Messer (weapon)

A Great Knife in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Messer (German for "knife") is a term for a class of single-edged bladed weapons. While the various names are often used synonymously, Messer are divided into two types when terminology is used strictly.

Lange Messer ("long knives") are one-handed straight blades originally developed from tools of everyday use. As such they are mainly used by the peasantry and civilians of the cities for personal self defence. They were about a meter long and stood in the traditions of saxes, or rather their German form, the Bauernwehr ("peasant's sidearm"). They later evolved into dussacks. As they derive from chopping tools, they are also known as Hiebmesser (Hewing Knife).

Große Messer ("great knives") are curved weapons up to 1,5m long, used with one or two hands, and normally wielded by professional warriors of the 14th to 16th century, such as the Landsknecht. Because of this, they are also called Kriegsmesser (War Knife). They are a German variant of heavy French falchion and later became replaced by the modern sabre.[1]

Features

Fighting with a Messer and a "Hungarian shield" (Gladiatoria Fechtbuch fol. 55r, mid 15th century)

Common to most knives of either kind is that the hilt included a straight cross-guard and Nagel: a nail-like (Nagel literally means 'nail') protrusion that juts out from the right side of the cross-guard away from the flat of the blade, to protect the wielder’s hands. Quite notable in its construction was the attachment of blade to the hilt via a slab tang sandwiched between two wooden grip plates that were pegged into place. Also of note is that many pommels were 'drawn out' or curved to one side of the hilt (edge side), a feature known as a "hat-shaped pommel". Extant examples seem to have an overall length of 30 inches (76 cm) with a 24.5 in (62 cm) blade, and a weight between 2–2.5 lb (0.91–1.13 kg).

The Messer was part of the curriculum of several fencing manuals in the 14th and 15th centuries, including Lecküchner (dealing with the civilian Long Knife), Codex Wallerstein, Hans Talhoffer, Paulus Kal and Albrecht Dürer.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Vesey, A.; B. Norman (1980). The rapier and small-sword, 1460-1820. Arms and Armour Press. pp. 68–71. ISBN 978-0-405-13089-2.
  2. ↑ Anglo, Sydney; B. Norman (2000). The martial arts of Renaissance Europe. Yale University Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-300-08352-1.

External links

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