Cutting the heads off of pikes? Testing a Two-Handed Sword.

Today we address the idea that large two handed swords from the early Renaissance were designed to cut the heads from long pikes. These very large swords became popular in Western Europe from around the year 1450 right up into the 17th century. They are much larger than the vast majority of medieval swords with blades over 4’ in length, long handles, and often quite wide quillions. This type of large two-handed sword included examples from several nations including the Scottish Two-Handed Sword (colloquially known as a Claymore, though this term is disputed), the Spanish Montante, the Germanic Zweihander, and the Italian Spadone. All of these swords appear largely in the 16th century, with some slightly earlier and some later. The primary difference between these national variations are found in stylistic elements like hilt forms. Today we test our 15th Century Two-Hander against two different ash weapon hafts to see if it is reasonable to assume that these swords were designed to cut the heads off of pikes. Check it out.