Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/291

 CHAPTER XVII

In the first half of the century but little change is discernible in the evolution of the sword; the simple wheel pommel and straight or curved quillon guard remained the predominating features. Certainly more variations are noticeable in the shape of the pommel; the elongated flattened pear-shaped pommel appeared, with other forms, all maintaining their popularity in turn according to fashion.

The sword most generally in favour in the XVth century was of that simple hilted type which had its origin most probably in Germany early in the XIVth century, and which, introduced into England about thirty years later, continued in use concurrently with other swords of various sizes up to the second quarter of the XVIth century, when nearly all simply constructed hilts gave way to that of the more elaborate type associated with the rapier. The particular sword to which we allude was in the later part of the XVth century known as the "bastard" or "hand-and-a-half" sword; and these names are used nowadays to specify the type. It was a weapon with a blade from 36 to 50 inches in length, equally serviceable for cutting or thrusting, its combined usefulness being made possible by the extra length of the grip. This was oval in section, swelling considerably at a point two-thirds of the way up from the quillons and then tapering suddenly to the pommel. Its name, "hand-and-a-half," explains the peculiar make of the grip. It was a sword sufficiently light to be used with one hand, but in a swinging downward cut the extra length of grip enabled the left hand to be brought into play to add force to the blow. Vulson de la Colombière and Joseph Swetnan speak of the "bastard" sword in the latter part of the XVIth and at the commencement of the XVIIth century. The former alludes to it, when describing the weapons used in a particular duel, "Deux espées bastardes, pouvans servir à une main et à deux, les gardes d'icelles faites à une croisette seulement, et pas d'asne ouvert"; while the latter refers to the bastard sword as a "sword, the which sword is something shorter than a long sword (two