Medieval falchions were not like battle axes
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Many people seem to assume that medieval falchions were heavy axe-like cleavers. They were not. Here we look at how they actually were historically and what they may have been intended for.
I can just imagine the knightly review of this falchion already
"Performed remarkably well in the last peasant uprising. Penetrated gambeson of the ringleaders, and made short work of the conscripts. Had minor difficulty with the few wearing maille hauberks and helm, and had to resort to using my bollock dagger to bypass it when the blade was blunted. 7/10, would purchase again, but unlikely to see much more use due to specialization."
heheh
Fredzors52 underrated comment
the Knightly Review Magazine.
Fredzors52 the peasants are revolting!
@@bluesap7318 yeah, they stink on ice!
So... axes are for peasants who want to murder nobles and falchions are for nobles who want to murder peasants... sounds about right.
Eric Martin
Real men kill both with a xiphos.
@@mattaffenit9898 xiphos are really nice looking
Real men use a spear.
Seems bout right!
Well, a battle axe takes comparably little Material and a normal woodcutters axe only makes dents and armour is best fought with something that makes dents deep enough to kill.
Werewolves - No armour but you want really want to slice deep. They will shrug punctures off, but you cannot walk off tendon damage.
Fucking underrated comment. lmao
Hmmmm. Have to remember that for Hunter-the Vigil
D&D and White Wolf, both seal right back up for normal weaponry. IIRC, 5e only halves mundane damage, but there's no "tendon damage" anyway, and I don't know new CoD Urathu (vs old WoD Garou). Better off multiple spearmen trying to quickly turn them into pincushions then something more specialized like fire. If silver's a thing, arrows are all you needed to begin with. Fuck melee with an infectious manshredder sprinting and bounding about.
You sound like you're speaking from experience ;)
Ouch!! You are so right!
If Knights were more or less the equivilant of a tank - armor, hitting power, mobility, the Falchions strike me as the equivalent of a tank's coaxial machinegun. Not much use against another tank/knight but great for hitting the unarmored folks.
exactly
Plus the thing would function really well as a machete too, and i have often wondered if they may have been multipurpose in that extent because i do know clearing areas and setting up temporary fortifications may have relied on readily available tools. It would be effective and efficient to have another weapon that can do both i guess? I could also be entirely wrong and im okay with that
@@jeebusyaweirdo3733 That would be supported by the fact that there was a sword called a 'Hantak' which was a falchion used by Pioneers (who performed the role of clearing a path for the following army) . It had a toothed blade (like a saw) and was short in length, but it is possible as you suggest that it could have been used in a multi purpose way to deliver a chopping action (which I think is what you are suggesting). I like your observation.
@@whitesun264 thank you, I just try to look at it how I would set up an army. Obviously since we are discussing a military that didn’t have vehicles of any sort or planes, everything relied on being carried by foot and by horse. This being said, you already have a shit ton you gotta carry between armour, weapons, food, and ammunition alone. So if I were a general, I feel it would make more sense to equip my army with things that can also possibly function as tools, which would greatly decrease the amount of stuff needed to carry due to not needing extra tools and it would also cut down on war costs as well, as you wouldn’t have to have specific tools made. We know warriors had used battle axes to fell trees in the past despite not really being designed for that function, and we have also seen peasants bring wood axes into battle in the past despite not really being designed for that purpose.
@@whitesun264 plus your knights and commanders weren’t the ones who would be doing jobs like clearing and fortifications, that labor would be the foot soldiers. This is something to consider seeing as those equipped with the falchion were also the foot soldiers. We may be on to something here
I shall name my falchion "serf's-bane" in honor of this video lol
sef's-slayer would be a nice alliteration ... wait, maybe not.
Churl Chopper.
Rick Ansell Good one!
Peon Punisher
maggot musher
Clearly, it is for fighting female warriors in their chainmail bikinis, and Spartans in their leather speedos.
hah
Lol
Yo what kinda history was this??
rotlf
@Holden Mcgroine Pretty sure the phalanx is moot if you don't actually dorm a phalanx lol ;)
Falchions feel like better balanced machetes.
Machetes are typically quite thin.
survivor, it really depends on who made the machete and what it's for. Machetes made primarily for chopping through lighter stuff are much thinner and lighter because they need speed at the tip to work correctly. Those would probably handle much like a falchion. Machetes for chopping through brush and branches are thicker because they need to be stronger and heavier to get through tougher material, and those do handle more like axes.
@A survivor
You don't know much about machetes don't you. Most real machetes (i.e. not Cold Steel) are under 2.3mm at the handle and under 1.8mm at the tip. Some are as thin as 1.3mm at the tip. Yes, real machetes do have distal taper, even I wouldn't believe it until I actually measured. Here is a picture of a part of my collection, with blade length, weight, thickness at handle and at tip, and center of gravity:
img11.hostingpics.net/pics/208990machettes01.jpg
Cluny/Conyers type falchions are indeed improved machetes with a sword hilt, narrower but thicker at the guard for more stiffness, which is much needed (the long Yegua Tres Canales machete is quite floppy near the handle).
survivor, you sound like you have had very minimal experience with machetes. Likely the ones you used at work were cheapos bought for their price and with no thought given to their handling characteristics, and you've got something similar at home. But there are dozens of different kinds of machetes from probably hundreds of different makers, and they are not all built the same.
