The Mystery of The katana

[Aloïsius]

True- most of those weapons would have been use in small numbers on a mass battlefield, such as by the Housekarls who fought William the Conqueror a couple of weeks before his more famous battle in 1066...

Early Franks soldiers made heavy use of throwing axes called "francisques".

 

[Dausuul]

Which is why swords, and spears are probably better for armies. You really don't want to be standing shoulder to shoulder with a guy that has to keep his really sharp axe in constant motion. At least with the spear, they are all generally going to be pointed the same direction.

Well, it's all situational. If you're in a tight formation, yeah, you don't want an axe--you want something stabby. Spears are best and swords work pretty well too.

On the other hand, if you're in a chaotic melee where the battle lines have broken down, and you find yourself on foot squaring off against a knight in full armor? A big two-handed axe or warhammer, with enough reach to hit a mounted man from the ground, a head designed to penetrate plate, and a hook on the back end to yank the guy off his horse... that's an awesome thing to have right then.

Of course, somebody eventually came up with the clever idea to put a spike on top of the axe, so you could do both--use it like a spear in formation, then use it like an axe after the initial charge. And thus the halberd was born. The Swiss, who were the supreme bad-ass infantry of the late Middle Ages, made excellent use of them.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Early Franks soldiers made heavy use of throwing axes called "francisques".

True, but those were meant to be thrown. Even if used as melée weapon, they're smaller and less massive, so wouldn't require the same kind of space and effort to swing properly- it's a different technique.

 

[gamerprinter]

In reading Samurai-Archives.net, I've been reading where katana or any sword was a secondary or better yet, quaternary weapon in the hands of a samurai - at least until after the warring period was over. Before the Tokugawa Era/Edo Period - the great peace that lasted from the mid 1500's until 1868, the katana was given barely a thought except in dueling situations.

The primary weapon of the samurai was the bow. Next came the naginata spear, then arquebus, and finally katana. Even then a tanto dagger was a preferred close combat weapon over even the katana.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu - the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, declared the katana as the 'soul of the samurai', it was really more a statement of propoganda. Conferring to samurai the katana as a symbol of office and caste, not as a weapon of war.

Japanese armies need bow, naginata and arquebus to instigate war and win them. The katana is an officer's weapon, little more.

GP

 

[Imperialus]

True, but those were meant to be thrown. Even if used as melée weapon, they're smaller and less massive, so wouldn't require the same kind of space and effort to swing properly- it's a different technique.

Interesting side point about the Fransisca. According to some re-enactment sources the Fransisca actually bounces, and bounces quite erratically when thrown. This suggests that they were actually used as a terror weapon rather than being thrown directly at a front line. You would arc it over the front ranks and then let it bounce around the rear. I'd imagine that getting hit in the back of the head with a half pound of metal would ruin your composure, even if it wasn't the sharp bit.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I believe Peter Woodward demonstrated that chaotic quality on Conquest.

 

[Wicht]

Kobold Quarterly's Real Steel post today is on the Katana.