Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/298



For the purpose of practising sword-play. German, first half of the XVIth century Ex Londesborough Collection

which seems to mean no more than a stout quarterstaff of a length suited to the height and powers of its owner. Unlike the hand-and-a-half, or bastard, sword, which could be wielded with either one or two hands, according to the call of the moment, the two-handed sword was of necessity the weapon of the large and powerful man; so in the rank and file it was entrusted to the strongest men-at-arms, many of whom were made to act as escort to the "Auncient" or Standard Bearer. For all this, many in the highest ranks of society became proficient in its use. King Henry VIII was an adept in wielding it. At a tournament, held at Greenwich in 1511, Hall records that Henry VIII, with two others, challenged all comers "to fight every of them xii. strokes with two-handed swordes," and that the King displayed "his hardy prowes and great strength, apparently to the delight of all." The two-hander was recognized as worthy of something more than mere respect when employed against any other weapon, even though that weapon was assisted by some auxiliary defence, such as the buckler. Its ponderous sweeping strokes could only be parried by a very strong and a very active man, if not by use of the volte or derobement. Maximilian, Emperor-elect, can be seen practising this last-named method of elusive guard in the woodcut taken from the Weiss Kunig (Fig. 1333). The actual length of the two-handed sword from pommel to point sometimes approached six feet. It was double edged, like the majority of the swords of the XVIth century. Its hilt was furnished with powerful quillons, often with a ring on either side, if not with a more complicated guard. It is not unusual to find below the quillon guard, and on the blade itself, two projecting pointed bars or lugs, called in Spain the falsaguarda, which, in a measure, protected the hand. In the commoner German and Swiss two-handers, that part of the blade between the quillons and the lugs was sometimes covered with leather. We believe that, with the exception of the Scottish weapon, the two-hander was seldom borne in a scabbard; in contemporary pictures it is always seen carried over