A Dictionary of the Western Martial Arts
(Largely concerned with the period from the 13th to 19th c.)
Key to Languages English (en), German (g), Scots Gaelic (sg), French (fr), Spanish (sp), Latin (l), Germanic (early) (gc)
Equipment:
Weapons
Swords
Annelet (en). A ring projecting forward from the quillion to protect the forefinger when looping it over the guard for more thrust control. This represents an early development in the compound hilt.
Arming Sword (en). This is the correct term for the single-handed cruciform sword otherwise known as the riding sword, though this term has other meanings, or inaccurately as the broadsword.
An arming/riding sword from Arms and Armor showing a typically Irish ring pommel.
Backsword (en). This is a variant on the broadsword. A straight bladed, cage or basket hilted sword with one edge and a thick back. Frequently fullered.
Bastard Sword (en). A sword usable with one hand but more frequently with two. Also known as the langswerd in Germany or by other names. This is primarily a battlefield weapon but saw civilian use as well. See also espada longa.
A bastard/longsword typical of the 15th century by Angus Trim from Christian Fletcher.Bidenhander (g). Long, two handed sword used by elite infantry units, perhaps most notably the landsknechts, to break up formations on the battlefield. Surprisingly light (for their size), these weapons were known by other names, such as zweihander or slagterswerd.
Broadsword (en). A cage or basket hilted weapon with two edges, used from the 17th century to the 20th. The most famous example of this is the Scottish basket hilted broadsword but other variants exist from all over Europe. This term is incorrectly used to refer to arming swords. See also schiavona.
A good example would be the Mary Rose Sword.Claymore (sg). A Scots gaelic tern that translates as "big sword". The first occurences of the word seem to refer the the scots version of the broadsword (as defined above), but later it was also used to refer to the Scots greatsword. This sword was slightly shorter than the English and continental two handers. It is easily recognisable by its downsloping quillions with quatrefoil ends. Examine the context of the term in deciding which sword is being referred to.
A claymore (greatsword variant) from Armour Class
A claymore (broadsword variant) from Armour Class.
Compound Hilt (en). The elaborate hilts of swords developing from the Renaissance to about 1700. A combination of rings, knucklebows and projecting arms gave much protection to the hand, especially with regard to ricasso fingering with the rapier, but is equally refers to any of the basket hilts.
Compound hilt made by Arms & Armor.Cut & Thrust (en). A troublesome term. Some commentators use it to describe any one of the post-medieval cutting swords or sideswords to distinguish them from rapiers but other restrict it to the military swords of the late 1700s such as the spadroon.
Cutlass (en). A short bladed, wide sabre type weapon with or without hand protection. It is most closely associated with naval use.
A cutlass typical of the Napoleonic wars from Albion Armorers
Doppelhander (g). Another term for the bidenhander.
Epée/Epée du combat (fr). The duelling sword. A chevron shaped, edgeless blade descended from the smallsword. This is the direct ancestor of the modern sporting epée.
Espada Longa (it)/Espee du Guerre (fr). Other names for the bastard sword. This weapon came into being as improved armour made shields less critical and two hands on the weapon became more important for increasing power and control to overcome said armour. It was an effective battlefield weapon but saw use in civilian defence and duelling as well.
Estoc (fr). A short-lived weapon. This sword was derived from the bastard sword but had an edgeless square or triangular blade used to bludgeon the opponent and damage his armour while the tip was thrust through gaps.
Falchion (?)/Fawshon (en). A shortish, heavy curved sword. Some of the techniques associated with it may derive from the messer techniques of the 14thc or earlier. The term saw use from then until at least the 18thc though the details of the blade changed somewhat.
Finger rings (en). Modern ~ annelets
Forte (fr). The region of the blade closest to the hilt. When working blade to blade, contact here on ones own sword gives ones opponent a short lever arm and thus less leverage but allows his blade close to oneself.
