Early SIDESWORDS! Complex Hilted Medieval Arming Swords

Looking at the appearance of what we now call sideswords - complex-hilted arming swords, which had reached a developed level by the late 1400s.
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[@dantherpghero2885]

'Getting smacked in the hand is never very pleasant'. The kind of insight only a living historian and sword expert of Matt's caliber can provide. Context.

[@HeAndrRoiz]

Wasn't expecting to see the Portuguese referenced anytime soon, I'm glad, Matt! There's also a very famous painting (on a panel) from around the same period (1469-1471) that shows the same type of sword, you can see them if you google "Paineis de São Vicente" or "Saint Vincent Panels". In addition to swords they also depict armour used by the highest nobility in the country.

[@eduardovogt5113]

True, very nice reference

[@Honeybadger_525]

The sword that King Afonso is holding look a lot like what is commonly called a "crab claw-hilted" sword which was popular in the Iberian peninsula and Italy during the late 15th - early 16th centuries.

[@MrColuber]

Afonso. The man's name was Afonso. Not ALfonso.

[@Honeybadger_525]

Ah, my darn Castilian tendencies. Sorry Portuguese speakers

[@malahamavet]

i like the Iberian related videos, its less known compared to other nationalities and I'm always excited to learn more. I also wanted to use a sword like this in my fantasy world but always had the doubt because it's a medieval kind of world. Now im sure that it doesn't look that out of place. I'll also show this video to my friend who is writing another fantasy story, and one of his cultures is inspired by Spain and Portugal and other by Italy, so he'll be interested in this

[@gwynbleidd1917]

I mean it would be kind of out of place in a medieval setting. It only shows up a little bit in a select few locations near the last 50-ish years of what's considered the medieval period. It's mostly a Renaissance design.

[@malahamavet]

@@gwynbleidd1917 if it doesn't have the knucklebow it's basically an arming sword whith a circle. It would be the simplest version, not the popular and complex renaissance sideboard and rapier. Also in his fantasy word, Humans are descendents from planet earth, living in a magical planet after centuries, and because cycles are a theme in his world, humanity was kind of reset, so history re started, and the people of that world are mostly mixed, both culturally and in aesthetic, so they have medieval technology but their names, music, cultures and weapons and armor are a mix of diferent time periods, so for them USA is a legend, and they use equipment and clothing from the antiquity mixed whith medieval and renaissance things. They don't know why. Basically if your culture was going to disappear, what elements would you want to save and pass on. That's what happened so each new culture has the most essential elements of other cultures. Of course I tried to advise him and avoided things that don't blend well together. It's now a weird random mix but a deliberate one

[@gwynbleidd1917]

@malahamavet why would the USA be a legend to them then? As an american I can tell you that we have like almost no original culture and what culture we do have is dogshit. Its all appropriated lol.

[@awesomedude00001]

Thank you Matt for another excellent video on fingering. I didn't know that people with the right equipment struggle to get their whole finger through, and are only able to fit in the tip, never having owned such equipment myself.

[@FarmerRiddick]

That is an aesthetically pleasing sword. I really appreciate the lessons and history Matt Easton conveys!

[@mysticonthehill]

Always happy when you delve into continent arms and armor history.

[@Dragonamg2]

I aspire to have half a dozen cool swords in reach of where I’m standing.

[@riccardomercante6751]

You will go from "yeah half a dozen, cool" to "a full dozen is obviously better" in a blink of an eye ahaha.. have a good sword journey

[@everythingisinfinite4602]

can confirm, a full dozen only holds you over for about a month.

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

Good goal

[@nathandurbin9260]

People say that crack is a expensive addiction try swords lol

[@zackdines]

Go to a museum. Womp waaaahhh

[@LucaHMafra]

It would be cool if you could talk a bit about these styles of armour common in the Iberian kingdoms. I know you're probably not very familiar with them, but any little piece of knowledge would be appreciated. 😊

[@jwnomad]

I've never been so early SIDESWORDS!

[@LucaHMafra]

Nice to see some Iberian content! Good one, Matt!

