Today we take a look at an essential element of the historical cutler's art and how it contributes to the historical accuracy of modern sword reproductions. Many modern sword-makers outsource, or even entirely ignore this craft that makes a weapon much more mobile, allowing the delivery of blows from far outside what is commonly thought of as a swords range.
We demonstrate how to incorporate this dynamic with one of our most popular medieval swords, our Durer Bastard Sword. A classic 15th century type XVIII longsword, the Durer exhibits all of the design, craftsmanship, and physics necessary to explore this crucial characteristic of sword-making.
Durer Bastard Sword by Arms and Armor
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice 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 events including Longpoint, Western Martial Arts Workshop, and Combatcon, 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