Foible (fr)/Feeble (en). The region of the blade closer to the tip (see forte). Contact in this region gives a longer lever arm and more leverage.
Fuller (en). A groove down the blade. Contrary to popular wisdom, its use in European swords has nothing to do with blood flow but serves rather to lighten the blade without sacrificing much strength, using the same engineering principle as the construction I-beam.
Gladius (l). The short, wide blade of the roman legions. Thought to have been used primarily in thrusting from formations.
"Mainz" gladius by Albion ArmorersGladius Hispaniensis (l). "Spanish sword". Another type of Roman sword copied from the Celts of Spain.
Greatsword (en). English term for the two-hander otherwise known as the bidenhander etc. In some texts the use of the term longsword blends with this sword, so context can be very valuable in interpretation.
Hanger (en). A short saber common in the 1700s. It had a lighter blade than the fawshon. Sometimes termed a hunting sword.
Katzbalger (g). A short, single handed wide bladed slashing sword with a figure eight or s-shaped guard. It was the close combat weapon of the landknecht mercenaries, typically used with a buckler.
Katzbalger by Arms & ArmorLongsword (en)/Langswerd (g)/Espada Longa (it). Alternative terms for the bastard sword.
Migration Era Sword (en, modern term). A word used to describe the Germanic swords of approximately the 10th and 11th centuries. Characterised by a short handgrip and small guard. The blade was often optimised for cutting rather than thrusting but not always.
Mortuary Sword (en). A specialised form of backsword. This is characterised by a cage hilt resembling a ribcage. The knucklebow forms the sternum and two ribs arc back from this to subsidiary bows to the left and right. There is also a small but distinctive head motif where the knucklebow meets the pommel. Widely used in the mid to late 1600s, the era of the Civil War. there is a common story that the head represents Charles I and this it is a semi-hidden indication of royalist sentiment but it appears before the war so this must be considered apocryphal.
Palache (fr). A common European military sword of the 1700s. A good thrusting blade with strong profile taper but still capable of cutting.
Pommel/Pummel (en). The heavy assembly at the butt end of the hilt. This served as both a balance and to hold the weapon together. Could also be used as a weapon, as the name suggests.
Quillion (en). The straight or curved arms projecting from the join of the handle and blade. Used to protect the hand as well as apply leverage in a number of binding, disarming and joint locking techniques. Typically two, one each side, projecting in the plane of the blade. One famous claymore has four, the two normal ones and two at right angles to this but this is a highly unusual weapon on many counts.
Rapier (sp). A renaissance civilian thrusting sword. Typically a long bladed (up to 45'' long or more) weapon with a compound hilt and very limited cutting ability. Originally a Spanish weapon called the espada robera (robe sword or dress sword) it changed much in its history, eventually becoming the shorter, lighter smallsword. The term is also used by some writers to discuss the sidesword (di Grassi does this) or even the smallsword or epée by later masters and commentators, context is very important in interpreting this term.
Ricasso (?). The blunt area of the blade closest to the hilt. Swords varied from no ricasso to a foot or so on some two-handers. This allowed the finger to sit forward of the quillions to enhance thrusting in some single-handed swords (esp. the rapier).
Riding Sword (en). A development of the arming sword. Some writers do use the terms interchangeably but it may be more useful to use this to refer to an early form of the sidesword, with a wide blade and a simple compound hilt.
Saber (en). A curved military sword typical of cavalry units through the 18th to early 20th centuries. Intended as a cutting sword it could thrust as well. A civilian variant, the almost straight North Italian duelling saber became the modern sport sabre.
Saex (gc). A singly edged, heavy short sword or long knife used by the Saxon peoples of Europe during the "Dark" Ages (early medieval)
Schiavona (it). The Italian broadsword. This features a lighter blade than the Scots basket hilt and has distinctive patterns in the basket. It may have been brought to Italy by Dalmatian mercenaries and then modified.
Schiavona by Fulvio del Tin.Sheering sword (en). A term for the military cutting blades of the 18th and nineteenth centuries similar in use to the cut & thrust in the narrower sense..
