REAL Medieval DAGGERS! The main types with original examples

[@scholagladiatoria]

Showing the main types of late medieval and renaissance dagger and explaining their evolution, with original examples to show. Olympia Auctions: www.olympiaauctions.com/auction/search/?au=129

[@karstsumpterable]

Can these ship to the US? And would I need to get an import license?

[@scholagladiatoria]

@@karstsumpterable yes they can and no you wouldn't.

[@karstsumpterable]

@@scholagladiatoria thank you, I look forward to bidding, and your future videos. You’ve built an amazing channel.

[@Gedof]

19:26 That eyebrow raise and smile.

[@nerfherder4284]

As soon as he said balls and then waved the tip around I giggled like a 8 yo 😂.

[@mattakudesu]

It's not a true Matt Easton video without some easily dismissed innuendo, "swollen tips". Great video and very educational as usual, awesome to see so many antique pieces.

[@tambarlas5248]

If Ian at Forgotten Weapons is "Gun Jesus", is Matt "Blade Moses"?

[@stephend50]

I was just thinking this was like Ian going through a gun auction video

[@peterebel]

Blade Elisha

[@user-tv4lz5ie5u]

I've been waiting for a crossover episode for some time now. About bayonets for example.

[@titanscerw]

Saint John the Bladist? +][+

[@Oldtanktapper]

The Messer Messiah?

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

This is SO cool. Lecture and discussion with authentic examples in a perfect "context" with all the swords so tastefully arranged on the rear wall. I love this format - it seems to add atmosphere in an appropriate setting. Do I see a short series coming? I hope so. As well your framing, lighting and sound seems a bit better than usual. Another excellent presentation. Thank you. Cheers!

[@scholagladiatoria]

Thanks. Yes there should hopefully be more like this... more this week in fact, but also further into the future.

[@mikeorick6898]

Maybe the basilard popularity in England is connected to the importation of yew for longbows from the Italian/Swiss Alps?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes there were certainly some strong connections between Italy and England at the time. Italian bankers were also bankrolling the English crown, and huge amounts of Italian armour was being imported into England.

[@Jabbawokeez4]

17:20 "A swollen tip is more effective at its job." - Matt Easton, 2024

[@M.M.83-U]

Wonderful! This serie of commentary on real historic examples is so good.

[@blvalverde]

That baselard blade might be popular cause it's pretty. I like the symmetry it gives to the blade.

[@kitolz]

I think it's because it's more practical for everyday use. A soldier or civilian can use it to cut twigs, chop up food, do simple wood carving, etc.. A thinner blade would be much better for getting past armor, but is awkward to use for daily tasks.

[@blvalverde]

@kitolz I was thinking about the double fuller when I wrote that post, not the blade's profile. The double fullers in it keep the symmetrical aesthetic of the blade, just like the hilt has a symmetry to it. They could've done it with a single fuller without loss of functionality, but would it look as good?

[@kitolz]

@@blvalverde It looks great, so I wouldn't be surprised if that played a large factor in it. But I think it's the blade and handle shape that makes it a baselard, and not the double fuller. Since I'm seeing some examples that are called baselards without that feature.

[@blvalverde]

@kitolz oh yes, the shape of the handle specifically is what makes it a baselard. What I meant about the blde is that Matt makes an off-hand comment that double fullers are very common on the baselards, I figured that the reason for that choice was usually an aesthetic one. The baselard will be a baselard with a single or no fuller and the double fuller has no practical advantages over the single one, but doubling up on the symmetry already present on the hilt of the baselard makes for a nice look.

[@Templarium]

I really liked that quillion dagger.

[@pauljnight8620]

I have just spotted a rondel dagger in the bottom left corner of The Garden Of Earthly Delights, a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, circa 1500.

[@EriktheRed2023]

Glorious rundown, thank you!

[@MaxBrodsky.]

Mr. Easton I must say that your move to cooperate with auction houses is a genius one! No single collector can own every interesting sword and this way we get to see so much more new and rare stuff!

[@datpolakmike]

It's always a blessed day when we get another dagger video from Matt. However I was wondering, have you ever done a video on the Indian bhuj? At least I think that's what it's called. It's a sort of battle axe like weapon, with a blade very vaguely reminiscent of a kukri

[@hanshanszoon]

This series looking at originals is great! I learn a lot from it

[@FiliiMartis]

5 more days until the auction. I hope Matt gets to a few of the rapiers we see in the back.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Keep watching tomorrow ;-)

[@FiliiMartis]

@@scholagladiatoria I was going to, but now it's a sure thing. 😄

[@titanscerw]

9minutes, letsgooo fresh Matt Easton!

[@lewisnapton8399]

Well done! What an amazing show!

