Edward III's two handed sword

[Jim McDougall]

Hi David,
Definitely an excellent link! Good work there Holmes

I see that this sword is definitely attributed to Edward III, and it is stated it is intended for use in battle, and clearly the 'great sword' was well in use as early as c. 1250AD. Actually I have seen suggested that there are apparantly archaeological finds even earlier. It seems most of these great swords had blades of up to about 48", which seems of course somewhat smaller than this one.
From what I understand, these huge swords were indeed intended for 'shock' action, however they were not widely employed in these earlier times, and they were not commonly seen, especially not of this size. It seems the preponderance of them are from Continental regions, especially German locations, and of course by the 16th and 17th centuries the zweihanders and claymores are well established.

While this sword is attributed to Edward III, and apparantly presented to the chapel at Windsor Castle for display among knightly achievements, it must have been of his number of weapons. He was clearly a 'hands on' leader of men and very much interested in warfare and certainly its weapons.
While we can presume, as typically illustrated in artistic depictions, that he led in battle, mounted, it does not seem that this type of dismounted weapon would have been wielded by him. Perhaps it may have been carried under the saddle as the heavy swords or estocs for foot combat, however more evidence of this early use of these saddle swords (14th century) would need to be seen.

Illustrated The Battle of Crecy (26 Aug 1346) N. France; Edward III in lead

All best regards

Jim