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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
In the same way that the modern fantasy genre has taught us to expect swords to have magical properties and names, it has also taught us to expect everyone to be carrying one. The fantasy novel, or game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, habitually has its heroes laden down with weapons, or with their ostentatiously significant sword strapped to their hip (or across their back) as they stroll from town to town. As the underlying theme for these stories is usually one of conflict and heroic combat, the hero's need to have his weapon close to hand is a necessary plot device. However, it has also led to a popular perception of the medieval world as resembling the wild west, with men carrying weapons as a matter of course, all too ready to use them. One of the occasions where this image is most resonant is in discussions of medieval towns. Pointing to the survival of bans and restrictions on swords in medieval towns in England and Germany, the analogy with American mid-west town ordinances demanding the surrender of weapons whilst within town limits is readily made.
In fact, this view is wrong. There is little in the visual and written sources to suggest that the wearing of a sword was the norm in everyday life of the high and late Middle Ages, even for those whose status and function within society was built around the sword and its use, much less those who were not amongst the pugnatore. If we are to understand the cultural significance of the sword in the high Middle Ages, we need to be clear about who possessed swords and where they appeared outside the strictly martial context.
Discussions of the sword in a medieval civilian context rarely differentiate between the question of ownership, carriage, and use. This is problematic for understanding the place of the sword in civilian life. Just as with modern handguns, it might be acceptable to own a sword, or indeed any weapon, but that did not mean that it was acceptable to take it out on the public street, whilst actually using it was a different matter altogether.
Sword Ownership
What do we know about the levels of sword ownership in the Middle Ages? We would expect kings, nobles, and knights to own them; they were, after all, symbols of their power and status and the tools of the martial trade.
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