Luck: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. (Oxford dictionary)
And how lucky we are as HEMA/WMA students:
Swords of iron and steel survive ‘centuries’ of abuse, neglect, climatic conditions causing near total structural decay, ‘resource recycling’, etc … and we still have many examples of what medieval and renaissance swords really were.
Fechtbuchs and manuscripts – more fragile still … and they too survived ‘centuries’ of abuse, Viking raids, neglect, Viking raids, climatic conditions causing near total structural decay, Viking raids, ‘resource recycling’, library and house fires, world war firebombing, etc … and we still have usable examples of those works!
Last, for some lucky reason, there are a great number of modern students in here and out there intent on ensuring that the true art of historical swordplay is not lost to unlucky circumstance in the future.
Sometimes, just sometimes, we make our own luck!
Them be fighting words sonny!
SIPPICAN WEEK (Marion, Massachusetts) 12 July 14 Expert slices through sword misconceptions (Georgia Sparling)
Jeff Lord is doing what he can to educate the public on what swords ‘really’ are, and more importantly, how they were ‘really used’ historically based on medieval manuscripts.
And why did 12th C priests need a ‘Dummies Guide to Defending the Monastery’?
"There are no police in 1350," said Lord. "You had to defend yourself. Medieval Europe was very libertarian."
Lord said there are no longer people who qualify as sword masters. … "If anyone says, 'I am a sword master.' Laugh at them and walk away," said Lord, jokingly.
And Speaking of Fechtbuchs …
DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE (Northampton, Massachusetts) June 14 ID: Ken Mondschein (Brenda Nelson)
I so-o-o have to share a beer with this man!
Book you’d recommend to a friend: “Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise” by Camillo Agrippa, … translated by me.
Strangest job you ever held: You mean being a fencing master/history professor is normal?
We believe in Luck … How else can We account for the success of people We don’t like?
DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 11 July 14 Is this England's unluckiest sword? Viking broadsword was on the losing side of four of history's greatest battles... and now it could be yours for just £120,000 (Darren Boyle)
(Photo by The Central Scotland News Agency)
An unlucky 11th century broadsword used by the losers of the Battles of Stamford Bridge, Hastings, Bannockburn and Boroughbridge over a period of 250 years is expected to reach £120,000 at auction.
Aside from the very interesting and wonderfully documented story that follows, there are some points for those studying medieval swordplay.
After 250 years of service, this sword was considered effective for the role for which it was created … to engage in face-to-face combat with similarly armed foes. And there is something about the temper and design of this blade that intrigued wielders over two centuries to keep picking it up and strapping it on. Built-in obsolescence did not seem to be a medieval manufacturing concern.
Swordplay did not change all that much in medieval times. An English knight picking up this sword from a long-buried Norwegian cairn would know exactly how to use it.
And last, swords travel. It is not too much to imagine European knights coming back from crusade or other travels armed with the respected weapons of their foes. That is, if those same foes didn’t bring their blades to your house first!
Snippets
- Swordsman ‘and’ artist … Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio? Nope!
- Armour – Are You going for Form or Function?
- Ladies and Gentlemen … Ms Katy Perry - Swordswoman!