Doing Battle With A Medieval Sword

Medieval swords of some periods were very large and heavy.  Soldiers during the middle ages had to deal with both the weight of the large weapons and the weight of there shields and great suits of armor.   These soldiers may have been very strong, but they still had to fight differently than a soldier wearing zero armor and fighting with smaller and lighter weapons of choice.  This article will go over some of the tactics medieval soldiers used to win a battle with a medieval weapon in hand.

The horse riding medieval fighter was not troubled by the great weight of his gear like his foot bound comrade.   These fighters had strong horses to move them and their heavy armor around and could afford to expend some energy doing violent slashing movements with their medieval fighting sword.  Unfortunately, it was rare that medieval soldiers had horses to fight on and most soldiers could not expend all of their energy on powerful battle movements in combat.

Soldiers without horses needed to conserve energy.  Wild slashing movements with a large medieval sword can waste a lot of energy and quickly tire the fully armored soldier.   You wouldn’t want to use up all your energy slashing down an opponent just to have his friend defeat you in your exhausted state, would you?

Soldiers of this time period created fighting styles that used less energy so they could still be victorious in battle and protected by their great armor as well.   These soldiers did not use their swords for blocking and would completely rely on their armor and shields.   Attacking movements consisted mostly of short jabs used to impale the enemy.  These jabs could be used right away as a fierce and aggressive offense or they could come after a successful block has been made and while the enemies body is exposed.

Heavily armored soldiers could also afford to grapple with their enemies without fear of getting sliced easily.  They would use the weight of their armored bodies to throw their opponents off balance.  Following this they would bash their enemies with their shields or stab them with their swords.  Warriors dressed in large sets of armor could easily scare a less equipped army into surrendering without blood shed.

The major draw back to the heavy medieval sword, shield, and set of armor was its weight.  Improved fighting styles were great, but many forces with less armor were able to defeat their more armored but less mobile combatants.   Having said this, I think that were I to go back to the middle ages I’d rather be the guy in the heavy armor than the more mobile soldier.