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GreyjoyBastard posted:There was a related episode in Florence where the cardinal from there was deeply concerned about excessive dude-on-dude action, so he recommended that lady prostitutes be allowed to display their wares from their windows. Does female homosexuality have any place at all in historic texts, or did they do it 100% below covers so to speak?
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Feb 15, 2015 09:20
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Nektu posted:So basically wether sex with women that were not your wife was if not "ok" then at least "understandable" depended on the existing amount of homophobia? Heh. Well, there's always Sappho. But she was more classical than medieval.
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Feb 15, 2015 19:48
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Persia. I'm really wondering what's up with the female monobrow in Zand and Qajar paintings. Ha! A persian annecdote: Ferdowsi is walking home tipsy from a merry meeting with friends, he sees his attendant running towards him from afar, waving excitedly. As he approaches he reports "Sir, Sir! Your mother in law has arrived! The whole house is alight with her presence!" Ferdowsi grumbles: "May god give that the house is alight on her".
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Feb 15, 2015 20:52
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One way medieval Islam managed to legally deal with the whole young people wanting to bone but it being impure was the concept of a temporary marriage. Nikah mut‘ah dates back to pre-Islamic times and is a marriage contract that stipulates the dowry and duration of a marriage in advance. Eventually this got to the point where a judge could issue you a licence for a few hours and then have it be null afterwards. Nowadays it's forbidden by Sunnis on various legal grounds. For example (stealing this straight from Wikipedia) the Hanafis view the contract itself as valid, but due to the fact marriage is defined (or intended to be) as a permanent state, a temporary contract is automatically void. Twelver Shi'is accept it as valid but there are greater constraints. Just wanted to say in regards to the whole Persia v. Turkey thing earlier. Before and during the Ottoman-Safavid wars, Selim the Grim of the Ottomans and Ismail of the Safavids corresponded. The letters were antagonistic but it's interesting to note the language they used. Selim the Grim wrote to Ismail in Persian while Ismail preferred to write in Turkish - Persian being a very aristocratic and learned language (befitting a Sultan of then the most powerful Islamic Empire), and Turkish being more appropriate for a young upstart ruler from the backwoods of north Iran. Testikles fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Feb 16, 2015 |
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Feb 16, 2015 08:44
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JaucheCharly posted:Persia. I'm really wondering what's up with the female monobrow in Zand and Qajar paintings. truly all cultures not as different as they like to think
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Feb 16, 2015 12:56
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Pavel Moc just told me he is no longer making rapiers. Can anyone recommend rapiers of similar quality? His are really pretty and I'm disappointed now.
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Feb 16, 2015 21:05
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So in the unlikely scenario where a minor noble or peasant kills a general of an opposing do they receive a commendation or the chance to be adopted To the royal family?
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Feb 17, 2015 06:39
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gyrobot posted:So in the unlikely scenario where a minor noble or peasant kills a general of an opposing do they receive a commendation or the chance to be adopted To the royal family? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Pita_da_Veiga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Urbieta
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Feb 17, 2015 06:53
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gyrobot posted:So in the unlikely scenario where a minor noble or peasant kills a general of an opposing do they receive a commendation or the chance to be adopted To the royal family? If you are a Persian, you are rewarded with excruciating death (According to the Greeks). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_(soldier) On this topic, is the idea of being a "glory hound" within the pike formation ever in play? What separates a flamboyant soldier from a reckless one? Slim Jim Pickens fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Feb 17, 2015 |
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Feb 17, 2015 06:57
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Slim Jim Pickens posted:On this topic, is the idea of being a "glory hound" within the pike formation ever in play? What separates a flamboyant soldier from a reckless one? HEY GUNS fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Feb 17, 2015 |
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Feb 17, 2015 07:04
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HEY GAL posted:Yeah, and the Spanish will loving fine you for advancing too fast. The difference is whether it's good for the group or not. (Of course, since a pike is not good at all for single combat, what's good for the group is good for you.) Advancing too fast through the chain of command, or literally advancing too fast in the formation?
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Feb 17, 2015 15:48
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EvanSchenck posted:Thanks for the answers. As a followup, I was wondering why lamellar was commonly used in Russia and East Asia but very seldom in Europe and the Middle East. Does it have any specific advantages or disadvantages of protection, flexibility, or weight compared to mail, plate, and brigandine? Were there production factors? For example, I think I've read that a major reason for the adoption of plate wasn't necessarily that it was more protective, but rather improvements in smithing technology made it faster and cheaper to produce than mail. Adding a comment to this, because I had not covered lamellar. I got this from Dan Howard: Sakakibara Kozan wrote about the problems with Japanese armor while on extended campaigns. "When soaked with water the armor becomes very heavy and cannot be quickly dried; so that in summer it is oppressive and in winter liable to freeze. Moreover, no amount of washing will completely free the lacing from any mud or blood which may have penetrated it, and on long and distant campaigns it becomes evil-smelling and overrun by ants and lice, with consequent ill effects on the health of the wearer." it might be specific to Japanese armour, although I think it might be an issue with lamellar in general (to a lesser extent?).