Schlaeger (g). A weapon used in German fraternal duelling. It has a blade approximately 36 inches long and is sharpened for the last third. Used to score points by slashing the opponent's head and face. Though less popular than at its height in the late 19th c. it is still reasonably widely used in Germany and Austria. Unsharpened blades are used by some schools to train rapier techniques, though the weight distribution is different.
Sidesword (en). The cutting and thrusting sword of the early renaissance. Coeval with the rapier, its shorter, wider blade made it more versatile and battle effective but decreased one's effective threat range.
Single Sword (en). Any cutting and thrusting weapon used with one hand, from the high medieval arming sword to the sidesword.
Slagterswerd (g). Term for the bidenhander.
Smallsword (en). Descended from the rapier. This triangular or chevron bladed weapon relied on linear movement and minimum tip movement. A civilian weapon intended for the duel it is also known as the court sword or walking sword.
Spatha (l). Lit. Sword. This was a longer sword than the gladius, more suited to cutting. Popular among cavalry units.
Spada di lato/Spada di filo (it). Lit. Sword of the side or sword of the edge. Italian terms for the sidesword.
Spadroon (en?). A type of sheering sword. Called in French the espee du slodat (soldier's sword).
Zweihander (g). Bidenhander.
Knives/Daggers
Ballock knife/dagger (en): A slashing knife. Frequently either single edged or with a false edge on the back. Characterise by two swellings where the blade meets the grip
Ballock knide by Charles ProkoppBayonet (en): A knife made for attachment to a rifle & use as a short spear. Early bayonets plugged into the barrel, later models clip underneath. Some were long enough to use as sword in their own right.
Bowie (en): A large utility and weapon knife associated with US southwest. It exhibits a very definite clip point as its identifying characteristic, possibly based on the Navaja . Techniques of use may have been derived from saber techniques.
Dirk (sg)(en): Large single edged Scots knife with one edge exhibiting string profile taper. the term is sometimes used to refer to other heavy knives.
Ear Dagger (en): A development of the rondel dagger. The name derives from the distinctive pommel. It has a groove allowing the thumb to be looped over it in reverse grip.
The distinctive pommel of a ear dagger.Main gauche (fr): A knife carried in the left hand as a subsidiary weapon and defense with Renaissance sidesword or rapier.
Messer (g): Long knife popular in Germany in the middle ages. Single edged and could have a clip or a false edge. Used similarly to the much later sabre.
Navaja (sp): Lit. Sevillian knife. A large folding knife with a clipped point
Poignard (fr): Medieval and renaissance dagger with a very sharp point.
Rondel Dagger (en): Medieval dagger, most of them were round or triangular bladed but some may have had a diamond shaped blade with some edge. Name derives from the parallel round disks forming the guard and pommel. Seems to have been used largely, though not exclusively in reverse grip.
Rondel dagger from Darkwood Armory.Sica (l): Small dagger used in Rome for utility and defense.
Sickle (en): Peasant reaping tool, also used as a weapon. One such, illustrated in Mair's fechtbuch seems to have a modified serrated cutting edge but this seems unusual.
Stiletto (it): Small, narrow bladed thrusting dagger. Possibly descended from the poignard.
Pole-arms
Bill (en): Agricultural implement used as an infantry weapon, most notably in England. Praised by Silver (1599) as the finest of all battlefield weapons. A cutting blade with several projecting hooks and spikes on a pole ~7' long.
Two version sof the bill from Arms & Armor
Fouchard (fr):
Glaive (fr): Cutting weapon with a curved blade mounted on the side of the haft.
Halberd (en): Axe blade mounted on a long haft with a thrusting point and a back spike added.
Half Pike (en): Shortened pike of some 8 feet in length.
Lochaber (sg): Heavy semi-circular axe blade mounted on a shaft from ~4-~6' long with a hook of the back side.
