The greatsword is an intimidating weapon all by itself, but it's absolutely terrifying when you're confronted by someone who knows how to use it. It's a lot faster than you'd think a blade that large would be. If you need to hold a lot of ground with few men, that's a pretty effective way to do it.
@@NemeanLion- Not really axe like... Not really like any other weapon though... The greatsword is... weird. We don't have a ton of primary sources regarding their use, but there is one treatise by a Spaniard named Figueiredo that focus' on Spanish Montante (which was just the Spanish name) while Alfieri is one of the better Italian sources for Spadone (again Italian name). Both of them mostly focused around the sword's utility as a bodyguard weapon, which speaks to YouTubalcaine's point where he suggested holding ground against a group. Even the names of the forms given by Alfieri are phrases like "Guarding the Bridge" "Defending the Lady" ect. There is basically zero evidence that the sword ever saw use as a battlefield weapon in either of those regions though. That said, it's the Italians and Spaniards are only half the story, and probably the less well known one. In the German states of course it was popularized by the Landsknechts, which is where most of the mythology about the weapon seems to come from. Ideas about using it to chop up pike formations, or sever the heads of horses and all sorts of stuff like that, most of which is likely nonsense. What is particularly interesting, is that given its role as a battlefield weapon; and quite a prominent one at that (given its frequent depictions in period art) there are zero treatise's regarding its use as such. You certainly could not use it the way that any of the Italian or Spanish masters instructed, you'd be more of a hazard to your own formation than the enemy. Oh, and if you were interested in seeing a demonstration. These folks put on a pretty good one: th-cam.com/video/vxHaNRO705k/w-d-xo.html My one nitpick is that they call it Montante, but they are showing Alfieri's techniques so Spadone would be more accurate.
I can't find anyone willing to spar against a steel one, but I've used a heavy foam flamberge for a few years at various Larps. Once you learn the patterns it's wickedly fast, makes a great deal of noise flying through the air, and everyone tends to give you a lot of space and are very hesitant to get close. I've been told it's unsettling seeing something that big move around like that, people expect it to be big and clunky like in the games and movies not constantly in motion and covering a lot of ground. Even with the foam one (which weighs 3 lbs, not even half the real ones) you still need to pull your swings at the end or you will bust fingers or beat people up pretty bad just due to the momentum and weight distribution. Getting hit with a sharp one at speed would do some absolutely horrific damage to someone. I'd assume the impact is comparable to a polearm, and considering the poleaxe and spear I've done through HEMA/SCA, I wouldn't want to face that without my plate on.
Always a pleasure when our noble friends across the North Sea try to pronounce the word *Landsknecht* and it comes out as 'Landsschneckt' each an every time without failure. Sounds hilarious to the German ear, thanks for the giggles.
4:19 , I believe that the reasson some people didn't wear protection below their waist might be because they noticed and realized that attacks on their legs are very rare in an actual combat. As spanish and italian masters in later periods disovered and explained - you need to expose yourself quite a lot before you start to reach the opponents legs, due to trigonometry and geometry in general. Anyhow, a great video full of enthusiasm and pure enjoyement of history! Well done!
This is true to an extent. Jason is correct in the video, it is more situational. Understanding what your opponents had is huge in any battle through time. If you're opponents didn't have much longer weapons Spears and such then it made sense not to have armor on the lower extremities which would slow your units down and not be as mobile. They may have had a special unit of soldiers with more armor ready for longer reach weapons.
@@lilgary9181 I'd assume leg armour is more important to a horseman, as they would be exposed to any man on the ground. Outside of that context, armour made for the legs is almost non existent throughout history. The greek hoplites wore bronze greaves, but apparently even that wasn't universal.
It depends a lot on the other factors. I did some sword and (heater) shield fighting, and the legs get hit a lot. I doubt they get hit as often with the huge scutums of the Roman legions, though, but leg armor was also common among hoplites.
Seeing -Elessar- Jason speak about swords was not only more entertaining than watching a _certain_ recent Amazon series, I watched this from beginning to end, instead of skipping it altogether.
I had read about the landsknecht in some of my history and weapon books and I always thought they looked just brilliant, such a cavalier attitude and a huge sword to go with it. I really did not expect you to bring that sword into this video. Thanks for the video and I hope you enjoy your christmas.
If designed for fending off street thugs or highwaymen I can imagine the whole 'pose and kick' thing would certainly make some folks think twice before trying their luck against an opponent wielding that beast, even if it does seem a little 'over the top' in a modern context.
The reach of such a monster blade compared to probably knives and shorter arming swords compared to that would give most highwaymen a lot of pause, they'd have to get close to the wielder to have any chance of hurting them, but the wielder's range is easily twice their own... yeah, nobody's going to want to be that first couple of fools to get cut down. Its just not worth it if you're trying to rob someone.
If I was a highwayman with a long knife, looking to hold someone up over a few small personal effects, and their personal guard pulled out a sword taller then me... I'd just fuck right off.
There's a nice scene in the Polish movie "Ogniem i mieczem" ("By/With fire and sword") where one the characters uses a great sword to hold off a bunch of Tatars. Despite being outnumbered one to couple dozens, his wide swings make them hesitant to even go closer, but they eventually kill him with bows & arrows.
I love the delight that shows in your demeanour when talking about these swords and look fwd to seeing what you are able to learn about using the greatsword. I have very rough versions of each of these varieties, but I don't know much about actual technique.
out of all weapons in history, i think the Great sword is probably my favorite. The Sheer size and power of the thing is just memorizing. I have a cold steel Zweihander that is fun to hack at stuff, yours is truly gorgeous i look forward to more videos of it !
Remember to have lots of strength, vitality, and endurance before handling. Furthermore having rings/talismans that increase your equip load also help make the weapon more manageable, also don't be afraid to use something that increases your stats but causes you to take more damage, if you do more damage it doesn't matter if you take a little more.
During my military time in Germany 1959-61. (Yes the time the wall went up) I often visited castles/Museums I was amazed by the variety of weaponry and reflected on its use. tactics and the evolution. Sitting in a German "Tavern" hundreds of years old, walls covered in old human skulls. Drinking wine or cognac makes for a reflective experience on humanity, wars and politics. This site does a great service in our attempts to understand the subtibly and nuances of history. I appreciate your willingness to reflect, and put things into a context of the time period in which they were used partly based on you own experiences using the tools and weapons. Peace and prosperity Through responsibilities
I really like your channel. Because it says not just weapons. Not just technics. Not just life style. Not just history. It says everything! Well done 👍 Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us!