MadNumForce I don't know where everyone gets the idea that machetes should have full "utility" edges. No. That's bullshit. Granted, pretty much all of my machete experiences are with Tramontina, Imacasa, Bellotto and Bidor. Sharp, thin cutting tools. Some, and a small amount at that, are thicker. Usually African, or Jamaican.
"Time to slaughter the peasants. Hand me my falchion."
Great theory. This makes me think of the convention alluded to by other scholars, of portraying "bad guys" with falchions in medieval art. Could it be that a noble/knightly warrior specifically arming himself to fight his social lessers was looked down upon by society? "Knights should only fight other knights, so any knight who carries a falchion must be immoral or dishonorable.", kind of thinking. Just throwing it out there.
That actually sounds really plausible. Good thinking
i don't think so, codes of chivalry were diferent from lord to lord. I recomend you Shadiversity's vídeo "the truth about the code of chivalry" and also his series "The truth about the falchion and the messer" to further dig into the topic of this vídeo we are comenting on.
This sounds to me like the old myth of monks and friars going to war armed with blunt weaponry to not draw blood. In war (especially back then when there where no such thing as a Ginebra treatise) eficiency is the rule.
I'm talking about an artistic convention, not the practicalities of war.
Thisold Hatte oh, it's an interesting theory then.
+Kevin Lobos
Cringy when people cite Shadiversity as a source. He's an enthusiast, not a reliable source. Huge difference. Every single one of his videos has huge errors (yes I watch his content) which spread further misconceptions. You can enjoy his content, but always take it with a grain of salt.
"Nobody knows!" C'mon Mat, you're over-mystifying it; most of sidearm swords throughout the history were slashers, almost all "viking" era swords, early bronze Chinese swords, katanas, sabers, even most of medieval arming swords ... not all people wore (or could afford) armor in all the times, and not all encounters were in battlefield, especially true for the sword you wear constantly.
Matt, in support of your theory, Skall did a video week before last in which he attacked some thin "gambeson" type material with various weapons. The material defeated most everything he used except a "clip" bladed falchion which cut through the material on the first try. I believe you are definitely on the tree here, if not on the target. Dante.
The sword that was used was a Albion "Soldat" Langmesser. These swords are similar to falchions but most of them are dated to the 15th century and they were used by the lower classes in germany
I remember watching a program on the History Channel which described the falchion as being an axe-like sword. This is one of the reasons I stopped watching the History Channel! Thank you Matt for the awesome info.
Sword of repression
Like most swords then.
Especially if from a lake "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"
But it's not a scimitar
Dragon50275 to "I say old lady"
Man.
My wife is a Chef and she has fallen in love with Falchions and Messers. She says it does have rather a lot to do with her career.
I wonder what you people eat. Julienned mammoth?
We're from Nevada. Big Horn Sheep, Bear, Elk, Deer, Mustang, Cow, and Moose. Plus ya gotta fight off Wolverines, Wolves, Badgers, and the errant vicious Meth Head for them vittles.
Aspie Sean. eating mustang? Disgusting.
Don't mock it till you've tried it. =P
Not Pulverman, it's a rather shallow point of view to exclude just one animal from the list of meat that humans can eat just because of personal attachment; many different cultures have entirely different views on food animals. One specific breed of dog is bred as livestock in Korea, and it is blasphemy in Jewish culture to eat pork. Quite frankly, once an animal is dead, it isn't using the meat, and it's a waste of resources to *not* eat it. Sentimentality is a purely human emotion, the mustang would eat you if it were pressed for choice and you were dead.
That's seems like a reasonable assertion, Matt. If I had some lower status fighters, predominantly protected by heavy gambeson, to dispatch, after the loss or destruction of my primary weapons, that's what I might do - the extra cutting capacity would certainly be useful against heavy cloth armour. If you were up against an opponent who was one of the few amongst of commoner soldiers you were attacking who happened to be wearing maille - the symmetrical hilt would imply to me that you could easily flip it in hand. This would allow you to use that extra hitting capacity to strike at areas where bone is close to the surface, like the forearm/wrist or collar bone, with the spine, in the hope of landing a disabling blow, whilst not destroying your edge. It could just be an artefact of arming sword hilt construction though, obviously.
As I said: "It could just be an artefact of arming sword hilt construction though, obviously." And as Matt clearly states in the video, it's entirely possible to hurt someone through maille, but to use a falchion's cutting edge to do so would destroy the edge very quickly. I'm fully aware that it could just be custom, and said as much, but there are examples of single edged weapons from the time that time and earlier, than have a correspondingly asymmetrical hilt. I simply suggested that the retention of a symmetrical hilt may have been purposeful. Try reading my actual comment, and listening to the information in the video.
"Help, help, I'm being oppressed!"
Do you see the violence inherent in the system?
"SHUT UP!!"
@@BigPuddin Comeandseetheviolenceinherentinthesystem!
is it from the king arther?
"It's not particularly quick," he says while nimbly twirling it around
Matt you need to do a video about how you would take down the mountain.
Interesting idea. How would Matt defeat Westero's greatest fighters?
with a basic knowledge of sword combat - which none of them seem to have
Of course. I mean them being the proficent fighters they're protrayed as in the books.
Nick Graham Well first he'd grab his spadroon...
he would have to keep his distance or he will end up like Obryen.
