#katzbalger

Amused to see that long post about Landsknechts and their bare-legged battle shorts surfacing again. There’s another example in that pic and, given battlefield medicine of the time, a chap in shorts would probably be less at risk of infection from a injury to his bare leg than a man with lots of unwashed clothing fibres driven into the wound.

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As usual, there’s a lot of interest in the codpieces, which were of course the fashion of the time as well as projections (hah!) of aggressive masculinity, all of which suited Bad Boys like Landsknechts to a tee.

Nine years ago I reblogged and commented on a picture called “Young Man in a Landscape” by Vittore Carpaccio, which is a great reference for how Maximilian armour fitted a human being rather than an armature in a museum, and how a knight can be in shining armour without looking like he’s been chrome-plated.

So what has this to do with Landsknechts and codpieces?

(1) The mounted man in the background is wearing a “civilised” version of Landsknecht costume; it became fashionable and started being worn by other soldiers than the original mercenary roughnecks. The Papal Swiss Guard (mercenaries yes, roughnecks not so much) still wear a version of it to this day.

(2) Our knight is carrying a sword with the distinctive and typical Katzbalger hilt favoured by Landsknechts, but a much longer (more knightly, certainly more cavalry) blade.

(3) He’s got a codpiece. The funny part is that he’s using it as a mailbox. Why? In a painting this full of symbolism, your guess is as good as mine.

"armored" version of the previous picture.

A beautifully incised Katzbalger decorated with brass,

OaL: 30.5 in/77.5 cm

Weight: 3 lbs/1340 g

“ So, here’s a hottie historical reenactor. If you first looked at him you’d think he was playing fast and loose with the concept of recreation.  The reality is, he is showing us something that was entirely realistic during the 1400s and early 1500s for menfolk who went to war, either as mercenaries or conscripted soldiers.       

Repairing the clothing one had in battle often could not be fully achieved. Sometimes it was a quick and dirty reassembly of the base structure, sometimes, as here, it was left alone, because the requirements of battle did not allow time for repair at all.    

I would imagine that there was a certain amount of male bravado accompanying this when it happened.Oh, and, you’re welcome. “

Found here.

Among the pictured weapons there are pikes, schlachtschwerts(montante/spadone), longswords and katzbalgers as well as some early firearms.

Meyer has a section on staff,halberd,pike and other similar weapons so you may want to check out the Meyer polearm’s section. And there’s also a lot of overlap with staff use, especially within Meyer’s system so one can check out the  Basic Meyer Quarterstaff series on HROARR as a starter to learn the bodymechanics of use.

If you are interested in learning how to use a longsword check out these few links.

If you want to learn how to use katzbalgers check out  Giovanni Dall'Agocchie-a great facebook group for folks interested in the various Bolognese sources that study general sidesword use Alternatively and less likely but it may be used a bit more similarly to earlier era arming swords.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use  schlachtschwerts  check out this link.