars) than anything else, and I'm not sure if it was a popular choice like in the past.
Food for thought: a time chart where different sabre/broadsword/rapier types are placed on the same figure to showcase better when a particular design was adopted and the span of its main popularity. With the 1600s onwards, we probably have enough records that we can do this. Also, I think those are about the times we start to see more aspects of mass-productions when it comes to swords, so we see clear recognizable design elements (so de facto standards if you like).
I had an opportunity to visit Warwick Castle this past Friday and got to see an example in person, though not as fancy as the one that you are showing. Beautiful blades! I personally favor it over the rapier as I like the increased cutting capability. The week prior I was in Edinburgh Castle and was able to see its basket hilt rival, also an exquisite piece. Unfortunately Edinburgh didn’t allow photography. I m looking for a practical mortuary, have any suggestions?
Most dutch and northern german Wallons would have three bars often attached with screws to the pommel aswell, don’t they?
Kind of reminds me of the Munich town sword. Both are awesome.
Great video. Could you expand on what soliders from other parts of the Three Kingdoms would use during the civil wars would use?
I can't imagine the man hours that went into creating that amazing sword.
I would be curious to know the evolution from the Mary Rose style basket hilt or Lowlands hilted back swords and broad swords found in the Royal armouries collection. So from 1545 to 1600 and if in fact George Silver would have been using a lowland style basket hilted back/broad sword. Rather than the 1630/50's mortuary hilted back sword.
I've seen various places state that the name comes from the hilt resembling a human rib cage. No idea where that idea originates though. I don't think they all have faces or death masks on them, I'm sure I've seen ones with simpler perforated guards, but maybe they're more the exception than the rule
Just a quick comment, I have collected military swords for years and have traced owners and their families from 1798 up to modern times! Now I was approached by a police detective one night because I have CCTV which he thought may have picked up an assault. When he came in the house to look at the video he saw my collection and said you can not have those as they are illegal! My reply to him was that they are antiques and people are allowed to own them and he should leave my house. What he did not realise was in his haste to try and intimidate me he left his phone which I held onto for a couple of days and then made him come to me to collect. I then educated him with the current law on edged weapons.
It's very sad how few current police understand the law.
Would it be common for these swords to have a buff leather lining inside the guard like Scottish or other basket-hilted boradswords? And now that I think of it, is there any evidence of rapiers having similar linings?
Thanks. Interesting. What is the gripping surface made of?
I was under the impression those had much less flexible blades.
i guess i'll need to revisit Matt's videos on Broadsword vs Side-sword vs broader rapier. i assumed side-swords could have basket hilts. i feel like a loser now. thanks. :(
I think it's likely that basket-hilts are a type of sword that involved from side-swords like a rapier.
I’m shocked at how flexible the blade appears! It’s hard to find good data comparing the flexibility of historic thrusting swords, but I imagine that so much wobble would make it difficult to pierce light armor. I wonder how it compares to the stiffness of a modern olympic epee.
I would say that no one would have spent the money on an expensive armor if it could be penetrated by something else than a specialized armor piercing sword type.
That's a beautiful sword! Now I want to make a guard based in that. Hiw thick is it? How far across? How long?
That mortuary sword is gorgeous. I am also really curious about where the name comes from.
I like the possible historic name of this.
Any update on when the Falx testing video will be uploaded?
Hi, Matt. Can you review russian sabre, captured at Alma river?
I thought these were nicknamed mortuary hilts due to the less ornate ones looking like a ribcages...center bar being "the sternum" and swept bars being the "ribs"
Cant recall where i read that 😅
Can you do a video of defining the different names for swords and shields (i.e. why heater on heater shields) and swords (back swords vs broad swords also rapiers vs foils)
So... what do we have here: Munich Guard Sword Blade (16th cent.) + English Basket Hilt = Mortuary Sword. How long were those mediaeval blades used?
Which do you think is the most advanced one-handed battle axe?
I wonder if it wouldn't be a hassle to use both the rapier and some more cutting weapon? In theory, you have to master the methods of fighting with two different types of weapons. Generally, the rapier is considered to have the advantage in 1 vs 1 fights, but I wonder about the balance of benefits and losses. Wouldn't mastering one weapon be a better "investment of time"?
Question: Could an English mortuary style sword have found its way to the early Jamestown Virginia settlements ? As an American I found this sword review very interesting.
What a Beauty!
Could you talk more about what kind of swords English pikemen would have carried? I joined a group that reenacts roughly 1587 English pike and shot, and all I've been able to find is that we would have been required to have a sword, and that "hangers" were the most common, but that term shifts around a lot.
16th century English hanger is the same as the German dussack
Please do a video on the toy Master Sword guy.
One of my all time favourite sword types, although that's partly due to my interest in the ECW period. The most persuasive theory I've heard for the 'mortuary hilt' name, is that the ones that had multiple bars (some had more than 2 each side) looked like a rib cage. Loads of them were made for the Parliamentarian cavalry and before the execution of Charles I. Also, Charles' wife, Henrietta Maria died in 1669 of natural causes, after the Restoration and after 'Mortuary hilt' swords had mostly gone out of fashion. So it makes no sense at all for any of the heads to represent her.
How much does it weigh? The auction link in your description said 90.4 cm, but gave no weight.
An ancient RPG (NetHack) describes long swords as weighing 40 units, whereas broadswords weigh 70 units. How does that compare with real life?