[@madao7865]

I am weirdly fascinated with the pommel on this one.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Lol, same..

[@Echo_419]

Can it be unscrewed? 🤔

[@Echo_419]

@@Urizen777 brother, get the bolter. The heavy. Bolter. We must end this heresy!

[@floz336]

Definitely a butt plug shape lol

[@madao7865]

@@Echo_419 Maybe not UNscrewed...

[@ZiggyFool]

It's truly inspiring how he manages to go through the entire video without reacting to some of the phrasing at all. lol

[@SylvaHodracyrda]

Just the fact you own a copy of that book is enough for me to like this video. Those tapestries are absolutely gorgeous with details, and a very nice addition to understand late 15th century Portuguese armory, which extended a bit to the early 16th.

[@ilejovcevski79]

These are probably my favorite renaissance swords, both with and without joining rings, and it took me quite a while back in the day, before i could date them to the early Iberian colonization days. BTW, those swords in the tapestry do appear to have somewhat broader blades, more akin to arming swords.

[@alastoromega1426]

Enlightening as always Matt! Follow-up question on some of your past vids regarding the xiphos, the gladius/spatha, and the eventual evolution of the arming sword: Why didn't the leaf-shaped blade design return to prominence after its decline? As you've noted reach was the main issue due to material/technology limitations but by having both the pointed tip for better thrusting against lighter armored opponents and the further-out center of percussion giving greater heft in the cut, wouldn't it be superior to the standard arming sword design we see?

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

I love these history bits. The early development of the complex hilt. In a nutshell with illustrations. More pieces of the puzzle. Thank you.

[@tombearclaw]

That simple ring hilt reminded me of a LOTR sword that Is really only in one scene, the scene where the Nazgûl attack the Inn at Bree. They’re swords have a ring punched in the blade of the sword. I know it’s a fantasy sword but I still think the design is pretty cool

[@grailknight6794]

Nazgul swords are fucking awesome

[@Aivahr1]

Always interesting!. This sword is like the mother of early rapiers swords. I love learning history and history of swords. Greetings from 'Academia da espada', in A Coruña. Very good video,

[@antoniooliveira139]

This is an extremely interesting video, but there are a few misconceptions. I have been researching these swords on the Portuguese side, and at least over here there seems to have been a 'missing link', betweent the 1420s and the 1440s, between the early finger-ringed swords, like the Alexandria, and the double-quillon swords of the 1460s onwards. I have yet to find this missing link in Castile, which suggests that the first move towards the double quillons was taken in Portugal. Minor quibbles: the tapestries are from circa 1475 (the conquest took place in 1471). And there is no such thing as Spain in the 15th century - you have Portugal, Castile, Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the kingdom of Valencia, the kingdom of Granada...

[@peterchristiansen9695]

This video would serve as a simply FANTASTIC segue into a related subject, that I feel could do with some sweet "attention" (😁): Seeing that you’ve made a video with Tod about his (absolutely AWESOME!) reproduction of a Swiss sabre found in the Wallace Collection; perhaps you would consider doing a video on the early, complex swept hilts that were sometimes mounted on later longswords; specifically ‘bastard swords’ / ‘hand-and-a-half swords’, from about the second half of the 16th century? 🙂 These hilts seem to have evolved in parallel with complex swept hilts of side-swords and rapiers. 🗡️🤓

[@crominion6045]

When I heard "Pastrana tapestries" I imagined pics of guys doing insane tricks on motocross bikes...👍

[@Eric-ux2ji]

Using a finger ring is like using the Shakehand grip on a table tennis bat

[@gunblade7610]

New purchase and new video. Matt Eastern knows how to write off his swords ❤️ oh and I love that style of side sword very Bolognese marozzo!

[@khartog01]

These are quickly becoming my favorite type of swords.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Looking forward to your next book, The Origins of Fingering: How to Get the Most Action in Your Blade.

[@martins.4240]

"When you are fingering an older sword, use just the tip."

[@HERRESHOFFGSD]

Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing.

[@TobyBedford-x6t]

That one's a beautiful piece matt

[@talvheet602]

Portugal being mentioned in schola? Peak youtube.

