Early Medieval Period
Starting from Europe, the sword in the Middle Ages was widely spread, had many variations and was actively used until the New Age. Throughout the Middle Ages, the sword has undergone very significant changes.
The early Middle Ages was the era of the decline of military art, and oblivion of military traditions of classical antiquity. The number of armies is sharply reduced, tactics are greatly simplified; battles are fought in open space, and defensive tactics are used extremely rarely. Armor in decline – only the most notable warriors are protected by leather armor, chain mail or, more rarely, metal scales. Domination in the European societies of the early Middle Ages of the German military-brigade culture makes military affairs elitist and inaccessible to the broad masses of the population. In such conditions, the individual qualities of the fighter and his weapons come to the fore, in view of which the role of the sword in the armament complex is significantly increased. At the same time, because of the decline of the crafts, the sword from the mass ordinary weapons, which it was in the era of the heyday of the empire, turns into an elite weapon.
From the era of the Great Migration of Peoples to about the 8th-9th centuries, the so-called Merovingian sword dominates in Europe, which is the further development of the late Roman sword. This is a cutting sword with a flat or rounded point, a narrow but thick cross, a short handle and a massive pommel. The narrowing of the blade from the handle to the point is practically none, it is rather wide and shallow, the mass of the sword does not exceed 2 kg. Along with swords, the Germans widely used single-edged blades with good chopping properties, such as saex. The Scandinavian version of the ancient German sword is wider and smaller in length, since the ancient Scandinavians practically did not use cavalry due to geographical location.
Around the VIII – beginning of the IX century, the Carolingian sword , or the sword of the Viking Age is spreading. In fact, swords of this type were produced mainly in the Frankish Empire, but the greatest number of finds is associated with Scandinavia.
Carolingian swords are similar to Merovingian swords, but they are more elegant in form and finish, they have narrower and stronger tapering blades with better balance, which makes them faster, more comfortable and flexible in use. Steel for them was used in better quality, due to which the technique of welding a blade from several blanks with different carbon content is almost out of use. The sword was still very expensive and a relatively rare weapon – so, according to the capitulations of Charlemagne, it was considered mandatory only for a cavalryman capable of allowing himself to support a warhorse, but foot soldiers often dispensed with cheaper weapons.
High Middle Ages
In the High Middle Ages there is a growth of cities and crafts, the level of forging skill and metallurgy is increasing. Crusades and civil strifes are taking place. Improved and more widespread armor, the role of cavalry increases. Gaining popularity jousting, dueling and buhurts. Fights often take place in cramped conditions like castles, houses, narrow streets. All this leaves an imprint on the sword.
By the end of this period, the sword has become a widespread weapon available to even ordinary soldiers, which was achieved both through the development of craftsmanship and metallurgy techniques, and through the formation of a second-hand weapon market through the accumulation of its stocks. Judging by the surviving documents, the testament of soldiers, reports of coroners , etc. in England during the Hundred Years War at its late stage, an old rusty sword cost only a few pence – with an archer’s salary of 6 pence a day.
Late Medieval Ages
In the Later Middle Ages, expansion to other countries is under way. The tactics of conducting military operations are becoming ever more diverse. Armor is used with a high degree of protection. All this greatly affects the evolution of the sword. Swords from the period 1350 – 1550’s, sometimes arbitrarily combine under the name “Gothic“ , but on the whole variety of swords of this era – is immense, and it is virtually impossible to reduce to any one characteristic or type. In addition to one-handed swords, there are one-and-a-half and two-handed swords. There are specialized piercing swords and swords with a wavy blade. Starts to actively use a complex guard, which provides maximum protection for the brush, and a guard of the “basket” type.
East
For the medieval East, the most typical blade weapon of this period is usually a curved saber, less often a sword with a straight single-edged blade. Nevertheless, swords, similar to the classical type for Europe, also were in circulation.
The main blade weapon of the early medieval Middle East, in particular the Arabs of the epoch of expansion VI-VII centuries AD, was a straight double-edged sword that differed little from European analogues and, apparently, also originating from the Late Roman counterparts. Only closer to X … XII centuries the sword in this region was actively pressed by the Turkic or nomadic origin of the sword, which by the end of this period became widespread in Iran, Anatolia, Egypt, Transcaucasia and Eastern Europe, and also penetrated into India. The curved Shamshir and Kilich (“Scimitars“) , which are now considered to be typical of the world of Islam, did not take shape until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
In China, a double-edged sword was called jian, it was circulated until the XIX-XX century, although mostly as a ritual or status weapon. Its most characteristic feature is usually a relatively small crosshair. A similar Japanese weapon was called tsurugi and was used mainly until the 7th-9th centuries.
Sources:
Sword // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
Burton Richard Fr. The book of swords. Cold arms through the millennium