Have you seen Shads videos on the falchion/ messer? He talks also talks about how they are specialized anti gambeson weapons too. Pair that with Skallagrims recent videos on cutting gambesons and you can see that the most effective weapons are the falchion and kopis (which has a very similar blade to your falchion). It makes sense since the best way to cut through gambesons are seemingly with "tip cuts", and as you can see with your falchion thats basically what they are built for... Centre of percussion almost at the top for tip cuts against padded armour.
I'd love to hear more about the lower class soldier throughout the medieval period
Gambesons. Not steel armour. They could cut through gambesons and their edge would not chip.
gambeson protect very well against cuts, they are still expensive to produce. against gambeson i would prefer a pointy sword.
@@tatayoyo337 Most tests I've seen show Gambesons doing better against a thrust than a cut.
@@Altonahk indeed weapons like Messer, Katana and sabers shread Gambeson, whereas longswords etc far less efficient in the cut and thrust. A famous HEMA guy did some tests on this, that where I got my info. Of course against maille or plate the longsword is much better.
@@Giagantus It really depends how well the sword is sharpened, but having more heft really does drive it in
100% agree with this assessment. Elmslie is doing great work.
Our club did a few tests with an Angus Trim falchion versus a gambeson type 6 made by Spes. It had virtually no trouble getting through the fabric, even light cuts got half way through it. Medium and heavy cuts went through the fabric and into the ballistics gel or the dowel beneath that.
I think people coming purely from a physical archaeological perspective tend to over focus on the traits of the weapon they are discussing while trying to figure out it's niche. In doing so they underestimate the importance of anthropological sources (such as scouts) on the battlefield while determining what weapon was selected for a given engagement.
People play this "If / Or" game of arms vs armor that doesn't really measure up to the way war was waged. If you know that your opponent is mostly men-at-arms armored with gambesons, and you have them, you employ the use of falchions. If they aren't. You don't.
People like to imagine that the adverse to having the appropriate tools is this "Uh oh" moment like "Shucks, we brought all these falchions and half their army is heavily armored gentry... Oh well, lets fight anyway."
That didn't happen so often, lol. In fact it happened so seldom that they really are benchmarks in history.
Falchion aka the "NOOB SLAYER!!" :P
sixyears
*Zweihander*
Do you even praise the Sun, brah?
Agnarr Salventius pls estoc bestoc
@@cryoosprey6657 Please, neither can compare to glorious nippon steel...or just eastern steel I guess?
Peasant Cleaner
scholagladiatoria: "Falchions were likely used for peasants"
me secretly to myself: "...and the napes of titans"
It is basically a machete. And unfortunately recent African genocides give you reason : it is very effective against peasants.
@Admire Kashiri people getting hacked up in south africa and more in Zimbabwe and the congo therez loads of times in recent history were protesters and civilians were cut down by the humble machete
weird science also soldiers kill each other with machetes, they are brutal and untrained more like a gang than an army. Talking about most of the recent African wars.
@Admire Kashiri OP was probably referring to the Rwandan Genocide in '94, where large numbers of Hutus were equipped with Machetes to kill their Tutsi neighbors.
@@litkeys3497 i was indeed 👍
@@axelva2635 its shocking not too far back europebwas the same
You can break a heart through mail, Matt. The sudden, even if inevitable, betrayal can break a heart.
Chivalry, honor, loyalty... all about tha feelz...
I have a theory that slashing weapons like Falchions were designed to defeat cloth gambesons. Most soldiers on a medieval battlefield are not going to be able to afford full plate or even mail armor. According to some sources, a mail hauberk cost as much as a house in those days so most fighters like archers or low-status footmen would only have cloth gambesons which a slashing blade can cut through very easily.
Actually a quilted gambeson is exceedingly cut resistant, and 15-20 layers might even stop some types of arrow shafts. (You can wiki ' gambeson ' since links put here tend to disappear) ON the other hand, if there was a sword that would be good at cutting into gambesons, or at least delivering punishing blows, bruising flesh you can't quite cut into... (or slashing out wrists or throats) I think this is a good choice!
Whenever I see those videos of people testing on super thick gambeson I always wonder just how hot the soldiers would get on a summer campaign and how many of them would suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke especially if fighting on a summer campaign during the medieval warm period in the desert.
I do wonder how accurate those super thick layers would be.
+loyalsausages you can get good penetration with tip cuts and interestingly enough the falchions seems optimised for cutting with the tip
I recently started HEMA and last week sparred for the first time in a thick quilted fencing jacket made from cotton over linen layers. Felt like I was going to die. It was unbelievably hot, so I don't doubt for a second heat stroke and exhaustion would have been a problem on the battlefield.
That is why I believe that the thickness of gambeson is somewhat exaggerated by a lot of weapon and armor tests. I sure that very thick gambesons are very effective but in a prolonged melee in the heat you wouldn't be able to fight very long.
I hit the like button at around 3:15 to 3:30 just for the insight on the mechanics of blunt replicas. I always learn something here besides your opinion, Maestro. Thanks again.
people in the comments calling falchions horse choppers are off their rocker. falchions don't give you nearly enough range to safely dispatch a horseman.
Cole .S correct, and in situations where the horsemen is surrounded and cannot avoid a falchion, any weapon will be fine at taking down the horse.
It wouldn't be a bad weapon to use from horseback, but that would make it more of a foot soldier chopper.
It's to chop a limb off of a horse if your knightly opponent is still mounted, and you are not.
It's an equalizer.
If the aztecs cold cut horse head whith there wooden swords, i bet a knight could do this as well
lordjor96 Weren't those sticks tipped with obsidian though?