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Feb 17, 2015 20:16
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Animal posted:Advancing too fast through the chain of command, or literally advancing too fast in the formation? 
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Feb 17, 2015 20:44
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HEY GAL posted:Pavel Moc just told me he is no longer making rapiers. Can anyone recommend rapiers of similar quality? His are really pretty and I'm disappointed now. Have a look at Marco Danelli's work.    
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Feb 18, 2015 16:41
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Invincible Spleen posted:Have a look at Marco Danelli's work. His stuff is very obviously machine finished which probably keeps the price down. He hides his welds very well, and the price looks good. I say go for it, hegel. try to get something like this http://www.danelliarmouries.com/index.php/custom-swords/rapiers/110-seven-ring-rapier-3
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Feb 18, 2015 19:12
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Man that is beautiful. We should do a kickstarter to get hegel armed. Like the villagers would arm their guys before sending them to war, the forums can arm her.
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Feb 18, 2015 19:17
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I am assuming that rapier is authentic in dimensions, right? It's apparently 48", from the page, which seems really long. How do you draw something like that from a scabbard? I have a handled costume swords in the 36" range and they were kind of awkward to draw from the hip, I can't imagine what you do with a 48" one besides give it to a gibbon. Is there a technique that makes it work?
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Feb 18, 2015 19:39
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HEY GAL posted:Pavel Moc just told me he is no longer making rapiers. Can anyone recommend rapiers of similar quality? His are really pretty and I'm disappointed now. http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/ They make pretty good rapiers, and they come in at a great starting price for the economy rapier. There's also Regenyei (http://www.regenyei.com/) who has an American distributor. If you're interested PM me and I'll send you his email. Verisimilidude fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Feb 18, 2015 |
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Feb 18, 2015 19:44
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Ashcans posted:I am assuming that rapier is authentic in dimensions, right? It's apparently 48", from the page, which seems really long. How do you draw something like that from a scabbard? I have a handled costume swords in the 36" range and they were kind of awkward to draw from the hip, I can't imagine what you do with a 48" one besides give it to a gibbon. Is there a technique that makes it work? You use a thing called a hanger so the rapier sits correctly
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Feb 18, 2015 20:25
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Out of curiosity, Hegel, did the armorers and the swordsmiths of the early modern era tend to be prima donnas, or were they more into producing their equipment on an early industrial scale for the sake of money? It strikes me, too, that with the demand for (good) swords reduced in the modern era the few remaining master smiths might end up a bit eccentric or fussy, too. Is that the case?
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Feb 18, 2015 20:31
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Ashcans posted:I am assuming that rapier is authentic in dimensions, right? It's apparently 48", from the page, which seems really long. How do you draw something like that from a scabbard? I have a handled costume swords in the 36" range and they were kind of awkward to draw from the hip, I can't imagine what you do with a 48" one besides give it to a gibbon. Is there a technique that makes it work? Ridolpho Capo Ferro (1610) had some brief words of advice: Capo Ferro posted:METHOD OF PLACING THE HAND ON THE SWORD Thibault (1628) depicted it along the top of this plate from his book:  And Bruchius (1671) showed it like so: 
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Feb 18, 2015 20:42
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Verisimilidude posted:http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/ Invincible Spleen posted:Have a look at Marco Danelli's work. Animal posted:Man that is beautiful. We should do a kickstarter to get hegel armed. Like the villagers would arm their guys before sending them to war, the forums can arm her.
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Feb 18, 2015 21:23
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Invincible Spleen posted:Ridolpho Capo Ferro (1610) had some brief words of advice: Thank you for this, it's very informative!
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Feb 18, 2015 21:40
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HEY GAL posted:Yeah, and everyone I know in the US has one. They all look so samey now. Yeah they are basically the default for folks buying a sparring blade in the US. Castille making some good inroads in that business as well and can do custom work(including recreation of museum pieces) for a fairly reasonable price as well. The smaller places tend to be quite a bit pricier and it gets into a lot of personal preference as you get into guys who are doing everything old fashioned and accurate. Ask a group of sword collectors for their favorite maker and you'll get as many answers as people.