[@frankharr9466]

That all makes sense. Thanks.

[@Cyotis]

Very kewl!

[@Miralis-ml7ig]

I'd like to see some more stuff on indian swords, there are some really interesting ones especially during the 1700s that id love to see you cover like you did for african swords

[@funwithmadness]

I can confirm... Getting smacked on the hand even through a gauntlet is very unpleasant. I used to get whacked on the back of the thumb. It sucked! The thing about an opponent's weapon sliding down and hitting your hand is that the direction of the force is such that the gauntlet doesn't really have any way to diffuse the energy. It just turns into a hunk of metal slamming your hand. Whereas if the attack comes across the back of the hand, for example, the force get redistributed into the handle of your weapon.

[@BogeyTheBear]

My first sword was a Gus Trim AT-1548 (Type XVIIIb with ricasso) that I had Christian Fletcher do a full-up reitschwert hilt with finger rings and two pairs of side rings. I'm convinced the complex hilt in such a longsword was intended to let you wield it one-handed from the saddle rather than serve any utility when wielding it two-handed on foot.

[@Psittacus_erithacus]

The average bar on a hilt is generally several *_times thicker_* than the metal on even mitten style gauntlets. This could be quite important to you if assaulted by heavy cuts or (on a particularly bad day) any sort of polearm. Nothing is going to "cut through" plate armor, but injuring a hand through percussive force or even outright crushing deformation of a gauntlet is a very plausible, indeed historical, outcome.

[@oliverhahn2384]

On the issue of the manuscript illuminations not showing the fighters using the finger rings: Would it also be possible that the artists simply did not understand how to "correctly" hold those swords? I wonder if we need to allow for some artistic inaccuracy here. Aside from the obvious issue of a mitten gauntlet not allowing me to extend fingers through the finger ring, of course...

[@BPOOHEAD189]

More sidesword and backsword videos please! I love those swords

[@thomaslambert5317]

What we consider to be complex hilts come in earlier than lots of folks think. I have a custom arming sword with a knuckle bow based on art depicting St Martin from a book of hours dated 1440

[@tomnaughadie]

This is my favourite category of sword, except maybe those Swiss two handers...

[@docnightfall]

I'm surprised that the Windlass Munich didn't come down off the wall in this one.

[@LordPhoenix140]

This is a topic you should have covered with Lucy while drinking wine.

[@toddgreener]

I feel so smart. As soon as he started talking about finger rings I was like "oh yeah, they can act kind of like the schilt on a feder"

[@Tetradugenica]

Matt you look good with a tan. keep the videos coming.

[@GrandDungeonDad]

Did someone say “swords on SG?”

[@mcyooper820]

you know i was thinking, what If the finger rings would stop a deep stabbing blow from going to the hint an easyer to pull the sword out ?

[@garyobrian3597]

Will you ever consider doing a break down of the sword fight scene from the great race in a future video

[@ashleysmith3106]

I've never understood why the cross-guard wasn't just moved forward slightly, and a ring or another crosspiece placed BEHIND it for the finger to hook onto, still leaving the wide protection of the cross-guard in front of the fingers ? Somewhat like the principal of modern fencing swords ( although they use a cup hilt). Did it really take people 400+ years to come up with this concept?

[@ahuman6277]

One thing Matt doesn't mention here is that when you use a finger ring, the crossguard plays a vital role in stabilizing your grip by bracing against your hand between thumb and forefinger. If you put the crossguard on top of the rings it'd be easy for your grip to slip forward into an awkward position and you'd generally have less control. With modern fencing swords it's less important because they're feather light but both sideswords and similarly designed rapiers are freakin heavy and you need the crossguard's support.

[@-RONNIE]

Good video thanks ⚔️

[@GaryChurch-hi8kb]

Were gauntlets lethal weapons in themselves? Any testing done on this?

[@littlebigheroman]

You specifically chose the most phallic hilt you could find for the thumbnail, didn't you?

