Longsword

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The Longsword is the Medieval hand-and-a-half sword, which forms the basis of most surviving Medieval fighting treatises. Longswords are the classic "hand and a half" or "war sword," of the 14th and 15th centuries. Between 4 - 4.5' long, and with an average weight of 3 - 4 lbs, the longsword was typically straight, double-edged, and with a simple cruciform hilt. It grew naturally out of the older, single-handed sword, as a means of combating heavier mail, and reinforced mail armour. References to longswords appears as early as the 1180s, but they do not seem to have been common until the late 13th century, and became the principle battlefield sword for the knightly class in the early 14th c.