I love your smile, when you come in front of the camera with the last sword 😁 Just like a little boy showing his favorite toy on Christmas day ! And what a toy !!
I get so giddy when I get a pop-up notification for your videos! I love this kind of sword since I heard from Age of Empires that William Wallace had a sword like this. The Wallace Sword. Not sure how 100% accurate that is
The excitement when a post from you comes is incredible. As said prior this didn't upset at all. Incredible that it doesn't weigh as much as it looks, when will we get a full LARP video? ;)
The absolute glee on your face when talking about the greatsword is brighter than the evening sun! You picked a lovely place to film for this, with the woods and sunset behind you. Thank you for such a fun video, I hope your fields are dry and horses happy over the next few months of wet weather.
I love that you post videos about these topics and that you film these in a natural environment! It really puts your imagination into perspective when you do not live in those areas. Thank you!
I mean, if i saw somebody posing with a sword as long as i am tall and grinning i probably wouldn't fight him in the first place, so that has to have been an effective stance.
Of all three swords my favourite is the first one. Both for the gilding, which is absolutely gorgeous, but also because I just like one handed swords. The Spada di lato would be my choice if I was travelling in the Medieval period. Thanks for the quality content as usual, Jason.
I often think of great swords as more of polearms, since many of the techniques are more spear, or even bill/halberd like, but when swinging it around it is much more agile than most bladed polearms. Swords be them, arming, long sword, rapiers, sabers all have similar ways to use them. Cutting with a single edged sword is pretty much the same as a double edged sword, and if the blade is curved it will be easier but it does not take a lot to get used to. Thrusting is almost the same with any style. But a greatsword just seems to not fit the other classes of sword. It looks like a sword but using it is quite a bit different, compared to switching between other sword types.
You see European depictions of knights using swords and other weapons two-handed on horseback, and Chinese and Indo-Persian lance techniques include two handed lance use. It would be cool to see a demonstration of the pros and cons of such techniques.
8:00 Funny that you brought that up - There's a passage from Froissart that describes a sword being used as a lance! "It happend in the midst of the general pursuit, that a squire from Picardy, named Jean de Helennes, had quitted the king's division and meeting his page with a fresh horse, had mounted and made off as fast as he could. There was near him at the time the Lord of Berkeley, a young knight who had that day for the first time displayed his banner, and he immediately set off in pursuit of him. *When the Lord of Berkley had followed for some time Jean de Helennes turned about, put his sword under his arm in the manner of a lance and thus advanced upon his adversary.* " Certainly an unorthodox thing to do, but not outside the realms of history.
Yay! An unexpected video - like an extra Christmas gift! Thank you, Sir Knight. As for using that breathtaking huge sword you showed last - might I suggest an invitation to Matt Easton who'd be happy, I'm sure, to give you some tips - perhaps in exchange you could give him some riding lessons? A Merry Christmas to you and yours - and to all your wonderful horses, especially Warlord, Tales, Gossamer, Ghost, Mr Dibbs and Bramble. And Muley! And a Merry Christmas to all comment posters here!
A collab with Schola Gladiatoria (Matt Easton) is exactly what I was thinking too. I really hope Jason reaches out to him, since even though Easton is primarily a Sabre specialist, he has trained with all sorts of other weaponry (including the Zweihänder, which there are videos of him using), is well versed in all the medieval and renaissance fight manuals/techniques, and knows a lot of other UK based HEMA people too.
That is a great Christmas present from Sir Jason :). I love how merry he is holding his swords, like a kid who is showing his toys, but in earnest, not in spite.
I've learnt a lot from your videos, I'm glad I stumbled upon you over two years ago. Mid 2022 I showed my mother your channel and we watched you for hours. Thank you for your help in bringing me closer to my family :)
The zweihander, according to what I have read was primarily used as a means to disable polearm weapons. Zweihander troops were deployed to the front line to slice/dice enemy polearms. Polearms at one point in warfare were bread and butter, so it would make sense to have weapons that could effectively disable them
Merry Christmas to all Christian knights, squires, friars, peasants, foresters, smiths and millers. Time ago I saw on some book an example of the first sword in a painting from the Renaissance. I thought that the painter was not realist because of the triangular shape of the blade, with such a broad start and such a pointy end. But after watching this one I have changed my mind. ⚠▶🔺
@@janetmackinnon3411 Peasants include men and women alike, all of them equally anonymous. Although I don't know about England, in other European kingdoms (in current Germany and Spain) there were millers that happened to be women. Also there were women well known in their time and still now. They were persons with power. Some of them were queens like Eleanor of Aquitaine, Caterina di Medici or Isabel of Castile, some of them were religious leaders founding orders and ruling over monasteries who were feudal grants. And a handful were not men of arms, but women of arms, from Jeanne d'Arc to Catalina de Erauso. But, believe me, the best thing to do if you were the daughter or wife of a small landowner was to be very very very invisible. Because a single or widow woman with some plot of cultivable land was the target of every unmarried man in her village. But... What if she didn't want to marry? SHE IS A WITCH !!! BURN (OR HANG) THE WITCH !!! (and let's seize her properties anyway). It happened thru all Europe and in New England until the 30 Years War. Except in Spain, where the Inquisition monopolized the religious violence and had no interest in the tiny lands of small landowners, as the Orders (Templars, Hospitallers, etc) and the monasteries and bishoprics had huge extensions of land. After the first "popular" witch hunting at Zugarramurdi, the Inquisition sent an enquirer that concluded that those poor women (and men) were not sorcerers, witches or even pagans at all. And it was the end in Spain of this kind of use of religion as a excuse to steal. Until the last civil war, when people killed their neighbours accusing them of being fascists or communists and stole their properties. Being poor is hard, but much more safe. 😉
Dear Jason, thank you for sharing the feelings and the look of the part of your collection. 1-handed regular sword, 1.5- or 2-handed long sword. And the monster - 10-handed sword.
From the limited reading I've done of the greatsword, they were incredibly useful in breaking the detente which often occured between fairly evenly matched groups of pikemen. An amazing, if less versatile, weapon which could be used to devastating effect. I suspect that the other two swords saw far more use over the years, but I can't help but wish to see how such a remarkable weapon would have been used by an expert swordsman.