[@paulcunningham2859]

I lived in albacete they made some beutuful swords

[@jesseshort8]

I wonder if the opposite side of the 3rd ring ever got any treatment? Maybe not a ring of the same size, for ease of wear, but just a small connecting bar or something. Just to stop from loosing your finger if the blade slides down the flat. Seems like the next step in the natural progression of things.

[@Nastyswimmer]

That's a beautiful sword - where can I buy one?

[@raphlvlogs271]

finger rings on sword hilts were at least invented 2 times in history 1 for the index finger to aid thrusting another for the thumb to aid cutting

[@mallardtheduck406]

That is a really nice Sidesword by kveuten Armory!

[@Khar_Toba]

Something I never see mentioned about Meyer's art is his "rappier" obviously has finger rings but he is never shown with his finger through them (that I can recall). Something more than just finger protection going on for sure

[@juanmiguelsebastian1477]

i like the hilt of that sword (first sword shown)

[@Sk0lzky]

I love how finger rings connect to the point you've made in the round grip video - why put a finger ring over the guard to "finger" it if you can make a small protrusion under the guard (and perhaps shift quillons a little higher) to achieve the same effect with better finger protection (and less work)? Because someone just did it and it stuck until complex hilts surpassed it, even if it wasn't not the best or easiest solution.

[@bookbunny16]

Great info! Nice video :)

[@jameslightfoot1872]

I'd love to have that kind of guard on a German longsword.

[@raphlvlogs271]

did they also have finger rings on falchions or other single edged swords back then?

[@Specter_1125]

There is the Swiss saber, which has finger rings.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Still not sure why you'd want the finger in front of the guard, rather than adding the ring and a small bar below the guard/move the guard forward

[@greg-ln9tl]

you need to give a course on swords

[@mallardtheduck406]

I am torn between the sidesword and the cup hilt rapier as my favorites...I am a geek..

[@RobertFisher1969]

Rada, by the way, puts two fingers through the finger ring.

[@Barlas511]

Do one about the Persian,Turkish and Mughal swords.

[@Eckister]

genuinely surprised by this.

[@holstensolar4648]

Muy buen video👌

[@eduardovogt5113]

I would like to add that Matt said the tapestries date to 1470. Thats not true, as the events that are shown happened in 1471. The tapestries are dated circa 1475.

[@silverjohn6037]

3:30 I'd be curious to know it the ring on that style (because there's a gap between the tip of the ring and the side of the blade and the ring seems so small for a finger) was originally meant to trap the opponents blade but it made people think they could use it for fingering the blade which led to the larger ring styles of the later blade.

[@pedrogaiao8527]

@silverjohn6037 it's generally hold today that the Portuguese invented the Double guards sword (also known as Crab sword etc) by 1430-1440's, só it seens the guard of Matt 's sword is a development over the former. But I think the early Portuguese style are Just finger rings

[@HypocriticYT]

Is there references of swordsmen losing/ missing fingers?

[@danieltaylor5231]

"Iberian Peninsula that includes Spain and Portugal" Gibraltar and Andorra "he never mentions us" 😩😩

[@andreweden9405]

As soon as it started I was like "PLEASE don't tell me that that thing is a BORING trainer with a rolled tip"... and then I saw the rolled tip.😐😮‍💨 Nevertheless, Matt, there is an even earlier Portuguese work of art depicting this type of sword, and it's extremely beautiful, and even more detailed than those tapestries. It's the St. Vincent Panels attributed to Nuño Gonçalves, and dates to about 1455. It also depicts other popular Mediterranean weapons such as ear daggers, and some type of glaive-like staff weapon that I've honestly never seen anywhere else. Of course, unlike your sword there, which is sort of like an Albion "Machiavelli" type sword, with the straight quillons, the Iberians seemed to have an obsession with downturned/downward bent quillons. Why? Who knows! But it's just something that they loved for some reason. Perhaps there's a Moorish influence there, but I don't know.

[@HeAndrRoiz]

Those panels are not from 1455, but some 15 years later, so they would have been painted around the same time as these tapestries.

[@AllTheOthers]

I have a beautiful sidesword myself, ridiculously heavy though.

