Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

(Oakeshott Type XIV, 1275–1340) and finally a flattened-diamond section
that made it more suitable for piercing mail exposed in the chinks in the
plate (Oakeshott Types XV–XVIII, 1290–1500). (Type designations for European
swords are based on the system developed by Ewan Oakeshott.)
Daggers in the form of miniature swords also came into general use among
knights in this period, as did such weapons as the mace, battle-ax, and warhammer,
which could actually damage plate armor.
The sword remained the principal weapon of the knight, however, and
this subphase saw the full emergence of the new profession of fencing master,
who taught the art of swordsmanship to anyone who could pay his fees.
This art remained distinct from the essentially civilian type that emerged in
the sixteenth century (along with the light civilian sword called the rapier);
the knight could strike any part of his opponent’s anatomy, and parried
blows with his shield rather than his sword or dagger. When fighting on
foot, knights often abandoned their heavy war-shield for a small round
type called a buckler, which could be held at arm’s length by a central bar
across the back.
The old idea of knighthood as a military profession was emphasized in
this phase through the foundation of a growing number of knightly associations
or societies, comparable to the guilds into which most other professions
and trades were organized. Of these the most important were the curial
orders, founded from 1325 onward by kings and effectively sovereign
dukes throughout Latin Christendom. The phase also saw the steady rise of
the parallel profession of the heralds, who became true officers with legal jurisdictions
in many countries and were gradually converted into a sort of
priesthood for the secular religion of chivalry. The chief herald of each kingdom
or quasi-regnal state would eventually be attached to the monarchical
order maintained by its ruler, thus cementing the intimate associations that
had already grown up among knighthood, chivalry, nobility, and heraldry.
Long before this, heralds had begun the useful practice of compiling
lists of the knights present at tournaments or on campaigns, or resident in
particular districts, regions, or kingdoms, or even in Latin Christendom
generally. Because the names in these lists were accompanied by either descriptions
or representations of the knights’ armorial bearings, they are
called either armorials or rolls of arms. The first known armorial was compiled
in England in 1255, but the others date from 1270 or later, and the
practice of preparing them was to be characteristic of the high and late classic
phases.
These lists and others compiled for military purposes demonstrate
that in England the number of knights had dropped by 1270 from perhaps
5,000 to not more than 1,300, of whom perhaps 500 were fit to serve in
battle at any one time. The numbers in larger countries such as France and
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