Longstaff (en): Fighting staff ranging from 10 to 14' in length.
Lucerne Hammer (fr en): A type of poll axe. Usually with a studded hammer on one side, a spike on the reverse of that and a thrusting tip.
Maul (en): A heavy mallet.
Morris Pike (en): A pike. About 10 to 14 feet long.
Partisan (en): A pole weapon similar to a glaive but with a squarer blade possibly.
Pike (en): Very long heavy spear sometimes 10 to 15 feet in length with a setting spike on the butt. Often used to break cavalry charges. It is considered one of the contributing factors to the declining supremacy of the mounted knight in battle.
Poll Axe (en): A group of pole weapons, the name refers to a method of constructing the head (poll) assembly. Seemingly seldom actually axes, they bore a variety of spikes and hammers.
Shortstaff (en): Fighting staff originally about 7-9' long, this later shrank to 6 feet. This is sometimes called a quarterstaff but that term more properly refers to a method of using such a weapon.
Spear (en): Pointy thing on a stick.
Tipstaff (en): A metal shod shortstaff. Apparently in some areas of Britain, sheriffs and bailiffs became known as tipstaffs because of their use of this weapon.
Axes
Azza spada (it): Axe-sword. An odd weapon with a sword blade swelling to an axe head it seems.
Bearded axe (en): An axe with an asymmetrical head, with the bottom flare far more prominent than the top, though not so extreme as a headsman's axe.
Crow's bill (en): A short military pick, a stabbing point mounted cross-wise on an axe like haft, designed for punching through armour.
Lombard axe
Military pick
Tabor axe
Throwing axe
Impact Weapons
Bata (ig): Cudgel, a two- or three-foot club with a distinct head closely associated with faction fighting in Ireland. Very similar to the South African knobkierrie.
Baton (fr)
Canne (fr)
Cudgel (en) A term used in a variety of periods and contexts. Can refer to any staff or club weapon.
Flail (en) Chain weapon. Found in two major forms. The morgenstern/morningstar and the military, or footman's flail. The latter comprises a three or four-foot haft linked by a short chain or leather segment to a one foot swingle or striking arm, usually bound and studded with iron.
Flanged mace (en). Mace whose head comprises a wheel of projecting vanes (flanges) from a central shaft. This head is often lozenge shaped in profile.
Grand canne
Long staff
Lucerne hammer
Mace (en). Any club enhanced by spiking or studding the striking head.
Maul
Morgenstern (g). A modified flail more likely to be used by a horseman. The haft is shorter, more like one or two feet long with a longer chain and a round rather than bar striking end.
Morningstar (en). Morgenstern.
Short staff
Singlestick (en). Sword length round staff, often ash or similar wood with a wicker hand basket used as a training tool for broadsword/backsword, or in competition in its own right. These competitions were popular in England for a long time (a description appears in Tom Brown's Schooldays) fought to the first bleeding head wound at least 1" long (the blooming of the red flower).
War hammer (en). Any of a variety of impact based weapons, often in conjunction with picks used against heavy armour.
Projectile Weapons
Bow (en). A projectile weapon that uses force stored in two arms to drive a projectile from a string between them.
Crossbow (en). A bow mounted across a stock, the tension can be stored mechanically. Typically firing a short heavy bolt (projectile). Usually very powerful.
Longbow (en). Traditionally made of yew, a bow with a stave approximately six feet long. This was a speciality of English armies from hundreds of year. Powerful, a trained archer could maintain a high rate of fire and decent accuracy.
Training weapons
Foil (en). A training sword used in many sword arts from the renaissance onwards. So called because of its foiled (blunted) tip and edge. The modern sporting foil is the descendant of the tool used for training the skills of epée du combat. Earlier foils, notably the rapier foil, were longer and heavier, just as the swords were.
Waster (en). A wooden bladed sword used for training. The first references are found in Roman writings and persist through the middle ages. Similar in concept to the Japanese bokken.