Excellent video and good points, that's how I've always seen falchions as well.
The falchion does look like a great kind of sword for cutting through a gambesson or other padded armour. If watch the video of skallagrim doing cutting tests on a gambesson he finds that straight swords have a problem of skidding off the jacket. However, swords that have a forward curve (like a falchion does) have more traction and do more damage
More edge.
“...the best thing to go through armor is a point and its an interesting point…” -scholagladiatoria
Well said...
Suggestion: Sharpened true edge for the peasent in stuffed linnen, Blunt false edge for the knight in Plate. You have a symmetrical handle, just turn it.
His satisfied look when he says "chopping up pesants". Nice.
This conjures a terrifying vision. Imagine being a peasant holding tight on his spear, shoulder to shoulder with his fellows, watching these death machines coming at them, the spear points glancing at their armours or pushed aside by their shield, and now the falchions are drawn. Nowhere to retreat, limbs severed, …
This always struck me as a weapon specialized for raids and ambushes. They probably gave this sword and a shield to a small unit of men, and sent them in at the times when the enemy was most vulnerable. I'd imagine a night raid by a contingent of armored men wielding their falchions would be quite a terror for the frazzled enemy. The knights could enter the fray, hack as many defenseless opposition as possible, and remount and retreat.
you've made one of my favorite historical blades into a grim,violent,savage weapon cheers! Do you think the grosse messer has the same intended purpose??
Pyrrhus Epirus gross Messer was a weapon for use by the peasants, mot by nobles.
The nobles just carried real swords, and only the peasants had to settle for "big knife..
It's all about the handle construction. Under medieval law in many places peasants could not own swords, but the definition of a sword came from the construction of the handle. A sword had a peened pommel and a tang going through full cored grip, a knife had scales and rivets. Size didn't factor into it.
Because of this legalese the German peasants simply constructed large "knives" for self-defense, some of them as long, elegant, and ornate as noble swords but still knives under law.
(You see messer means knife in German like Not Pulverman pointed out.)
So, they probably had the same purpose in that a messer would be used by a common man to chop up other commoners and bandits, but the falchion could not be owned by commoners because it was technically a sword.
To reiterate: the messer is the people's sword, the falchion is a real sword for nobles only.
@@EgoEroTergum There are almost no examples of peasants being restricted by law so that they couldn't own swords. Most simply couldn't afford it.
Having only 1 edge also allows sides to descend towards each other at a sharper angle, which enhances soft material cutting properties. Your theory makes perfect sense.
Knightly Butcher's Sword of Peasant Slaying?
If you do tests could you do one thing? Have a slightly moving target? All the tests I've seen are totally stationary and I doubt anyone you are attacking will stand there politely saying please go ahead good sir!
Perhaps when there was some commotion happening in the city you send in a few knights armed with these to settle things.
When I saw my first falchion many years ago, my thoughts on it's use was the same you used in your video. Thanks for this informative video. Have a great day.
I'd love to see a chopping demonstration for that blade, although it might to tough to find a willing peasant in this day and age. :)
Use it on an unwilling peasant then. Jokes apart, you can only use it on pheasants.
I can feel your messer review coming! :D
Perhaps the peasant cleaver was its primary purpose, but if one encountered an armored opponent the user could flip to the blunt side and whomp them with percussive damage. Were the grips and guards always symmetrical like the one you were holding? Does it feel much different when you swing it back side forward?
Great subject, and based off my off my understanding of similar weapons your interpretation makes sense. I mostly train with traditional Chinese weapons, and the dao has very similar profile to many falchions. However, most dao have a clip point for improved thrusting but are primarily cleavers. The main targets are arms, legs, and neck. What thrusting we do is either to the face/throat or a reinforced thrust to the mid section at close range. This really only works because of the types of armor a Chinese soldier was likely to encounter. Anyway, thanks for another great video.
Shad did great series of videos about falchions and messers with James Elmslie :)
Yeah Shad's series was great, especially the parts about how the messer might have been developed, oh and the whole typology thing.
Hi Matt, great video! I would differ with you very slightly in that there is no particular need to specialize a sword for cutting unarmored flesh. Most of the swords of that time would have been more than effective enough. It becomes much harder to cut flesh covered in cloth. Even winter clothes could have made a significant difference. I speculate that falchions were designed to counter textile armor. In the example you gave countering common spearmen, the falchion is well suited to delivering effective cuts to arms even through multiple layers of cloth. The falchion seems to me to be a good tactical solution to textile armored spearmen.
shadiversity did a series of vids on falcions, coming to the same conclusion.
Shad worked with James Elmslie, same with Matt as he mentions here, so they're both working from a very reliable source.
Yay! About time you did another falchion video :)
Shad had a great series on this, coming to the same conclusions. I was making rpg rules for falchions that did well against heavy armor like axes, but since changed them to be the anti-light armor specialist.
"so, if you like, this is sort of the styling of the Cluny falchion with the size and proportions and weight of the Conyers falchion." That sounds perfectly said. Really respect your videos, great to hear you speak. Thanks for uploading great content Matt.
Where would they put the falchion after use? Would it go through a belt loop, or a specialised scabbard?
Meriadoc Gunson but would it not rattle because it's wider in the end
I saw the video you're talking about, but from what I remember he mentioned it was a more specialised or custom job. Plus his was a different shape to Matt's.