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Feb 18, 2015 21:47
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Castille is really good. Got a sword from them about a month ago. Lifetime warranty on the hilt and ten years on the blade. Really excellently made, plus I know the dude IRL and he's a really great guy. e: his hilts also work with darkwood blades.
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Feb 18, 2015 22:19
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Zeitgueist posted:Yeah they are basically the default for folks buying a sparring blade in the US. Castille making some good inroads in that business as well and can do custom work(including recreation of museum pieces) for a fairly reasonable price as well. The prices at Castille are great and he does some amazing looking work (especially his custom swords) but I'm not sure of the build quality and he pretty explicitly states they're strictly for SCA combat. They also seem surprisingly light (2 pounds at the heaviest), which depending on what you're looking for can be good or bad.
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Feb 18, 2015 22:26
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Verisimilidude posted:The prices at Castille are great and he does some amazing looking work (especially his custom swords) but I'm not sure of the build quality and he pretty explicitly states they're strictly for SCA combat. They also seem surprisingly light (2 pounds at the heaviest), which depending on what you're looking for can be good or bad. SCA rapier combat is probably a solid 2/3 or more of sparring-quality rapier sales, the HEMA community is way more into metal and synthetic longsword wasters. I've met the guy and purchased a sword from him, he plays SCA and that's his target for sure. However there's not a huge market for rapiers out there, there's room for maybe a couple of big, relatively inexpensive producers, and then there's a bunch of smaller guys who do amazing work and all by hand but cost a ton and take a while. I suggest them as someone different from Darkwood in terms of hilt look.
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Feb 18, 2015 22:46
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Verisimilidude posted:There's also Regenyei (http://www.regenyei.com/) who has an American distributor. If you're interested PM me and I'll send you his email.
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Feb 18, 2015 23:35
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Zeitgueist posted:SCA rapier combat is probably a solid 2/3 or more of sparring-quality rapier sales, the HEMA community is way more into metal and synthetic longsword wasters. I've met the guy and purchased a sword from him, he plays SCA and that's his target for sure. However there's not a huge market for rapiers out there, there's room for maybe a couple of big, relatively inexpensive producers, and then there's a bunch of smaller guys who do amazing work and all by hand but cost a ton and take a while. I suggest them as someone different from Darkwood in terms of hilt look. That's good to know. I had an economy rapier but it felt pretty chunky, and I'm looking for a messer and arming sword. Maybe I'll bite the bullet, they're inexpensive and he says they're good for HEMA.
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Feb 19, 2015 02:53
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curious lump posted:Castille is really good. Got a sword from them about a month ago. Lifetime warranty on the hilt and ten years on the blade. Really excellently made, plus I know the dude IRL and he's a really great guy. that warranty honestly surprises me quite a bit, because it doesn't look like he peens the pommels on. Are they welded? Epoxied? Tapped for threads? The grips by-and-large look chunky and uncomfortable. A particularly egregious example can be found here. The grips on their single-handers all seem identical, despite these clearly being custom pieces. Another thing that concerns me is the fact that the crossguard is wider than it is thick on this longsword which is, uh, unusual, to say the least. What I'm saying is that they certainly are cheap, and they certainly look it. I don't worry so much about how breakable they are (excepting my concerns with the pommel) but rather whether they feel good in the hand. This is not even getting into their "my first tattoo" aesthetic because, of course, taste is subjective.
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Feb 19, 2015 06:20
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I use one of his rapiers so I can't comment on his other weapons, I'm not sure how he does his longswords but I think he's just started making them, so they might not be the same quality as his other weapons.
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Feb 19, 2015 07:46
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Rodrigo Diaz posted:that warranty honestly surprises me quite a bit, because it doesn't look like he peens the pommels on. Are they welded? Epoxied? Tapped for threads? Pommels are threaded. But yeah, if you're looking for a museum replica hand blacksmithed look, that's not what he's going for(or probably capable of). More affordable sparring swords that are good for sparring and fit into the HEMA and SCA rulesets rather. And yeah that longsword is weird looking, I think he was just playing around.
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Feb 19, 2015 18:55
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Hey I need to win an ~internet argument~ with some of my tabletop gamer buddies on IRC. Untrained peasant levies keep coming up, what's a good page to read up on how fighting people tended to be mostly professionals?
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Feb 24, 2015 16:15
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Siivola posted:Hey I need to win an ~internet argument~ with some of my tabletop gamer buddies on IRC. Untrained peasant levies keep coming up, what's a good page to read up on how fighting people tended to be mostly professionals? Define professionals. There's a difference between a mercenary professional and a military class. Also a difference between an untrained levy and a militia that does occasional training and is on hand to be called up.
