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  • A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword: Power, Piety and Play

    A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword by Jones, Robert W;

    Power, Piety and Play

    Series: Armour and Weapons; 11;

      • GET 20% OFF

      • The discount is only available for 'Alert of Favourite Topics' newsletter recipients.
      • Publisher's listprice GBP 30.00
      • The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.

        14 332 Ft (13 650 Ft + 5% VAT)
      • Discount 20% (cc. 2 866 Ft off)
      • Discounted price 11 466 Ft (10 920 Ft + 5% VAT)

    14 332 Ft

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    Availability

    Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
    Not in stock at Prospero.

    Why don't you give exact delivery time?

    Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.

    Product details:

    • Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
    • Date of Publication 23 May 2023
    • Number of Volumes Print PDF

    • ISBN 9781837650361
    • Binding Hardback
    • No. of pages240 pages
    • Size 240x170 mm
    • Weight 696 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations 17 colour, 9 B/W illus.
    • 516

    Categories

    Short description:

    This study takes the sword beyond its functional role as a tool for killing, considering it as a cultural artifact , and the broader meaning and significance it had to its bearer.

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    Long description:

    The sword is an important and multi-faceted symbol of military power, royal and communal authority, religion and mysticism. This study takes the sword beyond its functional role as a tool for killing, considering it as a cultural artefact, and the broader meaning and significance it had to its bearer. It should be on the bookshelf of anybody who claims to be interested in the importance of the sword in medieval life and thought and their cultural significance in the past - and present. Robert Woosnam-Savage, Royal Armouries. We see the sword as an object of nobility and status, a mystical artefact, imbued with power and symbolism. It is Roland's Durendal, Arthur's Excalibur, Aragorn's Narsil. A thing of beauty, its blade flashes in the sun, and its hilt gleams with opulent decoration. Yet this beauty belies a bloody function, for it is also a weapon that appears crude and brutal, requiring great strength to wield: cleaving armour, flesh, and bone. This wide-ranging book uncovers the breadth of the sword's place within the culture of high medieval Europe. Encompassing swords both real and imagined, physical, and in art and literature, it shows them as a powerful symbol of authority and legitimacy. It looks at the practicalities of the sword, including its production, as well as challenging our preconceptions about when and where it was used. In doing so, it reveals a far less familiar culture of swordsmanship, beyond the elite, in which swordplay was an entertainment, taught in the fencing school by masters such as Lichtenauer, Talhoffer, and Fiore, and codified in fencing manuals, or fechtbA?

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    Table of Contents:

    List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Mystical Blade 2. The Powerful Sword 3. The Falchion: A Case Study of Form, Function, and Symbolism 4. The Civilian Sword 5. Learning the Sword 6. Using the Sword 7. Recreating Medieval Swordsmanship Conclusion Glossary Bibliography

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