GENERAL — 16/262 — Combat technique
In the High Middle Ages, new elements of combat techniques and weapons and armour emerged. Curved sabres became popular, and chainmail was replaced by plate armour. Knights preferred heavier swords, crossbows, and impact weapons such as maces and flails. Only wealthy nobles could afford full armour. Usually, only partial metal armour was worn, and more than for protection, the focus was on combat technique. For this reason, swordfighting developed in two ways: knightly swordsmanship – fighting with a spear, sword, and shield in full heavy armour common swordsmanship – for lightly armoured fighters who fought with swords and common weapons such as falchions, flails, scythes, staffs, etc. In battles between lightly armoured and heavily armoured fighters, speed, agility, and cleverness often won. Therefore, swordplay also interested the poorer parts of society. They gradually started to be educated in swordfighting schools. The training was not very professional, being based more on dexterity, readiness, and the use of various available means besides weapons. Precise contemporary descriptions of duels are lacking, so historians rely on mentions in literature or preserved visual material.
TRIVIA
— With plate armour becoming more wide-spread in late medieval times, new sword fighting techniques had to be developed. The sword was still a popular weapon, but it failed in blows or slices against an opponent in full plate. One solution was the half-sword (derived from German 'Halbschwert'), also referred to as 'fighting with the short(ened) sword'. When half-swording, the longsword would be gripped by the blade, shortening the length of the sword and allowing for a more forceful and accurate thrust with the tip, preferably into less protected areas such as the opponent's joints or their neck. In the technique called Mordhau ('murder blow'), the blade was even grabbed with both hands while the sword was inverted, allowing for the pommel and cross-guard to be used in the same manner a mace or hammer would.
Some swords were later equipped with a so-called ricasso, an unsharpened part right above the cross and hilt that could be held easier. In fencing treatises of the late Middle Ages up to the early Renaissance, half-swording was often given as the prevalent strategy. Paulus Hector Mair, a 16th century German government official as well as super-fan and collector of fencing manuals, had all the techniques he knew of tested by two fencing masters and illustrated by a renowned painter, to gather them in his very own Fechtbuch. The book was a costly affair. So costly, in fact, that Mair had to embezzle municipal funds for it – which ultimately resulted in his hanging.
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