ES - period manual of the sword

Todd Marsh Llywelyn at home.com
Mon Mar 29 19:36:50 PST 1999


Maybe I went through these too quick, but I didn't see anything
about shields.  The first seemed simply to be a diatribe against
rapiers.  The second had some advice about how to fight with what
he called a "short sword" (couldn't tell what length he meant),
but I didn't see anything about fighting with a medieval-sized
shield.

Am I missing something?

- Galen


"Buckler" is used to mean all types of shields, not just the small round we commonly think of as a buckler.

Silver does not say much about the Sword & Buckler, only:
"Sword & Buckler fight, & sword & dagger fight are all one, saving that you may safely defend both blow & thrust, single with your buckler only, & in like sort you may safely ward both blows & thrusts double, that is with sword & buckler together which is a great advantage against the sword & dagger, etc., & is the surest fight of all short weapons."

Silver doesn't define "short sword" in the second book, but in the first he says:
"Again their swords in schools are too long by almost half a foot to uncross, without going back with the feet, within distance or perfectly to strike or thrust within the half or quarter sword. And in serving of the prince, when men do meet together in public fight, are utterly naught and unserviceable. The best length for perfect teaching of the true fight to be used and continued in fence schools, to accord with the true statures of all men, are these. The blade to be a yard and an inch for men of mean stature, and for men of tall statures, a yard and three or four inches, and no more."

So, his short sword has a blade 37-40 inches long.  Rapiers in the 1590's were commonly 45-52 inches long.  I agree that these rapiers were too long to be practical.

My description of this as a sword and shield manual was incorrect.  However, Silver is clearly teaching armored combat techniques.

Llywelyn


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