[@AroundTheHouseWithDani]

you look like the English forgotten weapons at the auction. i like it.

[@AroundTheHouseWithDani]

gun Jesus. now knife buddha

[@mokithepepe2454]

"its not a big object but it's big enough for whats required" that what i have to say too

[@johnrechtoris9796]

I'm excited to see more from the Olympia Auction House, especially in light of all of those swords adorning the back wall in this video.

[@Arquaizt]

Outstanding! Thanks for this fascinating presentation.

[@coltenlester9426]

Thankyou for these videos Matt. Very cool

[@KunoSA1]

Taking a look through that catalogue and I sure hope there is an upcoming video or three on armour because wow.

[@GrantHendrick]

Thank you for another great video.

[@-RONNIE]

Thank you for showing us these daggers. Personally I like a lot of different cultures & period daggers I can't choose which ones my favorite

[@bencoomer2000]

Kudos to Matt for resisting all sorts of innuendo around bollock daggers...

[@gamundilorenzo8864]

very interessant show ! thanks Matt

[@gunfun7772]

I'm always interested in poignards but rarely see or hear from them. A longer and larger dagger with a double edged blade and larger crossguard. Basically a tiny sword. Similar to a parrying dagger.

[@RonJohn63]

This video reminds me of Gun Jesus at Morphy (and it's predecessors). 4:32 The Baselard looks like a quillon dagger with a little hilt and flat pommel. Better for carrying around town. 5:27 😇 I'm psychic.

[@myleft9397]

great video

[@michaelsullivan8934]

"a slightly raised um, rim around the top of the pommel there..." *knowing smile* I like to believe the bollock dagger stayed so similar for so long because people at the time just, like people on the internet today, simply couldn't resist a good crass joke.

[@martins.4240]

With that dagger you can literally go balls deep in your enemy.

[@kilianortmann9979]

I think the double fuller of the Baselard may be so the tang can remain relatively thin between the grip scales. With that diamond crossection blade, the tang would be as thick as the thickest part of the blade or have a step, where the blade transitions into the grip. With the double fuller, the blade turns into essentially a fancy looking hexagonal shape at the grip transition.

[@trystanfranziskus]

I was literally just researching this exact thing lol

[@blaketheberserker]

Would love measurements as far as distal taper, looking to make replicas

[@theeddorian]

The baselard hilt echoes some earlier Iron Age forms. Is there any evidence of continuity? It is also reminiscent of the Swiss and German Degen type short sword (see Tob Cutler's replicas).

[@yumazster]

The last item reminded me of Tod Cutler's video showing what happened when he went with anatomically correct instead of going with the museum sources early on his crafting career. To horror of all 😂.

[@Paladin357]

That baselard looks really nice.

[@ethanblinkhorn8396]

this makes me want to make some more daggers.

[@bobrobinson1576]

Looking at all this makes me realise just how badly I need to get back to the Leeds Armouries.

[@akumagouki8668]

The habaki analog with the the bollock dagger was interesting l!

[@lady_draguliana784]

20:15 "bolster" perhaps.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes that was exactly the word that finally came into my brain after filming!

[@jaredbaker7230]

I'm curious, why nitrile gloves when cotton gloves are recommended for handling metals?

[@IsaacANDhowe]

Hi Matt

[@guillaume4519]

I heard that the discs complete the gauntlet too, preventing blades to slide into the leather glove.

[@raphlvlogs271]

can you practically apply bolock dagger type hilts on full sized swords?

[@jamesellsworth9673]

Yes: this is a fine whistle-stop tour of daggers from the day.

[@sirwi11iam]

Forgive my ignorance, but if a dagger is the size of a sword, wouldn't it just be a sword? Or does the width/shape determine the class?

[@jacobtothe2112]

What modern combat knives and hunting knives today will be similarly iconic in 500 years? From the UK, obviously the Fairbairn-Sykes comes to mind. From the US, I imagine the Ka-Bar and Buck 119 will be recognized.

[@Kaiyanwang82]

So.. it's a Misericorde the same thing as a Rondel? Is the different name due to the geographical location, the expected use, or it's just a similar but different weapon?