A question I had pondered on for some time, the falchion falling from favor, peasant levies going out of favor, and changes in the composition of armies in general toward more professional career service. Had the Great Plague had much influence in these separate observations?
any chance they were intended to cut pole arms shafts with the use of a shield it would really put of some spearmen since the pole arm would be there main defence just a guess though
same shape as some chinese weapons
A survivor yeah thanks i wrote this before watching the whole video and just thinking outloud
A survivor makes you wonder why theres so much hype over a katanas cutting abilitys when swords like this exist
oh god don't mention the katana! it never ends well xD
A survivor even tho it wont buckle it will roll the edge as the steel is too soft although i agree that with the steel available this is a great design its just not as good as a lot of other sword designs
I never tried anything like it, but I bet it's really hard to cut through a spear shaft with any kind of weapon under any normal combat circumstances. I can't think of a weapon that would be good at it. I bet it was never a thing.
If you put the pole arm in a vice, or some other unlikely situation, sure, you could break the shaft. A big mallet might be best.
You've had those callipurs for quite some time, Matt. When will they turn into butterflies?
Good video, thanks for addressing the subject!
Maybe it's an anti horse weapon. A good way to take down a cavalry trooper is to take down the horse.
Makes sense that it went out of favour about the time horses started to get more armoured. It is somewhat backwards though - falchions seeing less use and then horses get more armour.
Ever seen a horse? I wouldn't want to fight a horse with a falchion, even without an armed knight on top. If you were holding a falchion you might take a swing, but it doesn't seem well designed for anti-cavalry. For anti-cavalry you want a formation of long spears. Or land mines.
Land mines? Dude, I don't think i would want anything less than a loosened pommel.
There's a reason the Chinese horse cutter blade is on the end of a nice long shaft.
Going against cavalry with a sword is suicide. The horse would crush you, or the rider would kill you.
Hey Schola,
Thank you very much for the high level of detail and thought you give these videos, I'm not sure why I haven't previously subscribed, but this video has answered a number of questions I had regarding the use of falchions and messers, especially into the middle and late medieval period (given the use of more and more metal and less cloth armor).
You've more than earned a sub and a like! Keep up the hard work and best wishes for your future success. (I'd also recommend you add your patreon or other funding mechanisms to your previous video comments, as these are still being viewed by nerds like me.)
With Thanks,
Sam.
So were they effective against dragons like in Fire Emblem?
IEnjoyBeingNaked asking the real questions.
Interesting, as you were speaking and questioning the falchions usage, my first thought was that it was meant to be used against peasants/peasant levy. I recently saw a documentary on the Battle of Visby where a large peasant force that was armored fought against a professional force of Danes and Germans and were slaughtered. It was noted that although many of the peasants were well armored and had helmets, they did seem to lack protection at the legs - and that's precisely where many of the not killing blows seem to be directed, the legs. If I were a knight, fighting such a force, it seems to be the most logical area of the body to target. A good weapon to do that with? The falchion.
Where did you get that axe, I love it?
Master Ha'satan axe from Peter Szabo, there is a review
Awesome thanks, I'll take a look.
Ha Satan - "The Avdersary", or "the Accuser"
Indeed, good to see someone recognizes my name.
Great video, thank you Matt. Maybe you should set up a Patreon or Kickstarter for your ideas for testing proper reproduction mail and things of that nature. I'm sure the community would leap at the opportunity to fund the materials costs and repay your time if it meant we could see a series of weapon and armour tests from someone we have confidence in. I don't know exactly how those crowd funding systems work but I'm sure you could set one up so that people can contribute directly towards the particular tests they want to see, and when a given experiment reaches its funding goal you could do that one. I'm sure it would bring a lot of traffic to your channel from outside of HEMA, too. Cheers.
Putting upity peasants in their place.
I love the blend of history and experimental archaeology. Sure, this is niche knowledge, but it is knowledge. Actual, real, academically-useful knowledge. Any historian worth her salt should be here. And, it must be said, the comment section is a model of how to engage in informed and civilised discourse. And humour. Your fans are clearly gentlefolk.
Conclusion: Spam R1
Hi Matt, awesome to see the ol'falchion again and it would be really exciting to see a collaboration with Mr. Elsmlie! just a thought, or maybe an observation; based on your theory that cleaver style falchions would have primarily been used to hary and take out lesser armored and (mostly) conscripted soldiers could if be reasonable to see it fulfilling a role similar to much later Hussar style sabres? I have a decent enough replica falchion of a similar blade profile and holding it and moving it I can't quite get the 1796 Light Cav out my head.
aren't you quite fucked up if you meet a nother knight than? I think in these days they would wear head to foot mail, and if you can't pierce it, you would have a hard time. Maybe you can have a spear as a primary weapon, but i don't know of scabbards for falchions, so they are probably "a pain in the butt" to carry around!?
Knights carried multiple weapons as Matt has stressed many times. Switch to whatever the situation requires. I'd guess they'd carry a Mace in a belt loop for the other knights or something similar! Plus if they have a steed... Well, attach your extra weapons to the horse.
It was common for a knight to have a sword (or in this case a falchion) at his side, a dagger (rondel or bollock for finding gaps in armour/poking the face during grappling) to his other side. a longsword to the sadle, a lance in his arm, a shield strapped to his arm and possible even extra weaponry.
Going for the longsword against other gendarmes (after discarding the lance) and falchion for rounding up fleeing lower classes (were there other classes than gendarmerie and fleeing people?).