Merry Christmas! The most jarring thing for me when I first picked up a claymore was how much wobble you can get in that enormous blade. The examples I've held have tended to flex under their own weight when held horizontally with the flat down.
Seeing the look of pure joy on your face when trying to describe the greatsword as something other than enormous is really telling. You really like swords, don't you? It's contagious. I love your videos!
I would enjoy knowing more about the Scottish claymore, which might have been used by some of my ancestors. Like the great sword, the claymore was huge.
The greatsword has several different names in german, one of them is "Gassenhauer" wich loosely transaltes to "ally chopper" since it only takes one skilled Doppelsöldner wielding such a huge sword to completely cover a whole narrow street.
That Gassenhauer term descent from 16th. cent. music only. ("Laut durch die Gassen musizieren/rumgröhlen")It was connectet to swords by the 1850ies to 189oies. when Landsknecht stories where a fashion. The big battle sword after medival times was used against unarmed soldiers to block a road or a ship against may for a short time.
Gassenhauer is a modern name and not rly historical. There are 3 Types of Greatswords. Spada a due mani (Spadone), Montante and in german: Schlachtschwert.
Love seeing the Zweihander get some recognition. That sword was both a go-to dueling weapon and a weapon used to shatter pike formations, cutting the pike heads off and striking the pikemen behind. Beautiful weapon
I doubt that you'd get a good enough hit to chop pike heads off, but you could sweep the points up and away from you, getting inside their guard just the same.
I can definitely see a big German fella from the Medieval period wielding that third sword haha. It's funny how the fight book has you taking a stance with some flair. It kind of reminds me of when you come across a boss in a video game!
I recall reading somewhere that one of their common uses was by senior gate guards, so in addition to a couple of fellas with halberds or spears you had _that guy_ with his big hat, gleaming breastplate, and this stonking great sword _POSING_ at you unless you got past the other guards. Boss character indeed!
@@Vespuchian Yeah. I'd imagine it would be good for intimidation and I believe the techniques are somewhat geared towards "crowd control" against unarmored opponents.
@@triela420 I suspect the use by gate/bodyguards might also be a matter of versatility. It's got the reach of a short spear while still being threatening on its own in a tight scramble. Sort of like the secret service using P90s as a compromise between the power of a full size rifle and the compact handiness of a pistol.
Considering the dimensions of some urban streets, I could see hitting the adjacent walls and doing more damage to the blade than much else. I think I’m more in line with its use as a modified spear. Seems like a lot of use of metal to create more weapon for looking intimidating than functionality, but of course lots gets lost in time.
There was a spear fight in the movie 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' that really opened up my eyes to just how effective a spear could be in the hands of someone skilled enough. When I see swords like the "great sword" I like to imagine it being used in the same fashion as that, because not only could the motions be beautiful, they would also be quite deadly. I like to picture someone swinging that sword in such a frenzy that their hands are actually positioned at the very bottom of the handle, swinging it in the widest arc possible, around and around, and at various heights, from head to toe, to fend off any would be attackers in a spectacular display of intimidation. Then quickly changing it up, moving the hands back to the hilt to actually attack those foolish enough to try to get close.
Thanks for the new video, Sir Knight. One of my favorite swords I had, as it was handy a couple of times for home defence, was an antenna palmal short sword. I miss the sword, but happy I live in what seems to be so far a much safer place. Whatever holiday you all celebrate(d) I hope it's (was) happy and may your new year be joyous and productive.
My favourite sword is the archers sword a one handed backup weapon similar in diamond profile to the bastard sword but only about 28inches in blade length and single handed, reasonably balanced but slightly blade heavy. I would like a Mr Choppy like your video of a while back. Something very attactive about the carnage that one produced. Thankyou for the super descriptions and for sharing, have a great christmas and new year and I look forward very much to your next video.
I would absolutely love it if you could learn from the fight books and then make a video demonstrating what you learned. That should be fantastic, surely. Maybe Matt Easton could share in the workload so the task would be less daunting.
Montante Niño has a few great videos on greatswords and their use that I highly recommend to better understand them. One of them is called, "Cutting with large swords" and it's about 35 minutes long. Great video as always, fun to see you mess around with the greatsword!
I have the braveheart claymore that was used. its surprisingly mobile, and if you use half swording techniques, you can nearly math the speed of using a long sword. Interestingly enough, with the braveheart claymore, if you half sword it, from the leather grip, it is the standard size of a basic long sword, and so it becomes balanced. Thats why, if the handle ever broke for some reason, the long ricasso, is the exact length of a normal handle for an long sword, and so I could just turn it into a long sword.
Without a doubt some of the best medieval content one can find on the internet. I love the Western European Arming sword with a straight cross guard. I would love to see you make a video on the evolution of Byzantine swords, from the gladius , to the Spatha and eventually the evolution to the Paramarion due to thy Byzantine empire that stretched all across the ME and North Africa.
One thing that strikes me about that greatsword, having handled something like it a number of years ago, is that you dont need to hold it just under the main quillions the way you would a normal sword. There is a lot of real estate on that handle and moving your hands around on it would help a ton with extending its already notable range and give you more spear like performance. Similarly, when approaching a nest of pikes, choking down on the handle and swinging wide can cut an enormous swath - knocking down or back the pikes. Very cool weapon.
Really interesting comparison of swords. I suspect one additional aspect of your new Monster Sword is psychology. It must have been pretty scary for an enemy or a perp to see an opponent advancing swinging that weapon. Good video!
the great sword can be a very handy weapon to use against bayonets if it stayed in used in to later periods where the soldiers using them can also carry pistols or other small firearms as secondary weapons
They are so beautiful, and your passion shines through so clearly. Cannot believe you are also running Warlord Games -- what a hero! Merry Christmas, Sir!
There was a Mount & Blade mod, Warsword (build on Warhammer lore) that had Greatswords built to use Lances rules: on horse, it was held like a lance and, on foot, it was used with swings and thrusts - a magnificent weapon indeed. Then they aligned it to the rules of swords and it became unusable on horse. But the idea was great. Short reach compared to a lance, but great versatility. Not sure if a blade could withstand the impact of a charge, but for sure could be used to nudge a lightly armoured foe.