[@ChapterGrim]

They're more like stilettos I think... 🤔

[@Loki_Firegod]

Serious question here because I genuinely want to know. When in medieval Europe did daggers become popular, or rather popular again? Because the Romans had their military daggers (the Pugio) and I know of bunch of other forms from the ages of antiquity. In late antiquity and the start of the early medieval period (what many call the Migration period), various forms of Seax started to become much more popular, but they're more knives than daggers. The early ones (Schmalsax) were also likely derived from single-edged cavalry swords (at least according to my literature) and had long and thin blades more aimed at slashing than stabbing. I have a 6th/7th century broad seax replica, and you can stab with it, but with the thick single edged blade it's not really ideal for it. Against an unarmored opponent it'll propably be "enough", but I'd still have more confidence in hacking/slashing them. Although Gregory of Tours does speak about the Seax being used for assassinations, and at least on two accounts he reports poisoned blades. Also, most Seaxes did not have a crossguard or any other kind of guard that prevents your hand slipping into the blade when stabbing, so while you can do so, it certainly wasn't intended as its purpose. In central Europe the Seax fell out of use around the late 8th/early 9th century, while in Scandinavia and Britain they stayed popular until the 10th or even 11th century. But I don't know of many daggers (double edged stabby things, as it were, although I know there are single-edged daggers as well) before the 11th or even 12th century. So basically, what I'd like is some finds or sources showing me daggers from the early medieval period and/or when exactly daggers became more common again. Help me, hive mind! :D

[@texasbeast239]

Rondel dagger guards and pommels remind me of politicians. Something about being both thick and hollow.

[@avalonjustin]

I'm waiting for him to mention the brutal Rondel Dagger.

[@emblemarms]

I’ve never been a fan of disc guards on daggers I think a cross guard just looks so much nicer. Just my personal opinion.

[@davidsachs4883]

Cross guards are also more comfortable to wear all day everyday, then disk guards.

[@tinyj4520]

Cross guards are for anti-blade techniques. Rondells are for "I'm exhausted from this fight but I have the upper hand for this second so I need to shiv this dude and don't want my tired hand to slip".

[@davidhawley3337]

I'm told knife attacks are common there. I'd suggest some sort of concealed body armor, if that is legal there. If modern Kevlar ballistic armor is outlawed, maybe an old-fashioned chain mail shirt, like Bilbo's/Frodo's, would work. It should stop most stabbing and slashing attacks to the torso, and maybe offer some protection to the arms as well, depending on the lengths of the sleeves. Against potential acid throwing attacks, I'm at a loss. A politician can't very well campaign in a visored motorcycle helmet, can he? I suppose he might carry something in his hand that could serve as a shield, like an umbrella or a large clipboard.

[@emarsk77]

Camera: "who's this bloke photobombing my video of those swords on the wall?"

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

_ooh, scrubs up nicely_ 😊

[@patrickselden5747]

There were a lot of English mercenaries operating in Italy in the Fourteenth Century. Maybe they brought the baselard to England...?

[@tinyj4520]

Just scrolled past a comment about how the adoption of them by the Swiss royalty coupled with how cheap they were made them a trendy fashion blade.

[@unocoltrane2804]

I like how Matt smirks when he talks about the swollen end of the bollock dagger. It's nice to see other refined gentlemen that can't resist adolescent innuendo.

[@ScottWoodruff-wh3ft]

Triangular blades like on the second rondel dagger are certainly not easier to make, heat treating and avoiding warps can be quite challenging with such an asymetrical cross section.

[@alextopfer1068]

yeah, that triangular cross section would be a pain. an equilateral cross section wouldn't be bad, but that flat isosceles would cause problems. they might have started as diamond cross section and ground one side flat? heat treating it like it is would cause it to warp away from the beveled side Matt, was there any sign of it being a laminate construction?

[@PalleRasmussen]

I was immediately thinking Fairban-Sykes. It is 5-7 cm longer though. Oh, when you hold it in both hands the size is more apparent, yea, two cm longer then.

[@rene_falk]

A great informative video. Unfortunately, it makes me sad too. Here in Germany, there are efforts to tighten weapon laws. Among other things, the possession of daggers is to be banned. The law has not yet been passed, but the supporters are putting a lot of effort into it.

[@therecalcitrantseditionist3613]

Like even in someone's house?

[@rene_falk]

@@therecalcitrantseditionist3613 Daggers should be put on the list of prohibited items. No one will then be allowed to own them. A police officer was recently stabbed to death in a weapons-free zone. Politicians believe that daggers are only for killing, so nobody needs daggers. This is the political response, even though it was not a dagger that was used. The blade length for legally carried fixed knives is also to be reduced to 6 cm. For pocket knives, however, there is no limit to the length of the blades. As if criminals would adhere to bans, ridiculous. If things continue like this, we will soon have a legal situation in Germany similar to that in the UK.

