Today we take a detailed look at a custom project we just completed, a 16th century German two-handed sword with scroll work details, blued hilt furniture, and forged parrying lugs. These swords are part of a complex of very large two-handers that emerged across Western Europe in the Renaissance. This group includes Scottish Claymores, Spanish Montantes, and Italian Spadones. These were all relatively specialized weapons that developed after the medieval period.
A Landsknecht mercenary with a Zweihander, dog, and Frau
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at many HEMA events including Longpoint, SoCal Swordfight, and WMAW, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985