Shout-out for a video dedicated to the beautiful workmanship on that chainmail and belt with golden/brass(?) details. I might have missed it, but I don't recall Jason wearing a full chainmail shirt before, these items deserve being looked at in detail. Amazing!
You know, it's funny, when I was younger, when I'd see a sword like that greatsword and I'd be like "YEAH, gimmie that thing!" But I've noticed as I've gotten older, and actually gotten to hold and own real swords, that I've become more and more inclined to think if I could pick a sword for a battle, I'd rather just take an arming sword or a side sword and a buckler over a long sword or even a bastard sword, let alone a greatsword I've noticed that feels like the case with a lot of people I see online too, like graduating to the arming sword is almost like a right of passage, a perhaps a sign of maturity
A monster but what a gorgeous monster! Absolutely love the notion of an Italian mercenary guard just standing in the street, posing as you say, and likely throwing out top-tier insults as well to bully and shame the bravos away. "Colorfully violent" indeed! It's such a pleasure to see another video from you, and the timing is so nice, a Christmas gift for us fans! Thank you for all the work you do to bring us these videos - and thank you for sharing your passion for history with us! Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you!
I've spent a lot of time training with these. German and Iberian peninsular, Yes very circular motion I love it, you can keep it going with momentum, and easily switch from front to back. We have trained by having people try to attack you from all sides and you should be able to keep them at around 2 meters away but we never get to close for safety reasons. In history at times used by a general on the front line to break pike lines and allow cavalry through. The upswing knocks the pike up in the air as the sword swings around and down into neck / torso .. Cleft in twain as we say. We have even trained in tight laneway scenarios with more vertical movements. etc. We don't use these on each other as you will break limbs even with all the protective gear. Fighting is left to the 14th century German longsword at my school. :)
One thing of note is how much pointier these real swords are compared to a typical Hollywood prop sword. It's for safety reasons; they don't want the actors to wave around something really deadly, so you can't really blame the movie producers too much. They also can't very easily swap out props with "real" swords like they can do with guns, because while you can make a prop gun look real, it's very difficult to hide the fact that the prop sword actually has a very different tip compared to the real thing.
Excellent! Both the movie and the sword. The last one is really a monster, I remembered your Soul Calibur 2020 tournament, there were such gigantic weapons in action :) One of the Polish literary heroes Longin Podbipieta cut off three heads of enemies with such a sword with one swing. I strongly support the idea of collaborating with Matt Easton. Thanks for the Christmas gift and traditionally happy birthday - you keep the exact date a secret, but it is publicly known that they are somewhere in December :)
Seeing the great sword, I immediately thought of him and the scene from the movie where he holds off a bunch of Tatars with wide swings of his Zerwikaptur.
@@sensuscommunis2526 Yes, Lord Longin's Zerwikaptur was just such a two-handed sword. People laughed at it because it was a bit outdated in the 17th century - but it did a great job when needed.
An old German term for that beast is "Gassenhauer". Used by Landsknecht vanguards to quite literally "chop an alley" (alley = Gasse, to chop/hew = hauen) into enemy lines.
Gosh ! This sword is so big it's at least a 3 handed sword ! I hope we will have other videos of Jason wielding it and possibly cut tests ? In the mean time happy new year to everyone !
I imagine the greatsword would also be quite useful against windmills, should you choose to fight them on foot.
Or Ents even!
Also great if you’re a bumbling Spanish knight known for frivolous escapades.
Very handy for fighting giants too
I always get excited when you post a new video, and this one didn't disappoint. That sword is a beast. It is borderline anime fantasy at that size.
I was predicting that last sword would be a Zweihander and I wasn't disappointed :P
Who is the maker of that first sword?
You can always see when people really love what they're doing
All it's missing is a sheet of plywood!
The greatsword is an intimidating weapon all by itself, but it's absolutely terrifying when you're confronted by someone who knows how to use it. It's a lot faster than you'd think a blade that large would be. If you need to hold a lot of ground with few men, that's a pretty effective way to do it.
Just looking at it’s unusually long handle, I wonder if it’s swung in a chopping motion like a long axe. I’d be curious to see a demonstration.
@@NemeanLion- in a lot of movements, the top hand is usually used as a sort-of hinge, thus adding to it's swiftness
@@NemeanLion- Not really axe like... Not really like any other weapon though... The greatsword is... weird. We don't have a ton of primary sources regarding their use, but there is one treatise by a Spaniard named Figueiredo that focus' on Spanish Montante (which was just the Spanish name) while Alfieri is one of the better Italian sources for Spadone (again Italian name). Both of them mostly focused around the sword's utility as a bodyguard weapon, which speaks to YouTubalcaine's point where he suggested holding ground against a group. Even the names of the forms given by Alfieri are phrases like "Guarding the Bridge" "Defending the Lady" ect. There is basically zero evidence that the sword ever saw use as a battlefield weapon in either of those regions though.
That said, it's the Italians and Spaniards are only half the story, and probably the less well known one. In the German states of course it was popularized by the Landsknechts, which is where most of the mythology about the weapon seems to come from. Ideas about using it to chop up pike formations, or sever the heads of horses and all sorts of stuff like that, most of which is likely nonsense. What is particularly interesting, is that given its role as a battlefield weapon; and quite a prominent one at that (given its frequent depictions in period art) there are zero treatise's regarding its use as such. You certainly could not use it the way that any of the Italian or Spanish masters instructed, you'd be more of a hazard to your own formation than the enemy.
Oh, and if you were interested in seeing a demonstration. These folks put on a pretty good one: th-cam.com/video/vxHaNRO705k/w-d-xo.html My one nitpick is that they call it Montante, but they are showing Alfieri's techniques so Spadone would be more accurate.
@@NemeanLion- Look up Montante on youtube, lots of wide horizontal sweeps.
I can't find anyone willing to spar against a steel one, but I've used a heavy foam flamberge for a few years at various Larps. Once you learn the patterns it's wickedly fast, makes a great deal of noise flying through the air, and everyone tends to give you a lot of space and are very hesitant to get close. I've been told it's unsettling seeing something that big move around like that, people expect it to be big and clunky like in the games and movies not constantly in motion and covering a lot of ground. Even with the foam one (which weighs 3 lbs, not even half the real ones) you still need to pull your swings at the end or you will bust fingers or beat people up pretty bad just due to the momentum and weight distribution. Getting hit with a sharp one at speed would do some absolutely horrific damage to someone. I'd assume the impact is comparable to a polearm, and considering the poleaxe and spear I've done through HEMA/SCA, I wouldn't want to face that without my plate on.
