Medieval Sword Vocabulary
Following up on the post about medieval swords, here’s an extensive vocabulary list for swords from http://www.thearma.org/SwordForms.html From all us medieval-obsessed people, thank you for posting it! _______________ SWORD PARTS Many sword types are closely identified with a particular style of hilt. Yet hilts were very often replaced on blades over time a weapon. Thus, a sword cannot be classified or categorized by whatever kind of cross, pommel, or grip it has, but by the length, form, and geometry of its blade. Hilt – The upper portion of a sword consisting of the cross-guard, handle/grip, and pommel (most Medieval swords have a straight cross or cruciform-hilt). Called the Handhabe in German. In Old French the crosspiece was called helz, the grip called poing, the pommel called pom, and the handle might be bound with metal rings called mangon. Cross – The typically straight bar or “guard” of a Read more…
Child Rearing in the Middle Ages
It’s hard to get a handle on what child care was like in the Middle Ages–or what exactly was the prevailing philosophy. Certainly, the ideal childhood of today’s middle class in the US or Europe, did not exist during the Middle Ages. Sources that describe what child rearing was like are all over the map, in terms of the degree of care, love, maternal obligations, and how long childhood lasted. A child’s life was also circumscribed the class into which he was born. Certainly infants were viewed as needing loving and attentive care: “Writing around 1250, Bartholomew the Englishman said that if it is too hot or too cold when a baby comes from the womb into the air, the baby becomes miserable and cries. Following the advice of medical writers, he suggested that to cleanse the infant’s limbs of their Read more…
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