Here is my take on this. A knight could kill maybe 10 peasants in the same amount of time it would take him to kill one knight, because you pretty much have to maneuver around close to him and try to hit a gap in his armor to kill a knight. So a knight in a battle might naturally go for weaker targets, to have as much impact as possible. So really, you don't need to be equipped to deal with other knights, if the enemy knights also want to target your peasants, you will both naturally avoid each other.
What the other guys said. Plus, people seem to forget that you can always just run away, go find your squire and get a different weapon. Sure, if you're on foot and he's on a horse, you're screwed, but let's imagine you're on equal grounds and you go "Fuck it, don't feel like dying today" and leg it towards your camp. What's he gonna do? Unless he has a massive speed advantage, by the time he catches up to you, you'll be near your troops and chances are one of them will have a weapon that CAN deal with a knight. Or they just overwhelm the fucker, knock him over and stab him in the face.
Cause battles often lasted for hours, sometimes the whole day. It makes sense to think that people, especially cavalry, would occasionally fall back to resupply. Cause what are you gonna do if your lance gets stuck in the first peasant you run through? Are you going to spend the rest of the day swinging a sword around, risking getting shish kebab'd by someone with a longer weapon or are you going to take 10 minutes to ride back to your squire, grab a new lance, maybe take a breather and then ride back out, rejoin your formation and stab some more peasants?
Falchion (nor any other sword, for the most part) wouldn't be a knight's primary weapon. It's as specialized as a mace.
Falchions did have scabbards.
Thanks for doing a video on one of my favorite and unfortunately misunderstood weapons. A real beautiful sword.
The word you're looking for is hypothesis
No, he said historians were still debating and researching the topic heavily and they are not really sure of the answer. Sure it's a well thought out hypothesis, but nowhere near enough evidence to consider it a scientific theory.
Also hypotheses ARE, in fact, based on prior research and observation.
Actually, a theory is established fact through empiric evidence or in the case of the humanities established through multiple credible sources. It's in fact a (working) hypothesis. Although one built upon a good argument and some research.
I specifically like the contextualization with the changes in warfare and social makeup of armed forces of the specific time when this weapon was used. It's definitely a direction of thought that should be followed more thoroughly.
Thanks for sharing your insight with us, Matt.
I'm not sure I've even got as far as hypothesis yet, given its yet to go through peer-reviewed publication.
if it ever does reach theory point, I suspect it'll be because its posthumous, and I cant rewrite it any more.
(ok, I'm exaggerating. I'm 90% certain I'm not going to be rewriting the basic thrust of it all, unless I find a missing link in some backwater museum. Lets just hope its not the Piltdown Falchion...)
Someone should point out that Matt isn't a scientist, and meant theory in the colloquial meaning rather than the true scientific meaning. Anyone volunteer?
Kaen no Kage: The problem is that the guy we all replied to was a smart-ass bragging about what a scientific theory is or isn't, who now deleted his own reply (at least that's what I assume, because it's not here anymore). I'm pretty sure Matt knows the difference, he does have a BA in History and Archeology after all.
I've heard other HEMA commentators say it should be great for against those who previously got away with just wearing a gambeson for armour. They did tests with longswords, backswords and even katana and they all struggled to cut through gambeson. So there is theoretically a niche for a "super deep cutter" that's best for getting through many tough layers, but doesn't worry about hardness of steel mail or plate.
Oh dear.. Im a peasant :S
99% of us are.
Get an Goedendag then, the proper weapon against knights.
Okay, that settles it, I´m getting a falchion and naming it "Peasant-cleaver"
My theory: Horse-choppers
to short
there is a reason horses stayed in use, and it's because a charging horse is something a human with a sword would not go near , I always used to think why do people use horses you could cut them down? , but they must have been extremely effective and scary , and as other people have mentioned before me horse offensive weapons where long .
viable
Agreed ... There's a big difference between a horse running past you and a horse running over you. ... Also, in battle a foot soldier would be surrounded by other foot soldiers, so even if he didn't panic and run, he could get trampled by his own side before getting trampled by a horse.
Seems likely to me, also the classic weapon carried by 15th century English archers alongside a buckler or "target". General purpose soldiers who were remarkably effective hand to hand vs horsemen and pikemen.
There are number of blades which seem to have inspired the same line of thinking or were continually reinvented, but were most effective against unarmored opponents or opponents with only partial armor or lighter armor. For example, the falcata of the Celtiberians impressed the Romans greatly (partly also due to the superior Iberian steel). They seem to be an improvement of the Greek kopis or the smaller sizes of falx used by the Thracians, again often very effectively against the Romans. Even the Viking seax bears a functional resemblance (borrowing mostly from the cleaver and stabbing sides of the lineage). The falchion were later innovations along the same lines, all seeming to derive from a hybrid of cleaving weapons, forward-curved, sickle-like weapons and straighter stabbing weapons. Some naraja blades and even the largest Bowie knives could be thought of as indirect descendants.