Always a pleasure when our noble friends across the North Sea try to pronounce the word *Landsknecht* and it comes out as 'Landsschneckt' each an every time without failure. Sounds hilarious to the German ear, thanks for the giggles.
Us English have a long history of mispronouncing the words of others.
4:19 , I believe that the reasson some people didn't wear protection below their waist might be because they noticed and realized that attacks on their legs are very rare in an actual combat. As spanish and italian masters in later periods disovered and explained - you need to expose yourself quite a lot before you start to reach the opponents legs, due to trigonometry and geometry in general. Anyhow, a great video full of enthusiasm and pure enjoyement of history! Well done!
This is true to an extent. Jason is correct in the video, it is more situational. Understanding what your opponents had is huge in any battle through time. If you're opponents didn't have much longer weapons Spears and such then it made sense not to have armor on the lower extremities which would slow your units down and not be as mobile. They may have had a special unit of soldiers with more armor ready for longer reach weapons.
@@lilgary9181 I'd assume leg armour is more important to a horseman, as they would be exposed to any man on the ground. Outside of that context, armour made for the legs is almost non existent throughout history. The greek hoplites wore bronze greaves, but apparently even that wasn't universal.
@@mistersharpe4375 Achilles came to regret that.
@@mistersharpe4375 the heavy leather boots of horsemen in the napoleonic wars did protect against saber cuts to some degree
It depends a lot on the other factors. I did some sword and (heater) shield fighting, and the legs get hit a lot. I doubt they get hit as often with the huge scutums of the Roman legions, though, but leg armor was also common among hoplites.
That "light in the Darkness" sword is so Beautiful.........
Seeing -Elessar- Jason speak about swords was not only more entertaining than watching a _certain_ recent Amazon series, I watched this from beginning to end, instead of skipping it altogether.
I had read about the landsknecht in some of my history and weapon books and I always thought they looked just brilliant, such a cavalier attitude and a huge sword to go with it. I really did not expect you to bring that sword into this video. Thanks for the video and I hope you enjoy your christmas.
If designed for fending off street thugs or highwaymen I can imagine the whole 'pose and kick' thing would certainly make some folks think twice before trying their luck against an opponent wielding that beast, even if it does seem a little 'over the top' in a modern context.
I saw a guy going through the movements with a montante. I certainly wouldn't want to try my chances against that blender blade.
The reach of such a monster blade compared to probably knives and shorter arming swords compared to that would give most highwaymen a lot of pause, they'd have to get close to the wielder to have any chance of hurting them, but the wielder's range is easily twice their own... yeah, nobody's going to want to be that first couple of fools to get cut down. Its just not worth it if you're trying to rob someone.
Thought the same. Its pure posturing to tell any street thug that they would risk their live for a few coins. And it probably worked 95% of the time.
If I was a highwayman with a long knife, looking to hold someone up over a few small personal effects, and their personal guard pulled out a sword taller then me... I'd just fuck right off.
There's a nice scene in the Polish movie "Ogniem i mieczem" ("By/With fire and sword") where one the characters uses a great sword to hold off a bunch of Tatars. Despite being outnumbered one to couple dozens, his wide swings make them hesitant to even go closer, but they eventually kill him with bows & arrows.
Lord Longin Podbipieta has exactly such a sword.
it is a movie. Not proper research.
@@FritzKraut Sure, nobody said it's a historical source. But it's way better than modern Hollywood crap.
"you need a bow to kill a dragon"
@@danisyx5804 He was not a dragon, he was a human siege engine 😄 Big guy, incredible strength, and that huge sword...
I love the delight that shows in your demeanour when talking about these swords and look fwd to seeing what you are able to learn about using the greatsword. I have very rough versions of each of these varieties, but I don't know much about actual technique.
Just watched the video again. Facinating how different historical Medieval swords really are. Glad to have those differences explained.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Sir, what a stunning set of garments. Its certainly pleasing to watch. Keep up the good work and being an example to others!
Thanks, will do!
I admire your dedication, Jason. Keep up with this masterpiece of a channel. Have a merry Christmas.
out of all weapons in history, i think the Great sword is probably my favorite. The Sheer size and power of the thing is just memorizing. I have a cold steel Zweihander that is fun to hack at stuff, yours is truly gorgeous i look forward to more videos of it !
Sir, even without the tassels and the bat you do look fabulous with that pose at the end
Remember to have lots of strength, vitality, and endurance before handling. Furthermore having rings/talismans that increase your equip load also help make the weapon more manageable, also don't be afraid to use something that increases your stats but causes you to take more damage, if you do more damage it doesn't matter if you take a little more.
The last one resembles the one Rutger Hauer uses in "Ladyhawke". A beauty, indeed.
Your enthusiasm is contagious! You are a delightfully wonderful teacher. Thank you so much for making history so interesting and exciting!
During my military time in Germany 1959-61. (Yes the time the wall went up) I often visited castles/Museums
I was amazed by the variety of weaponry and reflected on its use. tactics and the evolution.
Sitting in a German "Tavern" hundreds of years old, walls covered in old human skulls. Drinking wine or cognac makes for a reflective experience on humanity, wars and politics.
This site does a great service in our attempts to understand the subtibly and nuances of history.
I appreciate your willingness to reflect, and put things into a context of the time period in which they were used partly based on you own experiences using the tools and weapons.
Peace and prosperity Through responsibilities
I really like your channel. Because it says not just weapons. Not just technics. Not just life style. Not just history. It says everything! Well done 👍 Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us!
I love your smile, when you come in front of the camera with the last sword 😁 Just like a little boy showing his favorite toy on Christmas day ! And what a toy !!
I get so giddy when I get a pop-up notification for your videos! I love this kind of sword since I heard from Age of Empires that William Wallace had a sword like this. The Wallace Sword. Not sure how 100% accurate that is
Ahh, stepping on Scholargladitoria’s beat! Plenty of room for both. 😊
Love your enthusiasm and what you teach us. Happy Christmas to you, the horses, and everyone else.
