Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - where most english blades in the middle ages indigenously made?

Jim McDougall · 24th September 2008, 07:14 AM

I suppose it would be a good idea to try to place a time frame for the 'middle ages', which seem generally held from about fall of the Roman Empire, to the 'Early Modern Period of 16th c.'. I would imagine there are varying views but for this question we'll presume the period stated.

In "The Sword in Anglo Saxon England" (H.R.Ellis Davidson, 1962) it is noted that "...pattern welded blades may not have been made in many workshops, and as yet there is no evidence that they were ever produced in England or Scandinavia, though there seems no convicing reason why they should not have been".
This of course would imply that these widely exported blades from the Rhineland probably did find thier way to swordsmiths there, just as they did to Scandinavian regions.

In "Swords and Hilt Weapons" (ed. M.Coe), Anthony North in "Barbarians and Christians" (p.38) notes concerning a 12th-13thc. sword found in the River Witham in Lincolnshire, "...although the hilt is certainly English, the blade was probably made in Germany".

Just thought these notes might help, and look forward to other thoughts, realizing that we are discussing a roughly thousand year period. It does seem interesting that the Solingen phenomenon appears to have much earlier origins than I had previously considered, and truly adds dimension to understanding the much larger picture of the historical development of the sword.

24th September 2008, 07:14 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,767	I suppose it would be a good idea to try to place a time frame for the 'middle ages', which seem generally held from about fall of the Roman Empire, to the 'Early Modern Period of 16th c.'. I would imagine there are varying views but for this question we'll presume the period stated. In "The Sword in Anglo Saxon England" (H.R.Ellis Davidson, 1962) it is noted that "...pattern welded blades may not have been made in many workshops, and as yet there is no evidence that they were ever produced in England or Scandinavia, though there seems no convicing reason why they should not have been". This of course would imply that these widely exported blades from the Rhineland probably did find thier way to swordsmiths there, just as they did to Scandinavian regions. In "Swords and Hilt Weapons" (ed. M.Coe), Anthony North in "Barbarians and Christians" (p.38) notes concerning a 12th-13thc. sword found in the River Witham in Lincolnshire, "...although the hilt is certainly English, the blade was probably made in Germany". Just thought these notes might help, and look forward to other thoughts, realizing that we are discussing a roughly thousand year period. It does seem interesting that the Solingen phenomenon appears to have much earlier origins than I had previously considered, and truly adds dimension to understanding the much larger picture of the historical development of the sword.