My fascination is with the falcata, honestly. As you probably know, "The falcata has a single-edged blade that pitches forward towards the point, the edge being concave near the hilt, but convex near the point. This shape distributes the weight in such a way that the falcata is capable of delivering a blow with the momentum of an axe, while maintaining the longer cutting edge of a sword, as well as the facility to thrust. The grip is typically hook-shaped, the end often stylized in the shape of a horse or a bird. There is often a thin chain connecting the hooked butt of the handle with the hilt. Though almost identical to the Greek kopis, the falcata is distinguished by the sharpened false edge in the second half of its length."Have you ever talked about that type of blade? I often wonder why it was not a style that continued. It may have been a bit unwieldy or lacked the reach of later swords, but it does seem to have qualities of single-edged cleaving blades, forward-curving blades, back-curving blades, and double-edged stabbing blades. Compared to a falchion, it seems that it might have had more thrusting capability but nearly the same hacking capability (although less reach). They even had a sharpened partial false edge, unlike the kopis of the Greeks or the falchion. Apparently, the Celtiberians would use them to mince Roman shields, banded armor, and cut through their spears, as well as remove or damage unarmored limbs.
The somewhat similar falx was also similarly devestating: "Marcus Cornelius Fronto described the large gaping wounds that a falx inflicted, and experiments have shown that a blow from a falx easily penetrated the Romans' lorica segmentata (banded armor), enough to incapacitate or kill a majority of opponents. These experiments also show that the falx was most efficient when targeting the head, shoulders, legs and especially the right (sword) arm, which was generally exposed. A legionary who had lost the use of his right arm became a serious liability to his unit in battle. During conquest of Dacia by Trajan the Roman army adapted personal equipment while on campaign, and it seems likely that this was a response to this deadly weapon. Roman legionaries had transverse reinforcing iron straps applied to their helmets - it is clear that these are late modifications because they are roughly applied across existing embossed decoration. The legions also reintroduced the wearing of lorica hamata (mail armor) and lorica squamata (scale armor) for the Dacia campaign as both were more flexible than the newer segmentata armour which was able to distribute damage more widely. In addition, both these older armour styles had unique modifications, a row of pteruges was added to the sleeves, a double row of pteruges was added to the skirt and a heavily padded vestment was worn underneath them. Roman armour of the time left limbs unprotected; Trajan introduced the use of greaves and an arm protector (manica) for the right arm, which had previously been used only by gladiators, and which was never used again by soldiers once the Dacia campaign concluded." Speaking of the larger two-handed falx, "The blade was sharpened only on the inside and was reputed to be devastatingly effective. However, it left its user vulnerable because, being a two-handed weapon, the warrior could not also make use of a shield. It may be imagined that the length of the two-handed falx allowed it to be wielded with great force, the point piercing helmets and the blade splitting shields - it was said to be capable of splitting a shield in two at a single blow. Alternatively, it might have been used as a hook, pulling away shields and cutting at vulnerable limbs, or striking the edge of a strong shield. The inward curving point was still able to pierce the armour or flesh of the target behind the shield, rendering even the most reinforced shields much less effective against a falx wielder."
The facata were not two-handed, but were apparently effective against similar targets as the falx. Extrapolating to the use cases for a falchion, one could imagine that the armor of lower class levies or of most "barbarian" opponents (except the highest classes of them) would be lighter than mail or scale armor or absent altogether. The falchion (like the earlier falcata) would cleave through the spears, axe handles, light armor, light helmets, and wooden shields of these opponents. As you mention in the video, they were not nearly so effective against chain mail, scale mail, or heavier plate armor, especially as more and more of the body was covered. Similarly, they were probably not very good against steel shields or heavier helmets.
Anyway, sorry for the long-winded comment. Great channel!
Early!
Aldito Hernandez Shadilay brother!
Hans Kekhoffer i really like how HEMA is getting slowly filled with memes and inside jokes/sexual innuendos
Captain Dickmann It's probably the best part now tbh
shadilay brothers
Captain Dickmann Warning... Do not drink and pommel!
Any evil peasant (defined as: Peasant who annoys you), doesn't deserve a death from an honourable knightly weapon.
Enter the falchion.
The swordsmen of the empire in Warhammer wield quite a few Falchions which aren't to badly designed. They seem a bit thick, but I'm willing to attribute that to the restraints that the modelling plastic has.
Just a guess here, It seems like this would be a weapon possessing a profile that strikes fear, especially to the lesser trained. It reminds me of a giant straight razor. I think people tend to think everyone fighting in the medieval period were all trained knights and men at arms with optimal armor. Of course this is not the case. The numbers of a typical army were conscripts with hodge-podge armaments. In my mind this type of weapon seems like it is a human meat clever with the added bonus of a nice belly to skin or fillet flesh from bone. In my experience fighting sword and shield it is common to cut at the legs. A well timed hack or cut to the inner thigh is a man killer. A good stroke to the enemy sword hand with a blade of this type is a fine example of the Skywalker maneuver (relieving the enemy of a hand at the wrist.) I am less confident, but I'll put it out there anyway, perhaps this particular blade profile has less energy loss when contacting soft armor such as gambeson?
If used by infantry formations, it's worth considering what types of enemy formations they would deal with. If it was a backup to a spear or other pollarm, then it makes sense that something like a pollaxe and dagger would be more optimal for heavier armored opponents, and this would work for closer engagements with more lightly armored targets.
If it was used in spear formations expected to encounter cavalry charges, which would render some of the spears useless after they get stuck into the enemy, perhaps they were used after the initial charge was stopped. Maybe hacking at horses who weren't impaled, but lost the momentum of the charge.
Another possibility would be for use against enemy ranged units.
Now I want one just to call it my "peasant carver"
I find the thickness, especially at the base of the blade, surprising. With that wide of a blade, and that thickness, the edge geometry must be rather fine. Especially considering that the blade is hollow ground. Fascinating!!!