[@jessebechtold2973]

I wonder if there’s any evidence of cross-pollination between the Iberian/Italian side ring on the top of the finger rings and the German Nagel?

[@DkGaston]

I hope IMCF ends up allowing finger rings for dueling. So heppful!

[@mallardtheduck406]

Matt, I have a personal question for you, which type of Sidesword do you like the best, The type you were holding or a similar one with a knucklebow? I notice a lot of sword practitioner's prefer a Sidesword without a knucklebow....however watching You over the year's and knowing how much of a saber fan and Spadroon fan You are...🤣 Do You like sword hilts with more hand protection , or the Bolognese sword style? Thanks My Friend from Across the Pond!

[@Whatthehell-nx4ju]

Matt, how comes you don´t switch to collecting pre-1800 swords or at least take a few into your collection?

[@scholagladiatoria]

I do have about 30-40 pre-1800 swords in my collection and have featured some of them on here. But as a general question, pre-1700s swords are usually much more expensive, so I only have one original rapier for example. Good examples of rapiers generally start at £2000.

[@Whatthehell-nx4ju]

@@scholagladiatoria I bet there is an antique longsword waiting for you somewhere on which you won´t be able to say no! ;)

[@SkyForgeVideos]

Can you do a royal armories version with Windlass?

[@scholagladiatoria]

We're currently working on the second batch, but there is no sidesword in there this time. However, there is a basket hilt and a rapier.

[@SkyForgeVideos]

@@scholagladiatoria Would really like to see a two ring sidesword someday. There really aren't many options out there. There's a Kingston armories one but I'm not a fan of the curved Quillons. I much prefer the look of the straight ones like in the sword you show here. Where did you purchase this sidesword by the way, if you don't mind me asking?

[@TobyBedford-x6t]

I'd love to get a side sword to replace my 1796 that I use for self defense around my township so far I haven't the cash

[@texasbeast239]

5:05 😉 Another great one.

[@rhino7342]

That pommel looks familiar

[@00784865]

I have the same type of sword but i prefer mittens for it for one simple reason: red dragon gauntlets are ABSOLUTE SHIT when it comes to finger protection. You have the same mobility but a much much higher degree of protection.

[@thenathanr4243]

An idea about the bigger finger ring, I'd be worried that parrying a powerful blow near the ricasso might deform the ring. on a big ring, not a big deal! on a ring that is touching your finger? Big problem. Maybe not, 1400s metallurgy was quite good, so maybe it wasn't a problem?

[@Shitballs69420]

Sword nerd check 🤓

[@patrickmac777]

Does anyone know why the rings were above the cross guard and not below?

[@emilbordon1329]

What an armoury you have acquired in your wooden fort. You should get your mates together and challenge some other online weapons enthusiasts to a big spectacular melee or just a muck about with balloons tied to sticks. Better than most of the rubbish on the box these days.

[@sethaldarith6778]

Namedrop that tapestry, bro.

[@annatar2186]

Can you make a video about Bardiches?

[@manfredconnor3194]

You'd think that even in war you would want the control offered by the finger rings. Finger rings are for dueling and gauntlets are for war? In war you are often fighting in formation, so you do not have the range of motion that you would normally have, because of your buddies to the right and left?

[@manfredconnor3194]

@@fyaunz4k97bmod Agreed.

[@custos3249]

I quite like a good finger ring

[@beepboop204]

[@WhatIfBrigade]

How would the rings affect half swording? Any advantages or disadvantages?

[@Sirsethtaggart3505]

Fingering is much underated...

[@AdlerMow]

What effect does this gauntlet do to punching? I think it can KO even against a helmet!

[@Leftyotism]

NSD! ( New Sword Day )

[@thechroniclesofthegnostic7107]

That Kvetun is a beautiful piece. *Sigh* very deadly indeed--most of all to my bank account. 😂

[@martinguerra5152]

thats why I love Deepeeka

[@benjaminwilks5162]

I'm sorry, you did what to the guard?

[@tonybennett638]

Holy shit reckon I was in the Iberian Peninsula in another life ...🤪

[@squatch2461]

🍻