[@brittakriep2938]

Daggers and fighting knives are so dangerous, that in Germany current Parlament perhaps bans them soon as , forbidden item'. The lesser important and in personal size smaller Bundesrat decided this, and by german political system the Bundesrat Parlament gave the important main Parlament called Bundestag the advise, to discuss about banning daggers, fighting knives and all automatic knives. In case of german weapons laws, german gouvernement, parlament , political parties are known for dissarming lawfull/peacefull citizens, and protecting violent criminals. So i , german citizen, am in fear, that bayonnets, daggers, Bowie knives, Bauernwehr, Seaxes, Hirschfänger, Saufänger, Waidblätter are banned soon. 500 Years ago, great German farmers rebellion/ uprising known as Bauernkrieg started, 1525 was the peak, and 1526 the final end. After failed farmers rebellion, in my Homeregion the farmers/ lower class people had been forced, to cut away the tips of their Wehr. I am angry, our german policy and Media allways speak of Democracy, but they do the same as medieval/Rennaissnce rulers did. I know, that british neighbors and european brothers have. the same problem, allways banning more and more items, but not fighting criminals. In my eyes, this is not correct spirit.

[@tinyj4520]

Don't you people issue pistol licenses to civilians? Maybe they're trying to drive applications?

[@brittakriep2938]

@@tinyj4520 : In 1890s a CCW licence,Waffenschein ' was in Germany introduced for carrying a pistol for selfdefence. This document still exists, but it is very difficult to get it. Even jewelry dealers or similar business persons have problems to get one, most owners are today armed security guards. From about 1905 to 2008 you could without a licence carry blank pistols, firing blanks/ CS / Pepper, lesser common loud blanks or such ones with a large lightning. But since 2008 you need a licence , Kleiner (small) Waffenschein ' to carry a blank gun.

[@jellekastelein7316]

* Imagines finding a boatload of bollock dagger hilts * * Giggles *

[@SanoyNimbus]

Don’t take that first Morgul blade out in the sun light! It will disappear!

[@karlsailor]

Fascinating to handle something that was around during the time of Columbus

[@HobieH3]

Nice. Pay attention algorithm

[@wompa70]

The Swiss Guard dates to 1506 which could explain the popularity of the baselard dagger in Italy.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Good idea, but the baselard spread through Italy and England in the mid-1300s.

[@lalbus1607]

Bullock daggers were really suggestive objects...

[@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367]

I would dosagree that in the period of maile there was no knoves and daggers worn.. its simple that they were not depicted in art.. there is many many examples of fighting knives worn in those times found

[@robertillston2350]

On your comment about the surprising popularity of basilard daggers in England, could that be in part due to our modern mindset of viewing Switzerland, Italy, and England as 'nation-states" rather than, as a collection of territories ruled/controlled by a single monarchy/noble. During the period that the Burgundian state was allied with the English monarchy there would have likely been many "Burgundians" in England (at least around the court" parading with their "cool" basilard daggers, the wearing of the basilard could be simply copying the "new" continental fashion, a subtle way of showing political support, or even an example of the market being flooded by "cheap, foreign" goods. The Swiss cantons (if that term was used for that period) would have been split among many different great houses of Europe, any could have been allied with or seeking alliance with the English court.

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

But that is actually more false. Absolute monarchy is a post medieval thing and England adopted a parliamentary form of government in the 1200s, Italy was a series of communes, Switzerland cantons. The reason why the nationstate associated with those is basically there formal government structure resembles nations for longer than any other countries in Europe.

[@braddbradd5671]

I want the first one it was cute

[@999wilf999]

If you're planning to bid on any of these, I hope you have deep pockets, because I suspect you'll be bidding against Matt!

[@kyuken893]

Thanks for the video Matt! But this is the one context where I am going to argue against evolution in favor of intelligent design.

[@fabiosplendido9536]

In 1545, the Mary Rose sank. Sunk is the past participle. See me after class.

[@shotgunridersweden]

To my knowledge there is exactly zero manuals or treatises specificly dealing with rondeldaggers. Most either dont say what kind of dagger or say its for any kind of dagger or similar implements, do you know of any manual or treatise that explicitly states its about rondeldagger? i wrote an article som years back where i went through all the illustrations in the dagger treatises in wiktenauer and detailed what kind of dagger was depicted, and rondeldaggers are prevalent, but in many manuals they are used interchangeably with other forms of dagger. So atleast based on what i can understand the statement that we know how we fought specificly with rondeldaggers is kindof misguiding

[@tinyj4520]

"BVtt t3h Tr3a tEE Sayuz!"

[@yellowboot6629]

🥇❣️

[@genghiskhan6809]

Context

[@TheBaconWizard]

Frist!

[@titanscerw]

.. and bacon strips ... +][+

[@beepboop204]

🙂

[@elshebactm6769]

🗿👍

[@tomgoff7887]

Many KZbinrs talk bollocks. It seems that Matt does sometimes also.

[@cx3268]

Handle but do not fondle these weapons.

[@bigsiege1848]

rayynaaaaySOOHHHNze

[@peterchristiansen9695]

From cylindrical, swollen tips right onto bollocks (or ballock daggers, as it were…) - without batting an eye! 😂🤣