The excitement when a post from you comes is incredible. As said prior this didn't upset at all. Incredible that it doesn't weigh as much as it looks, when will we get a full LARP video? ;)
Ah thank you so much, you have made Christmas Eve so much better
Who made your arming sword? She’s an absolute beauty.
St George Armouries
Don’t chop your head off! Be careful and have a Happy New Year!
The absolute glee on your face when talking about the greatsword is brighter than the evening sun! You picked a lovely place to film for this, with the woods and sunset behind you. Thank you for such a fun video, I hope your fields are dry and horses happy over the next few months of wet weather.
Thanks, the fields are very muddy, the sky grey and dull, drizzle is falling, but there are still adventures to be had if you try!
I love that you post videos about these topics and that you film these in a natural environment! It really puts your imagination into perspective when you do not live in those areas. Thank you!
That arming sword is niiiiice. Really beautiful piece.
That arming sword is absolutely beautiful!
I've always enjoyed the zweihänder.
A beaut, terrifying and graceful.
The sheer amount of knowledge Jason has of the Medieval era, I would kill for a medieval game from his company.
I would really love to see more about great swords and their uses in the future. You have a very nice collection my friend.
It's mind-blowing how well made these videos are. You give us so many insights and perspectives. Much love!
Glad you like them!
I mean, if i saw somebody posing with a sword as long as i am tall and grinning i probably wouldn't fight him in the first place, so that has to have been an effective stance.
Now this is the content I want in my stocking for Christmas morning! Merry Christmas from New Zealand, love watching your videos
Fantastic video! Greatsword was immense..know I’d hurt myself in 5 minutes near it!
Of all three swords my favourite is the first one. Both for the gilding, which is absolutely gorgeous, but also because I just like one handed swords. The Spada di lato would be my choice if I was travelling in the Medieval period. Thanks for the quality content as usual, Jason.
Thanks. The great sword is such a pain to carry around, and even keep in a safe place. I'll have to look up the Spada di lato now!
I often think of great swords as more of polearms, since many of the techniques are more spear, or even bill/halberd like, but when swinging it around it is much more agile than most bladed polearms. Swords be them, arming, long sword, rapiers, sabers all have similar ways to use them. Cutting with a single edged sword is pretty much the same as a double edged sword, and if the blade is curved it will be easier but it does not take a lot to get used to. Thrusting is almost the same with any style. But a greatsword just seems to not fit the other classes of sword. It looks like a sword but using it is quite a bit different, compared to switching between other sword types.
You see European depictions of knights using swords and other weapons two-handed on horseback, and Chinese and Indo-Persian lance techniques include two handed lance use. It would be cool to see a demonstration of the pros and cons of such techniques.
Got to love those massive swords! Awesome explanation and thank you for the extra bit about the men who wielded the Zweihander!
8:00 Funny that you brought that up - There's a passage from Froissart that describes a sword being used as a lance!
"It happend in the midst of the general pursuit, that a squire from Picardy, named Jean de Helennes, had quitted the king's division and meeting his page with a fresh horse, had mounted and made off as fast as he could. There was near him at the time the Lord of Berkeley, a young knight who had that day for the first time displayed his banner, and he immediately set off in pursuit of him. *When the Lord of Berkley had followed for some time Jean de Helennes turned about, put his sword under his arm in the manner of a lance and thus advanced upon his adversary.* "
Certainly an unorthodox thing to do, but not outside the realms of history.
Laziness is the mother of invention, but necessity is the mother of innovation.
If you find yourself need: adapt, innovate, and make due.
Yay! An unexpected video - like an extra Christmas gift! Thank you, Sir Knight.
As for using that breathtaking huge sword you showed last - might I suggest an invitation to Matt Easton who'd be happy, I'm sure, to give you some tips - perhaps in exchange you could give him some riding lessons?
A Merry Christmas to you and yours - and to all your wonderful horses, especially Warlord, Tales, Gossamer, Ghost, Mr Dibbs and Bramble. And Muley!
And a Merry Christmas to all comment posters here!
A collab with Schola Gladiatoria (Matt Easton) is exactly what I was thinking too. I really hope Jason reaches out to him, since even though Easton is primarily a Sabre specialist, he has trained with all sorts of other weaponry (including the Zweihänder, which there are videos of him using), is well versed in all the medieval and renaissance fight manuals/techniques, and knows a lot of other UK based HEMA people too.
@@nubzors Exactly! And since Jason got Lindybeige to sit on a horse I'm sure he can do the same for Matt! (I would pay to see that ...)
I think the guy from London Longsword is a big montante fan.
@@manatoa1Mr Rawlings would be a good guest.
Absolutely fantastic video Jason! Those swords all look absolutely stunning! Amazing channel!
I like sword
That is a great Christmas present from Sir Jason :).
I love how merry he is holding his swords, like a kid who is showing his toys, but in earnest, not in spite.
“A Light in the Darkness” I love that name so much.
Same as Joshua Graham's custom 1911.
His enthusiasm is really contagious!
I've learnt a lot from your videos, I'm glad I stumbled upon you over two years ago. Mid 2022 I showed my mother your channel and we watched you for hours. Thank you for your help in bringing me closer to my family :)
That is awesome!
The zweihander, according to what I have read was primarily used as a means to disable polearm weapons. Zweihander troops were deployed to the front line to slice/dice enemy polearms.
Polearms at one point in warfare were bread and butter, so it would make sense to have weapons that could effectively disable them
Merry Christmas to all Christian knights, squires, friars, peasants, foresters, smiths and millers.
Time ago I saw on some book an example of the first sword in a painting from the Renaissance. I thought that the painter was not realist because of the triangular shape of the blade, with such a broad start and such a pointy end. But after watching this one I have changed my mind. ⚠▶🔺
And the invisible women...
@@janetmackinnon3411 Peasants include men and women alike, all of them equally anonymous. Although I don't know about England, in other European kingdoms (in current Germany and Spain) there were millers that happened to be women.
Also there were women well known in their time and still now. They were persons with power. Some of them were queens like Eleanor of Aquitaine, Caterina di Medici or Isabel of Castile, some of them were religious leaders founding orders and ruling over monasteries who were feudal grants. And a handful were not men of arms, but women of arms, from Jeanne d'Arc to Catalina de Erauso.
