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Apparently the Passau Wolf goes back to a guild coat of arms granted by Emperor Charles IV in the 14th Century:
“In Germany, as far back as the thirteenth century, the cities of Passau and Solingen were famous for the production of sword blades, and early in the fourteenth century a celebrated armourer of Passau named Springenklee received from the Emperor Charles IV. a coat of arms bearing two crossed swords to be used by his township. The mark of the wolf, or running fox, as it is sometimes called, which is commonly associated with Solingen blades, was common to those of Passau as well, especially in the thirteenth century; it is supposed to have been granted to the Armourers’ Guild of Passau by the Archduke Albrecht in 1349. Until the custom was suppressed by the French, Solingen had a stamp office in its large market place, where the smiths were obliged to bring their work to have it proved and stamped.”
As an interesting additional commentary to this, I quote this passage from the Wikipedia article about Passau:
“During the Renaissance and early modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centres of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany (after Solingen). Passau smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, usually a rather simplified rendering of the wolf on the city’s coat-of-arms. Superstitious warriors believed that the Passau wolf conferred invulnerability on the blade’s bearer, and thus Passau swords acquired a great premium. According to the Donau-Zeitung, aside from the wolf, some cabalistic signs and inscriptions were added.[5] As a result, the whole practice of placing magical charms on swords to protect the wearers came to be known for a time as “Passau art”. (See Eduard Wagner, Cut and Thrust Weapons, 1969.) Other cities’ smiths, including those of Solingen, recognized the marketing value of the Passau wolf and adopted it for themselves. By the 17th century, Solingen was producing more wolf-stamped blades than Passau was. ”
I found a Thread on Myarmoury about the so called Passau Wolf, with a neat photo of one on an antique blade http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.30320.html
The wolf from the Passau coat of arms:
Weapon magic and combat magic in Early Modern Germany. This article informed several of the spells in the Superno. I want to make a caveat without starting any kind of controversy hopefully, but I just think she overuses the term ‘hypermasculinity’ a bit. From my perspective, having been in a few fights in my life, anything which you might believe could preserve you from injury or death, whether rational (a more effective weapon or armor) or superstitious (some of the strange necromancy she describes in the article) might be welcome, irrespective of any gender perspective. The vast majority of people in armies and fighting duels were male, but not all of them (note the Czechs during the Hussite Wars as just one example). Down here where I’m from we also have Voodoo which some people will apply in various superstitious ways toward helping them in any kind of crisis, whether physical or otherwise. Anyway, with that caveat, it is a very interesting article. https://www.tandfonline.com/…/10…/13507486.2015.1028340
Interesting vid and quite a pretty (if strange looking) sword. The 19th Century or museum mashups are always a bit suspect for me. Toby Capwell is a sort of ‘friend of a friend’ – he sure has a nice job!
Nice video, and I like Todd, though we disagree on a few things. I personally have found with my (fairly cheap, 175 lb draw) modern hunting crossbow, it shot through any kind of leather I tested it against, including some cuir boulli. None of it could stop the point of my Albion constable either.
Most of the tests I’ve seen online have shown similar results.
From what I’ve read, most “leather” armor used historically as armor (almost all of it outside of Europe) was actually buffalo hide or some other animal. In (what is today) India they used crocodile and hippo hide!
The most common actual leather armor I know of was cheaper grade lamellar in Central Asia, made of water-buffalo hide and often lacquered.
Generally leather in sufficient thickness to provide even marginal protection against real battlefield type weapons is quite heavy and stuff, and also fairly noisy. You might need say 8mm of leather for equivalent protection to 1mm of wrought iron (or the modern equivalent, ‘mild steel’). So you have to take that into consideration regarding weight and bulk. Leather of any kind was also not particularly cheap for settled areas unless you were in a cattle raising zone.
I think this is why textile armor was a much more common ‘poor mans’ armor.
It is also still debated whether the famous “Linothorax” may have included some cuir bouili
Hahah that’s ok it’s a sparring sword, more of a blunt than a feder. I’ve had it for years and used it in four tournaments. I expect it to get a little battered, it’s actually held up quite well, and still feels lively in the hand.
Finally sat down and listened to this. Really neat. So interesting to hear the Carnyx. Fascinating that it had a tongue and a palette. Spring bronze. I don’t even know how that is made.
Shorter version, slightly less informal:
What is Codex Martialis?
Codex Martialis is a combat system designed between 2008-2010, by martial artists active in the emerging HEMA tournament scene. For us, combat in most RPG’s boils down to repetitive die rolling and a gradual whittling away of points, often relying on magic or special powers to make it interesting.
Real fighting with weapons isn’t like that. You don’t just whittle away chunks of your enemy like two carrots fighting with potato peelers, or stagger back and forth wielding swords like crowbars. Your weapon is flexible and supple. You use it for defense as well as offense, to feint, to probe. You parry, twist and wind, and seek openings while displacing your enemy’s attacks, as you bar the deadly point and edge of their blade from slicing into your flesh. You move your own body in and out of range, to void their attacks, to grapple, to seize their weapon, and throw your opponent to the ground.
The purpose of the Codex is not to imitate history for the sake of being realistic, it is the opposite: To borrow elements of real fighting, weapons, armor and martial arts, in order to make combat in RPG’s more fun. And in order to be fun, in order to feel like a fight, combat has to be fast. That means mapping out everything to do with hand combat and boiling it down to the key elements. The give and take of movement and momentum. The reach and speed of weapons. Their merit as tools of defense, so often neglected in game systems. The real world physics of tools of war such as swords, axes, knives, armor, shields, guns and crossbows.
And layered on top of these key elements, we introduce the techniques of the fencing masters, the martial artists, the warriors of the ancient world. These come in groups of related competencies, or one at a time, and they enhance the luck of the fighter in certain situations, with certain weapons, or across the board. In our roll many / keep one system, these learned abilities augment your fighting prowess. This is what separates the experienced fencer from the neophyte. There is no certainty in a fight, but skill and training can really improve your odds.
With the Codex, you can specialize how you fight. A dagger is very effective close in, a spear is better at a distance, and a sword is the versatile middle ground. Axes cause devastating injuries, maces and hammers can harm people through armor. All of these weapons lend themselves more or less to different techniques that your character can learn, and gradually build as you develop them into a truly dangerous opponent. In this system, all of your decisions have real consequences.
So what is Codex Martialis? It is a system which makes combat just a bit more like what you were hoping it would be like the first time you tried to play an RPG.Codex Martialis is a combat system only, designed for use with the OGL system, though new sourcebooks are now being introduced which expand the system into other realms. Stand by for more, and check in with us at http://oldcodexintegrum.irvingsoft.com to find out the latest!
I remember when Fab made that funny looking sword. I admit it kind of put me off. You are totally right it does resemble many fantasy swords. Kudos to him for making something that doesn’t fit the expectations of the period.
That part of the ‘strong’ of your blade is often where you ideally want to parry, trap the opponents sword against your cross. If you have a blade there it’s just going to get dinged. One of my longswords has a big notch right at about that point. It could also be a half-swording grip like you see on some of the really big ‘true’ two handed swords.