Singlestick
Armour
Shields
Buckler (en). Small shield ~30 cm in diameter. Made of metal, wood or hardened leather. Held by a central grip in the off hand.
Dueling shield (en). Large oval shield used in judicial duels in medieval Germany. Usually with spikes protruding from the top and bottom, often with other hooks or spikes.
Heater (en). Classic flat topped, pointed bottomed shield associated strongly in artwork with medieval knighthood. Descended from the kite.
Kite (en). Early medieval shield. Round topped and pointed bottomed. Carried by inter alia the Normans. Descended from the oval shields of the European Celtic and Germanic tribes. Very long, covered the bearer from "shin to chin".
Pavis (en?). Large ovoid or rectangular shields offering a lot of cover. Dueling shields were a subtype of pavis.
Targe (sg)/ Targa (it)/ Target (en). Round shield larger than the buckler although some have referred to them by that name. Strapped onto the off forearm.
Helms
Arming cap. A close fitting steel cap worn under the Great Helm, as the Great Helm fell out of use, the cap evolved into the helmets that replaced it.
Aventail A curtain of maille suspended from a helmet protecting the neck, throat and sometimes lower jaw.
Basinet/Bascinet
Chapel de fer
Coif A maille hood covering the head, neck and soemtimes the top of the shoulders.
Great Helm
Heume
Kettle helmet
Sallet
Spangelhelm Visor Hinged face plate typically found on helmets such at the sallet or bascinet.
Vervelles Body Armour Arming coat Backplate Breastplate Brigandine/Brigantine(en?) Armour made of metal plates rivetted to the inside of a leather garment.
Chausses Cops Couter/Cowter Cuir bouille Leather impregnated with hot wax to harden it. Sometimes used in conjunction with maille armour to pretect elbows or knees (rather like modern skating pads)
Cuisse The thigh protecting componenet of plate armour.
Curiasse A matched breastplate and backplate, charactersiting of 18th and 19th century heavy cavalry, hence the French term Curiasseur.
Fauld of four lames (en) A set of four horizontal overlapping metal strips (lames) forming a flexible protection over the armour gap required fro hip movement in plate armour. Gambeson A quilted garment worn under armour for protection against impact and abrasion.
Gatligs/Gadlings Gauntlets Armoured gloves.
Gothic plate Plate armour visually remeniscent of Gothic architecture, with spines and ridges that both strengthened that arnour and imitates butresses and pointed arches.
GreavesArmour for the shin and calf.
Hauberk A maille shirt. Kastenbrust A beastplate design of German origin with a distinktly "pointed" front to help deflect thrusts. Lance rest A projecting hook bolded onto tournament plate armour to help support a jouster's lance.
Maille A mesh of interlinking rings. Could be either welded or riveted closed or simply forced shut.
Mufflers Pauldron A development of spaulders. Shoulder armour consisting of a large cup covering the shoulder top and the front of the armpit and several lames forming a flexible arm defence hanging from it. RerebracePlate armour defending the upper arm. See vambrace SabatonPlate armour covering the foot. Stop rib Surcoat Spaulder A shoulder defence similar to the pauldron but not covering the armpit. Tolson plate Vambrace Tubular armour covering the forearm White Harness Wings
Concepts:
Am swert
Espiritu vitale
Grounds
Governors
Strong/weak
Perfect and Imperfect
Space Wide/narrow
Techniques
Sword guards
Posta di coda lunga e distesa
Nebenhut
Porta di ferro
Alber
Della guardia bassa
Guardia di chingiara porta di ferro
Denti di cinghiale
Porta di ferro
Posta breve
Pflug
Medium ward
Posta longa
Guardia de facia
Der lange zonort
Posta di bicorno
Posta frontale
Posta di falcone
Vom tag
Guarda alta
Open ward
Posta di donna
Hangenort
Posta di fenestra
Ochs
St George's ward
High outside
High inside
Low outside
Low inside
Hanging guard
True guardant ward