But, believe me, the best thing to do if you were the daughter or wife of a small landowner was to be very very very invisible. Because a single or widow woman with some plot of cultivable land was the target of every unmarried man in her village. But...
What if she didn't want to marry?
SHE IS A WITCH !!! BURN (OR HANG) THE WITCH !!!
(and let's seize her properties anyway).
It happened thru all Europe and in New England until the 30 Years War. Except in Spain, where the Inquisition monopolized the religious violence and had no interest in the tiny lands of small landowners, as the Orders (Templars, Hospitallers, etc) and the monasteries and bishoprics had huge extensions of land.
After the first "popular" witch hunting at Zugarramurdi, the Inquisition sent an enquirer that concluded that those poor women (and men) were not sorcerers, witches or even pagans at all. And it was the end in Spain of this kind of use of religion as a excuse to steal. Until the last civil war, when people killed their neighbours accusing them of being fascists or communists and stole their properties.
Being poor is hard, but much more safe. 😉
Don't forget us heathens!
Dear Jason, thank you for sharing the feelings and the look of the part of your collection. 1-handed regular sword, 1.5- or 2-handed long sword. And the monster - 10-handed sword.
From the limited reading I've done of the greatsword, they were incredibly useful in breaking the detente which often occured between fairly evenly matched groups of pikemen. An amazing, if less versatile, weapon which could be used to devastating effect.
I suspect that the other two swords saw far more use over the years, but I can't help but wish to see how such a remarkable weapon would have been used by an expert swordsman.
Merry Christmas! The most jarring thing for me when I first picked up a claymore was how much wobble you can get in that enormous blade. The examples I've held have tended to flex under their own weight when held horizontally with the flat down.
Seeing the look of pure joy on your face when trying to describe the greatsword as something other than enormous is really telling. You really like swords, don't you? It's contagious. I love your videos!
I would enjoy knowing more about the Scottish claymore, which might have been used by some of my ancestors. Like the great sword, the claymore was huge.
The greatsword has several different names in german, one of them is "Gassenhauer" wich loosely transaltes to "ally chopper" since it only takes one skilled Doppelsöldner wielding such a huge sword to completely cover a whole narrow street.
That Gassenhauer term descent from 16th. cent. music only. ("Laut durch die Gassen musizieren/rumgröhlen")It was connectet to swords by the 1850ies to 189oies. when Landsknecht stories where a fashion. The big battle sword after medival times was used against unarmed soldiers to block a road or a ship against may for a short time.
Gassenhauer is a modern name and not rly historical. There are 3 Types of Greatswords. Spada a due mani (Spadone), Montante and in german: Schlachtschwert.
Love seeing the Zweihander get some recognition. That sword was both a go-to dueling weapon and a weapon used to shatter pike formations, cutting the pike heads off and striking the pikemen behind. Beautiful weapon
I doubt that you'd get a good enough hit to chop pike heads off, but you could sweep the points up and away from you, getting inside their guard just the same.
I can definitely see a big German fella from the Medieval period wielding that third sword haha. It's funny how the fight book has you taking a stance with some flair. It kind of reminds me of when you come across a boss in a video game!
I recall reading somewhere that one of their common uses was by senior gate guards, so in addition to a couple of fellas with halberds or spears you had _that guy_ with his big hat, gleaming breastplate, and this stonking great sword _POSING_ at you unless you got past the other guards.
Boss character indeed!
@@Vespuchian Yeah. I'd imagine it would be good for intimidation and I believe the techniques are somewhat geared towards "crowd control" against unarmored opponents.
@@triela420 I suspect the use by gate/bodyguards might also be a matter of versatility. It's got the reach of a short spear while still being threatening on its own in a tight scramble. Sort of like the secret service using P90s as a compromise between the power of a full size rifle and the compact handiness of a pistol.
Considering the dimensions of some urban streets, I could see hitting the adjacent walls and doing more damage to the blade than much else. I think I’m more in line with its use as a modified spear. Seems like a lot of use of metal to create more weapon for looking intimidating than functionality, but of course lots gets lost in time.
@@Vespuchian And don't forget, the guy probably had a moustache and beard of epic proportions
Every time a see a video pop up with you in the thumbnail it makes my day a little better. Great video as always, I love the decorated mail.
Jason is living the dream of every man in England
There was a spear fight in the movie 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' that really opened up my eyes to just how effective a spear could be in the hands of someone skilled enough. When I see swords like the "great sword" I like to imagine it being used in the same fashion as that, because not only could the motions be beautiful, they would also be quite deadly. I like to picture someone swinging that sword in such a frenzy that their hands are actually positioned at the very bottom of the handle, swinging it in the widest arc possible, around and around, and at various heights, from head to toe, to fend off any would be attackers in a spectacular display of intimidation. Then quickly changing it up, moving the hands back to the hilt to actually attack those foolish enough to try to get close.
Thanks for the new video, Sir Knight. One of my favorite swords I had, as it was handy a couple of times for home defence, was an antenna palmal short sword.
I miss the sword, but happy I live in what seems to be so far a much safer place.
Whatever holiday you all celebrate(d) I hope it's (was) happy and may your new year be joyous and productive.
Thanks as always Jason, Sir. I'd love to see a video on different Warlances and how they were used on the battlefield.
I have to get some swords on my channel. Thanks! Merry Christmas Jason!
My favourite sword is the archers sword a one handed backup weapon similar in diamond profile to the bastard sword but only about 28inches in blade length and single handed, reasonably balanced but slightly blade heavy.
I would like a Mr Choppy like your video of a while back. Something very attactive about the carnage that one produced.
Thankyou for the super descriptions and for sharing, have a great christmas and new year and I look forward very much to your next video.
I would absolutely love it if you could learn from the fight books and then make a video demonstrating what you learned. That should be fantastic, surely.
Maybe Matt Easton could share in the workload so the task would be less daunting.
Montante Niño has a few great videos on greatswords and their use that I highly recommend to better understand them. One of them is called, "Cutting with large swords" and it's about 35 minutes long.
Great video as always, fun to see you mess around with the greatsword!
Merry Christmas !
Wonderful video Jason! Hope see more videos soon. ❤
I really enjoy your content. Your horsemanship makes me envious. Please keep it up. Thank you.
