December « 2008 « Fight Medieval: The Boarstooth Fight School

Museum of London trip, report by Grant.

we assembled on a frigid Saturday, at the end of 2008, under the guidance of John Clark, the graciously accommodating Senior Medieval Curator at the Museum of London. The museum itself is one of London’s overlooked gems; it is one of the best lit and well documented historical museums in the capital with engaging displays that record the long history of the City of London and its environs.

John had laid out nine swords for Dave and us lucky students to examine. After an initial briefing by John, which explained how all of the swords had been recovered from excavations around London, as far as Ponder’s End, and the in the depths of the Thames, we donned gloves and dug in.

The lucky ones and John Clark(second from right) Please be aware, that due to unresolved concerns, Fight Medieval have withdrawn any endorsement of Magnus Sigurdsson.

It was a broad selection of swords from the museum’s medieval displays, but as John explained, there were a few he wanted to share with us that were just too inaccessible due to the way the display cases opened. Three Saxon/Norman era swords, two 14^th century swords, two late 15^th century swords and two early 16^th century swords were available for hefting, measuring and weighing.

Dave was on hand with a portable scale to weigh each sword. We set about recording the approximate weights, balance points and other detailed measurements not found in the museum’s documentation, copies of which were kindly provided by John. As with many collections, documentation of the weapons at the Museum of London does not include weight (or point of balance). As most of the swords were recovered from the Thames and in excavations below the water table, many were quite corroded, so when weighing or recording the point of balance the loss of original material and missing grips had to be taken into account.

An example of corrosion loss

One of the benefits of a salvaged collection is a sampling of classic sword types, the real workhorses of their respective eras, not the unique one-offs or display swords which are kept because of their beauty or unusual style and therefore are usually found in better condition, even if they were never intended for actual use. The swords presented to us most definitely served their owners at some point in combat or deterrence and not as mere mantle decoration. I was very pleased with this selection that could largely be easily classified using Oakeshott’s typology.

There was one exception to the broad sampling of archetypal swords, being most unusual in its circular guard and pommel, looking more like a sword from the far-east or the classical age, instead of its origin at the Villa Basilica in the 1490 as indicated by the maker’s mark. It quickly became the favourite of Pete, one of our fellow students in attendance, despite or because of its distinctive hilt. I think we probably each had a sword we’d liked to have taken home by the end of the day.

The most complete specimens were the later swords, one of which still had the gilding intact on the hilt. It was listed as a ‘Landsknecht type’, but hardly the massive ‘zweihander’ expected of such a description, rather more like a side sword, to me, with a lovely ‘S’ shaped hilt and other signs of early Renaissance styling, with three fullers running its length.

The elegant katzbalger.

Most of the other swords, though mostly complete, were corroded enough to warrant that they be hefted with the blade supported. As such, we weren’t able to flourish with the specimens to get a full feel of the blades in practice. However, it must be said, there is something very special about being so close to such rare artifacts. All the specimens were light, slim in profile, balanced and overall graceful in the hand, once again maligning the old myth of medieval swords being clunky, ill formed cleavers. Surprisingly, one of the heaviest for its size was a smallish late 14^th century youth’s sword (designed to develop a young sword arm?).

The “youth’s sword”, the grip as you can see is too small to be used by an adult…hmmm

Many of the swords on the display had interesting histories, which John enthusiastically related. Like the 10^th century ‘Viking sword’ (Type X) whose tip was found nearly a mile down the Thames and a full year after the rest of the sword was discovered by the Putney Railway Bridge in 1905. This one was particularly charming, with a very nicely preserved tri-lobe pommel. Another type X sword had its original pommel, possibly a ‘brazil nut’ shape, replaced in the 16^th century with a hollow embossed sphere, demonstrating that some swords led long and probably very interesting lives.

This one comes in at a very light 6Lbs.

Some discoveries were made on the day. A mend was noticed for the first time towards the point of an early 14^th century sword, which has appeared in Oakeshott’s Records of the Medieval Sword. Whether this was a contemporary mend will have to wait on further investigation. The same sword had a maker’s mark which hasn’t been identified or noted in the documentation. The most intriguing discovery didn’t involve a sword, but will require additional examination by Dave and John, and so will have to wait till next year.

After we had sated ourselves and all measurements were completed, we went for a quick tour of the museum. It was somehow satisfying to see the place-markers in the displays where the swords we had viewed had been removed, and strange to be on the other side of the glass. One great two-handed sword hung conspicuously undisturbed by our visit; probably in one of the cases that couldn’t be easily opened—one to look forward for another trip to the museum.

The day finished suitably at Dave’s house where we were treated to fine Spanish port and viewings of Dave’s ample collection of swords, many from the Albion forge and a medley of other swords.

Weights and measure of the swords will go up on the forum very soon.