A koncerz with a conventional cutting edge A koncerz () is a type of

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

used by Polish-Lithuanian

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

period. It is a narrow and long thrusting sword, generally used by a type of heavy

( husaria, the famed Polish hussars) and optimized to defeat

body armor Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...

, either by piercing directly through the metal links of mail armour or by thrusting at the exposed gaps between the plates of

plate armour Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...

, but was not used to cut or slash at enemy combatants. The koncerz originated from a medieval sword and appeared at the end of the 15th century when it was about long, and relatively unwieldy compared to single-handed thrusting swords designed for use by infantry. By the late 16th century, it had increased to in overall length, with a blade length, and optimized for weight distribution and balance. The koncerz was used more like a

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

while mounted on horseback; it provided the rider with a very long reach in a relatively compact and portable format that was suitable to carry as a sidearm (the primary weapon of hussars was a ''

kopia The lance fournie (French: "equipped lance") was a medieval equivalent to the modern army squad that would have accompanied and supported a man-at-arms (a heavily armoured horseman popularly known as a "knight") in battle. These units formed compa ...

'', a very long lance). As it was used primarily for thrusting, the koncerz often had no cutting edge, only a very sharp point; the blade itself was triangular or square in

cross section Cross section may refer to: * Cross section (geometry) ** Cross-sectional views in architecture and engineering 3D *Cross section (geology) * Cross section (electronics) * Radar cross section, measure of detectability * Cross section (physics) **A ...

in order to be more rigid. The closest

Western European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

equivalent is the long two-handed thrusting sword, known as an

estoc The French estoc is a type of sword, also called a tuck in English, in use from the 14th to the 17th century. It is characterized by a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use and a straight, edgeless, but sharply pointed blade around in le ...

, or 'tuck'.

References

External links

Polish Renaissance Warfare by S. A. JasinskiIllustration of a Koncerz sword

''Winged Hussars''
Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, ''BUM Magazine'', 2016. Early Modern European swords European swords Renaissance-era swords Renaissance-era weapons {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

References

External links