I have the braveheart claymore that was used. its surprisingly mobile, and if you use half swording techniques, you can nearly math the speed of using a long sword. Interestingly enough, with the braveheart claymore, if you half sword it, from the leather grip, it is the standard size of a basic long sword, and so it becomes balanced. Thats why, if the handle ever broke for some reason, the long ricasso, is the exact length of a normal handle for an long sword, and so I could just turn it into a long sword.
Without a doubt some of the best medieval content one can find on the internet.
I love the Western European Arming sword with a straight cross guard.
I would love to see you make a video on the evolution of Byzantine swords, from the gladius , to the Spatha and eventually the evolution to the Paramarion due to thy Byzantine empire that stretched all across the ME and North Africa.
New video yaay!
Swords. I love swords!😋
You probably already know of him, but David Rawlings of the London Longsword Academy has some great stuff regarding swords like that montante.
One thing that strikes me about that greatsword, having handled something like it a number of years ago, is that you dont need to hold it just under the main quillions the way you would a normal sword. There is a lot of real estate on that handle and moving your hands around on it would help a ton with extending its already notable range and give you more spear like performance. Similarly, when approaching a nest of pikes, choking down on the handle and swinging wide can cut an enormous swath - knocking down or back the pikes. Very cool weapon.
I absolutely love that gambeson you've got on under your chain.
Really interesting comparison of swords. I suspect one additional aspect of your new Monster Sword is psychology. It must have been pretty scary for an enemy or a perp to see an opponent advancing swinging that weapon. Good video!
the great sword can be a very handy weapon to use against bayonets if it stayed in used in to later periods where the soldiers using them can also carry pistols or other small firearms as secondary weapons
They are so beautiful, and your passion shines through so clearly. Cannot believe you are also running Warlord Games -- what a hero! Merry Christmas, Sir!
Really? wasn't aware he ran that as well. I thought it was just Rabellion and sniper elite he was involved in.
There was a Mount & Blade mod, Warsword (build on Warhammer lore) that had Greatswords built to use Lances rules: on horse, it was held like a lance and, on foot, it was used with swings and thrusts - a magnificent weapon indeed. Then they aligned it to the rules of swords and it became unusable on horse. But the idea was great. Short reach compared to a lance, but great versatility. Not sure if a blade could withstand the impact of a charge, but for sure could be used to nudge a lightly armoured foe.
Happy Holidays
Shout-out for a video dedicated to the beautiful workmanship on that chainmail and belt with golden/brass(?) details. I might have missed it, but I don't recall Jason wearing a full chainmail shirt before, these items deserve being looked at in detail. Amazing!
Thanks for that!
You know, it's funny, when I was younger, when I'd see a sword like that greatsword and I'd be like "YEAH, gimmie that thing!"
But I've noticed as I've gotten older, and actually gotten to hold and own real swords, that I've become more and more inclined to think if I could pick a sword for a battle, I'd rather just take an arming sword or a side sword and a buckler over a long sword or even a bastard sword, let alone a greatsword
I've noticed that feels like the case with a lot of people I see online too, like graduating to the arming sword is almost like a right of passage, a perhaps a sign of maturity
Hope you had a lovely Christmas, Kingsley! Always entertained by your videos on this channel and excited to see a new one!
Merry Christmas to you all 😊❄️🎄
In Portugal we call it Montante. It’s an amazing looking piece of kit that’s for sure. Scary to be an opponent.
A monster but what a gorgeous monster! Absolutely love the notion of an Italian mercenary guard just standing in the street, posing as you say, and likely throwing out top-tier insults as well to bully and shame the bravos away. "Colorfully violent" indeed! It's such a pleasure to see another video from you, and the timing is so nice, a Christmas gift for us fans! Thank you for all the work you do to bring us these videos - and thank you for sharing your passion for history with us! Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you!
I've spent a lot of time training with these. German and Iberian peninsular, Yes very circular motion I love it, you can keep it going with momentum, and easily switch from front to back. We have trained by having people try to attack you from all sides and you should be able to keep them at around 2 meters away but we never get to close for safety reasons. In history at times used by a general on the front line to break pike lines and allow cavalry through. The upswing knocks the pike up in the air as the sword swings around and down into neck / torso .. Cleft in twain as we say. We have even trained in tight laneway scenarios with more vertical movements. etc. We don't use these on each other as you will break limbs even with all the protective gear. Fighting is left to the 14th century German longsword at my school. :)
One thing of note is how much pointier these real swords are compared to a typical Hollywood prop sword. It's for safety reasons; they don't want the actors to wave around something really deadly, so you can't really blame the movie producers too much. They also can't very easily swap out props with "real" swords like they can do with guns, because while you can make a prop gun look real, it's very difficult to hide the fact that the prop sword actually has a very different tip compared to the real thing.
Saw several beautiful but monstrously large examples of great swords at museums in Venice. Truly a bruiser!
Excellent! Both the movie and the sword. The last one is really a monster, I remembered your Soul Calibur 2020 tournament, there were such gigantic weapons in action :) One of the Polish literary heroes Longin Podbipieta cut off three heads of enemies with such a sword with one swing.
I strongly support the idea of collaborating with Matt Easton.
Thanks for the Christmas gift and traditionally happy birthday - you keep the exact date a secret, but it is publicly known that they are somewhere in December :)
Seeing the great sword, I immediately thought of him and the scene from the movie where he holds off a bunch of Tatars with wide swings of his Zerwikaptur.
@@sensuscommunis2526 Yes, Lord Longin's Zerwikaptur was just such a two-handed sword. People laughed at it because it was a bit outdated in the 17th century - but it did a great job when needed.
An old German term for that beast is "Gassenhauer". Used by Landsknecht vanguards to quite literally "chop an alley" (alley = Gasse, to chop/hew = hauen) into enemy lines.
Excellent video as always, thank-you.
Bought a Gassenhauer/Flammberge a year ago.. I really love it. Should train with it more often to not loose the fluency with it.
Knight: "I see a tiny little swordsman on the battlefield to attack!"
Squire: "Are you sure that's not a normal guy with a great sword?"
Gosh ! This sword is so big it's at least a 3 handed sword ! I hope we will have other videos of Jason wielding it and possibly cut tests ? In the mean time happy new year to everyone !
What a fun video on this festive eve 😊😊 Happy Holidays!
This video has been long awaited & really dose not disappoint.
The 3rd of swords is a truly intimidating weapon.