Classification of swords
The English language terminology used in the classification of swords is imprecise and has varied widely over time.
were used to label weapons of similar appearance but of different historical periods, regional cultures, and fabrication technology.
[7] Historical European Martial Arts associations have turned the term spada da lato[8] into "side-sword".
Elizabethans used descriptive terms such as "short", "bastard", and "long" which emphasized the length of the blade, and "two-handed" for any sword that could be wielded by two hands.
[14][15][16][dubious – discuss] The great sword was developed during the Renaissance, but its earlier cousin the Scottish Claymore was very similar in size and use, like the "outsized specimens" between 160 and 180 cm (63 and 71 in) (approx.
The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BC during the Spring and Autumn period;[19] one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian.
[20] There are also larger two-handed versions used by ancient and medieval armies and for training by many styles of Chinese martial arts.
In modern times, the term longsword most frequently refers to a late Medieval and Renaissance weapon designed for use with two hands.
The German langes Schwert ("long sword") in 15th-century manuals did not necessarily denote a type of weapon, but the technique of fencing with both hands at the hilt.
George Silver[32] and Joseph Swetnam) is a single-handed "cut-and-thrust" sword with a 4 ft (1.2 m) blade[23] similar to the long rapier.
Historical terms (15th to 16th century) for this type of sword included the Italian spada longa (lunga) and French épée longue.
The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages.
[45] The "tuck" (French estoc, Italian stocco)[citation needed] is an edgeless blade of square or triangular cross-section used for thrusting.
[citation needed] The small sword was the immediate predecessor of the Épée de Combat from which the Épée developed[46] and its method of use—as typified in the works of such authors as Sieur de Liancour, Domenico Angelo, Monsieur J. Olivier, and Monsieur L'Abbat—developed into the techniques of the French classical school of fencing.
[citation needed] These are single-cutting edged, usually thick or curved construction bladed swords, typically designed for stonger slashing, chopping, severing limbs, tripping or broad sweeping techniques; but were often very poorly designed for stabbing.
This type of sword was first developed in Europe in the 15th century and reflected the emergence of asymmetric guards, which made a two-edged blade somewhat redundant.
In China, the dao is considered one of the four traditional weapons, along with the gun (stick or staff), qiang (spear), and the jian (sword).
Historically, katana (刀) were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (日本刀, nihontō)[48][49] that were used by the samurai of feudal Japan.
The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade usually with a round guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.
[51][52] The falchion (French braquemart,[53] Spanish bracamarte) proper is a wide straight-bladed but curved edged hanger or long knife.
[citation needed] The British sabre, American saber, French shable, Spanish sable, Italian sciabola, German Säbel, Russian sablya, Hungarian szablya, Polish szabla, and Ukrainian shablya is a single-edged curved bladed cavalry sword.
[58] The scimitar (French cimeterre, Italian scimitarra) is a type of saber that came to refer in general to any sabre used by the Turks or Ottomans (kilic), Persians (shamshir) and more specifically the Stradioti[59] (Albanian and Greek mercenaries who fought in the French-Italian Wars and were employed throughout Western Europe).
[60][61] The scimitar proper was the Stradioti saber,[62][63] and the term was introduced into France by Philippe de Commines (1447 – 18 October 1511) as cimeterre,[64] Italy (especially the Venetian Republic who hired the stradioti as mercenaries) as scimitarra, and England as cimeter or scimitar via the French and Italian terms.