I would guess around 900g judging by the length, distal taper and fairly hefty basket.
Thats one of the best English swords iv seen ..Your brave bending an auction sword but we all know you know what your doing 😂
Gorgeous sword - I would love to own a reproduction of that exact blade
1630 to 1660, Im curious what happened in 1660? Was it like when a new iphone comes out everyone just turns the old model in for credit? Were they rehilted? Thrown in the sea? I know I'm being facetious but who sent out the memo?
The pikeman's tucks have the same design?
From my poor understanding, the blade was shorter and stouter. The hilt on remaining examples seems to be just the 3 or 5 bars. Being 'Munition quality', that is significantly simplified for mass production, it is possible the cups if they did exist just did not survive. If anyone knows better, please correct me.
Wow! This makes me a little jealous. You are like a 1900's sears catalog of things i can afford and that are not shipped to my area! You do, however, remind me of C.S. Lewis, "It is always winter, but never Christmas."
Seems odd to me to commemorate 2 people/martyrs, with 4 faces. Sadly, so much of what we know about some of these items is of dubious origin (looking solidly at Victorian England). It would be great to find sources explaining the faces from writings contemporary to the beginning of their use.
Did these swords ever have thumb rings?
Would have been cool if English officers kept this the same way Scottish officers keep basket-hilts.
The English are cool again!
Sword is impressive but may I suggest you to use white gloves instead of blue, if possible non-plastic?
Why?
The gloves are nitrile it's not going to hurt steel. I am sure the auction house knows how to handle swords.
Backsword for business, rapier for pleasure
Wasn't Charles I executed at the end of the Civil War? Also, why would Cromwell, the man mostly responsible for his execution, carry a sword with his image on it?
why would Christians carry around an cross, the thing the supposedly killed their leader? the answer is, don't question it, the mind of an human is chaotic and confusing without context.
Maybe self satisfaction.
Cromwell would not carry a sword with the image of the slain King, but many Cavaliers did, both in the run up to and in the aftermath of his death. Charles I was already considered to be a passion bearer when it became clear that he would be executed - for instance, the icon of his martyrdom (Eikon Basilike) was composed before the actual execution date.
a different type of Habaki
Incredible sword. They don't make them like they used to.
...MacLeod!
What a beaut
It is a great shame but their seem to be very few means of acquiring a reproduction of one of these of much standard of quality. The existing reproductions are not terribly faithful though they make an attempt to imitate the look even if they are the usual budget fare as swords.
It seems like custom makers have trouble with these as well, while they might be decent as swords they seem to mostly go for very plan guarded versions due to the labour of trying to emulate something like this, the attempts to be closer were not from what I have seen very close, looking very much modern even when they cost a fair bit to have made.
Hopefully this one got brought up by L K Chen or their is a sweatshop somewhere willing to reinvest their slave labour into making extremely intricate sword guards at a price lower than firstborn children.
I have a pretty decent reproduction mortuary-hilted backsword. It's a real cutting beast! I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.
This makes me want to go read about Cromwell again he was such a cool figure in english history.
Why had there been no english dictators? They call themselves Lordprotektor.
@@brittakriep2938 cromwell was pretty tame as dictators go.
@@GrandDungeonDad : In modern sense yes, but in early years of USA there was somewhere a falied rebellion. Afterwards one of then important US politician wrote: What would have happened, if the rebellion would have been successfull? A king, Cromwell or Caesar? So in days ago, Cromwell wasn' t seen always as a good ruler.
@@GrandDungeonDad Ask the Irish how tame he was...
@@garethamery3167 lol, ask the Irish anything, and they'll complain and talk with agenda behind every word, instead of being objective
The blade was probably imported, from Germany?
Muhaha... we r everywhere 😉
🗿👍
Would this be the type of backsword Zachary Wylde is talking about in his book?
Probably Not. Backswords are single-edged - though they may sometimes have a partial false edge (that may not be so “false” after all) near the tip. 🙂
@@peterchristiansen9695 well Wylde actually calls it a broad-sword. McBane does not differentiate between the two and uses the terms universally
@@jf5078 Well; nothing is ever really cut and dried when it comes to sword-types / -typology / -terminology, is it? It’s what makes this subject-matter equally interesting and confounding… ☺️
Yeah it’s the exact same, doesn’t really matter if it’s single or double edged
@@FrothingFoulness Fencing techniques may indeed be identical; however a backsword is so called specifically because it has an (predominantly) unsharpened ‘back’, diametrically opposite the sharp edge. Like for instance the Eastern European pallasch (heavy cavalry sabre). Technically, it’s a blade-type, irrespective of, say, hilt-type or -construction. Thus all single-edged swords fit into this broader category - including more curved (CURVED!) swords like “conventional” sabres; or katana or even shamshir.
3 cheers for George Silver he was bloody well right about the inferiourity of that complete mess of a sword known as the rapier.
First!
I have never, although I may have but maybe not heard a explanation with so many caveats! "I'm an expert on swords and hema but maybe I don't know enough " this is what my research tells me say it and own it or don't say it. This drives me crazy it is or isn't and your context caveats sheese. Just own it! Argue your point for crying out loud!
That is one hell of a nice example. Was staring at that auction page a week or two ago for a good long while with much sword hunger hoping you would do a video on it since that is as close as I'm ever going to get to this one. 🥲
Who'd have thought Ken Masters knew so much about swords, strange world....