"Basically anything pointy will go into a human body; if they are not wearing anything." - Matt Easton out of context.
Very well spoken and put together, thank you for sharing.
Mat has all the prettiest things. **Is filled with jealousy**
Matt seems on point with this. A falchion would be great for melee fighting with people who partially or lightly armored. If an opponent has a helmet partial mail or a gambeson you can chop his legs or hands off. Almost any hit to an unarmored part would put that person out of commission.
The long version as you demonstrate there doesn't lend itself to a chopping action but a falchion in the form of a short sword would lend itself more readily to a chopping action. From watching your demonstration, I can imagine that it would be used effectively at mid body level; I would think in the 1200's 1300's few people would have been fully armoured (so more likely partially armoured) which would have meant they would have had vulnerabilities for a hacking type weapon. Also the sword reproduction you have has a width which diminishes towards the tip (5mm down to 3mm?) if the blade did not taper like that but again the thickness was largely the same from base to the end, that again would lend itself more to a blow / hacking weapon. Maybe the short falchion wasn't used by Knights (not a peasant weapon, but not Knights either). My guess is most Falchion's were the short variant, and the ones carried by knights (the long form) would have been less common and were really only maintaining the style / aesthetic but perhaps were actual less effective than a shorter version used in a dismounted role.
This probably gets asked a lot, but I'd love to see a little tour of your collection. Thanks for all of the great content!
I remember some records here on Portugal that in our fights against the moorish their cutting sword sometimes cut through helmet and head. A long time before that the Lusitanian tribes produced swords we now call falcatas, with which they sometimes cut through Roman wooden shield along with soldiers' forearms, at least until they began to reinforce the top of their shields with iron.
So... Yeah, I agree with you, unarmoured people, but probably also lower quality protective gear...
I want an army of bald, muscular, gaunt English people running onto the battlefield shouting "Hi folks, Matt Easton here Schola Gladiatoria!"
As a veteran slaughterhouse employee, I agree with your thoughts on this. I can guarantee that if you get the tip-region of a sharp falchion moving fast enough, and it is the speed which is critical, it will be absurdly dangerous. A quick smack across the chest would kill anyone.
Cuir Buolli - Rawhide boiled for 10 minutes in water and glue, then molded into various shape or cut into plates and formed into lamilar armor. The armor would harden soon after being boiled. It was cheap, effective armor, popular in the 12-13th century, and with padding underneath could survive arrow fire as well. (arrows penetrate, but not very deep, a good quilted gambeson then 'catches' the arrows before it penetrates the flesh. -- This sword looks perfect for cutting into that type of armor, and perhaps doing some percussive damage against someone wearing mail, even if it would be stupid to use against someone wearing actual steel plate!
Very interesting explanation that you gave here! Talking about falchions being in fashion only for knights or men-at-arms... when I think of the armies from this period that were implemented by the rich Communes of northern Italy such as Milan, the falchion seemed to be the main weapon of the first line of infantry formations (together with a big squared shield). I would therefore say it wasn't a prerogative of the knights to use it. What do you think?
Makes you think that that edge geometry would work best at chopping hands, arms, neck, collar bones, etc.. Maybe even gambison..That would have a great chance of biting through that material compared to a arming or longsword..Its definitley gonna bite deep and long in soft tissue or material
When falchion in hand and facing a knight in armor, you could always unscrew the pommel and throw it at him, to end the opponent rightly, The proper way to fight a night!
Definitely has a sense of a 'Butchers Blade'. The 'grind' alone proposes that . That blade looks to boil down to a very deep full , or high, flat grind (or hammered/forged profile.). It may even have an element of high concavity to it with little secondary edge or micro-bevel.( difficult to tell really would be interesting if you could offer some detail on it Matt ). Such an edge as that edge would very easily roll and splinter against any really solid obstructive material. The blade would be perfect for separating limbs and lumps from the main torso mass, and doing it swiftly with optimum carry through and ongoing blade mobility and fluidity in use. That there Falchion , she be a 'gurt cutter, slicer and lopper she be'...
That is a beautiful falchion. It'd be a good companion in a rough part of a medieval town, someone tries to mug you, they lose a limb or two and bleeding profusely. It'd be nasty good against unarmoured horses.
Matt, I'd like to point you at the very early-14th century depictions on the chest of Courtrai, which is currently on display in Oxford. I know art pieces like that are difficult to interpret, but it's interesting to note that most if not all of the depictions of falchions are in a scene in which the Flemish are attacking a French stronghold/garrison and not in the scenes of field battles such as the famous battle of the golden spurs. Perhaps this can be seen as something that supports the theory of fighting less- or unarmoured opponents? Or that there was some other function to the weapon that made it a valuable implement in siege fighting?
I think it would also do drawing cuts very well. with the weight and the shape, all you'd have to do is lay the edge on something and just pulling it back would let the weight do the work very well
I know DnD thought falchions were two-handed. Though that misconception made them excellent for my half-orc barbarians
I think you’re right - the Conyers falchion, local to me, was supposed to be used on a ‘worm’(?), a mob perhaps? Also local to me, at one point, was the legendary falchion of Sir William Walworth, with which he fatally wounded, the presumably at best lightly armoured, Wat Tyler. The purported weapon is on display, but is thought to be of a later date. I know if I had to chop up a big worm it would seem an obvious choice