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Feb 24, 2015 17:05
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the JJ posted:a militia that does occasional training and is on hand to be called up. Wolverines!
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Feb 24, 2015 18:18
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Siivola posted:Hey I need to win an ~internet argument~ with some of my tabletop gamer buddies on IRC. Untrained peasant levies keep coming up, what's a good page to read up on how fighting people tended to be mostly professionals? For one, feudalism (in European countries with feudalism) doesn't work like that. The lord of the domain can't call up the peasants for war, because fighting that war is his job. Especially in feudal countries with serfdom.
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Feb 24, 2015 18:47
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Kemper Boyd posted:For one, feudalism (in European countries with feudalism) doesn't work like that. The lord of the domain can't call up the peasants for war, because fighting that war is his job. Especially in feudal countries with serfdom. This really very much depends on time and place.
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Feb 24, 2015 18:50
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Disinterested posted:This really very much depends on time and place. Well, as does everything in history, but I feel that it's good enough for government work to say so. The Anglo-Saxons had the fyrd, but they weren't untrained. The Swedes had "gå man ur huse", which was basically "welp we are getting invaded so every bloke grab weapons and form up" but I can't actually remember a single case where it was carried out on a larger scale.
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Feb 24, 2015 18:58
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Siivola posted:Hey I need to win an ~internet argument~ with some of my tabletop gamer buddies on IRC. Untrained peasant levies keep coming up, what's a good page to read up on how fighting people tended to be mostly professionals?
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Feb 24, 2015 19:52
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Siivola posted:Hey I need to win an ~internet argument~ with some of my tabletop gamer buddies on IRC. Untrained peasant levies keep coming up, what's a good page to read up on how fighting people tended to be mostly professionals? Even the Wikipedia articles would do: Infantry in the Middle Ages - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_in_the_Middle_Ages Medieval Warfare - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_warfare - in particular the sections “Organization”, “Recruiting” and “Rise of infantry.” This book covers the decline of the peasant levy - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...0levies&f=false Maurice Keen has also been recommended - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sqtj4rioa9UC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false You can also point to individual battles… almost any medieval battle, and ask them where the untrained peasant levies are mentioned. Agincourt = longbowmen (elite troops), English men-at-arms (elite troops), and French knights (elite troops) and Italian crossbowmen (mercenaries). Crecy = same pattern. Courtrai/Golden Spurs = Flemish militia tradition vs French knights, although with French infantry clearly trained and equipped enough to have an initial advantage over the trained Flemish militia. Jaffa = combined arms tactics used by the Crusaders, with teams of archers and spearmen allowing the Crusaders to shoot and shelter, while also protecting the archers from the Saracen cavalry. In fact, the only battle I can think of in medieval Europe involving untrained peasant levies was Legnica fought against the Mongols, and that is because those sections of Eastern Europe were very demilitarised. You might also get some mileage by pointing to peasant revolts that got promptly steamrolled when an army met it. One article on the subject is here - http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1986-7/milone.htm - this specific quote, “The commons could not hold onto what they had gained for several reasons. First of all, workingmen would not remain in the army. Second, they were untrained and unable to stand up against the royal troops. Third, they relied on sheer numbers.” That these are highlighted as weaknesses suggest that these were not typical traits of armies in the period. Also, one book that comes to mind is German Medieval Armies 1300-1500 by Osprey publishing, which mentions a levy called in the 1400s – it lists the equipment required of each soldier, including body armour of iron or jerkin, gauntlets, iron hat, sword or knife (messer presumably), and either pike or crossbow or handgun or flail. This set of equipment does not fit with the untrained peasant levy description. Refer to the Compagnies d’ordonnance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnie_d%27ordonnance Point to the English longbowmen and the level of training required of them. So that is… Germany, France, England… is a Spanish or Italian example necessary? I am not sure, but I feel this is strong enough to show a general pattern. Regia Anglorum has an essay on the subject, which also mentions the decline of peasant levies - http://www.regia.org/research/warfare/fyrd2.htm Some of the more entertaining answers seem to just be from message boards, I like this quote: “The peasant levy does seem to be for all practical purposes a myth. Rounding up a bunch of people and feeding them for a march of a couple of weeks so they could rout off the battlefield, probably exposing your professional troops was rightly appreciated to be as stupid as it sounds.” Also, some quotes which suggest discipline was a very real thing, beyond that which would be expected of untrained peasants: “Of all men, the Franks are the most cautious in warfare.” Usamah ibn Munqidh “If any man should charge without orders, I will have their eyes put out if they survive the battle.” Roger of Palermo. I hope these help!
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Feb 24, 2015 20:29
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