=Keeping Medieval Martial Art Alive in a Modern Society=
by [[Vnmercouris|Victoria Mercouris]] 

{{Infobox
|title = Keeping Medieval Martial Art Alive in a Modern Society
|bodystyle = width:25em
|image = [[File:First Master, Sixth Play Contrary.png|x450px|alt=Milestone Image]]
|caption = A recreation of Fiore's First Master, Sixth Play from his treatiey Getty
|label2 = '''Photo Credit'''
|data2 = [[User:Tatedtsen|Trinity Tedtsen]]
}}

__TOC__

=Abstract=
The paragraph should give a three to five sentence abstract about your entire London HUA experience including 1) a summary of the aims of your project, 2) your prior experience with humanities and arts courses and disciplines, and 3) your major takeaways from the experience. This can and should be very similar to the paragraph you use to summarize this milestone on your [[Template Profile|Profile Page]]. It should contain your main '''Objective''', so be sure to clearly state a one-sentence statement that summarizes your main objective for this milestone such as "a comparison of the text of Medieval English choral music to that of the Baroque" or it may be a question such as "to what extent did religion influence Christopher Wren's sense of design?"
 
=Introduction=
 
I suggest you save this section for last. Describe the essence of this project. Cover what the project is and who cares in the first two sentences. Then cover what others have done like it, how your project is different. Discuss the extent to which your strategy for completing this project was new to you, or an extension of previous HUA experiences.
 

=Section 1: Background=
 
==HEMA==
HEMA stands for Historical European Martial Arts, it refers to European martial arts the have been formerly practices, but have either died out or evolved into different forms. There are different HEMA groups such as Historical European Martial Arts Coalition (HEMAC) or Historical European Martial Arts Alliance (HEMAA) that bring different people together to reconstruct historical martial arts from treaties or combat manuals that date from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. The HEMA community will them test their martial arts skills in different competitive environments as well as train the next generation of HEMA practitioners.
 
==Parts of a Sword==
[[File: Sword Diagram.png|x320px|right|thumb| A Diagram of a Sword with it's parts labeled ]] 
One of the first steps to learn how to use a longsword is understanding all and identifying all the different parts of it. The diagram to the right has most of the parts of the sword labeled. What is missing is the flat of the blade which is perpendicular to the edge of the blade and is smooth. The other two pieces that are crucial to a sword are the false and true edges. What makes these parts difficult to identify on the sword is that the edges change based on the way the weapon is being held. When holding a sword in your hand the edge that is lined up with your knuckles and furthest away for your body is the true edge while the edge that is closest to your body is the false edge. If the sword were to be rotated 180 degrees then these edges on the sword would flip so that way the true edge is always the one farthest away. The parts marked strong and weak refer to the blade and how much strength the sword's wielder would have when using it. For example, if a fighter got attacked with another sword and blocked it using the strong section of the blade, that fighter would be able to push the enemies blade away easier than if it was the weak that got attacked. This concept it much easier to understand from a physics point of view as this concept is just torque. (Wait for article request for Swordplay: an exercise in rotational dynamics to be provided.) The concept of torque isn't the only time physics plays an important role in swordsmanship, if you take a long sword and smack the flat of the blade near the weak the sword will vibrate and display the characteristics of a transverse wave. What is important to take note of is the part of the sword that doesn't vibrate also know as a node. This node will be towards the tip of the blade and what makes it so important is that if when attack you strike with this part of the sword your arm will receive less of a shock from the hit. This may not seem that important but when dueling for extended periods of time and attacking with large amounts of force, preventing your arm from tiring to quickly could be the difference between winning and losing.
 
==Fiore dei Liberi==
Fiore dei Liberi was a master in the Bolognese school of fencing in northern Italy and is now the primary source used for 15th-century Italian fighting due to his four surviving treaties; 'Pisani-Dossi', 'Getty', 'Morgan', and Florius 'De Arts Luctandi'. Not much is know about Fiore except for what he wrote about himself in the prologues of his treaties. According the Getty prologue, Fiore was a noble whose estates were based in Premariacco, a small town in north-east Italy. At an early age Fiore began training and traveling to learn martial arts. In his treatises Fiore tells us that he traveled to different regions and studied under and then later taught many people. During his time as a teacher Fiore tells that he prepared gentlemen for duels, some of his students include Piero del Verde, Galeazzo da Mantova, Lancilotto Beccaria of Pavia, Giannino de Bavo of Milan and Azzone da Castelbarco. Fiore even tells that he himself had to fight five duels against other masters wearing only an arming jacket and gloves rather than armor. Not much is known about his death but his treaties serve as his legacy.
 
==Rondel Daggers==
The dagger section in Fiore's treaties utilize the Rondel dagger. This dagger gets it's name rondel, which means round or circular from it's round hand guard and or pommel. These daggers were very commonly used by many people in Europe from the 14th century onwards. It was typically worn at the waist, usually measuring 12 inches or more. What makes this type of dagger unique is that it is similar to a screwdriver in design and is mostly used for stabbing and not very effective in slashing or cutting. Using this type of dagger is important when fighting in Fiore's styles as many of the plays decribed in his triaties involve grabing the blade of the dagger, a technique that could do more harm then good with another type of blade. Below are some pictures of Rondel daggers that are on display in the Wallace Collection in London, England.
<gallery>
Rondel Dagger 1.jpg
Rondel Dagger 2.jpg
Rondel Dagger 3.jpg
</gallery>
==Glossary of Italian Fighting Terms==
Abrazare - Unarmed Combat, combine both grappling and striking. 
Azza - Axe; refers to Poll Axe. 
Colpi - Blows, as in strikes. 
Colpi Fendente - Downward blows. In Fiore's system these blows take the path from tooth to knee at an oblique angle. 
Colpi Mezzani - Middle/horizontal blows. These are done with the True Edge leading from the right and the False Edge leading from the left. 
Colpi Sottani - Upward blows. Normally done with the false edge, enabling a quick return with a fendente. 
Coverta - Cover. An action that will cover that line of attack which will allow for the fighter to move to safety. 
Daga - Dagger. The dagger used in Fiore's text is a rondel dagger which has no real edge but rather a point so it is best used to stab instead of cut. 
Fendente - Downward blow. 
Gioco Largo - Wide, loose play; done at a distance.
Gioco Stretto - Tight, narrow play. This is used to describe when a fight enters close range to grapple with their opponent or seize the opponent's weapon. 
Guardia - A guard against an attack. 
Lanza - Spear when on foot, but a lance when on a horse. 
Ligadura Mezana - Middle Bind. 
Ligadura Soprana - High Bind. 
Ligadura Sottana - Under bind. 
Mezza Volta - Half turn, refers to passing footwork. 
Posta - A position that simultaneously defends from attacks and threatens attacks. 
Prese - A hold, take or catch depending on the context. 
Rebattere - Beat. The action of beating back an attack. 
Spada - Sword. 
Spada a Uno Mano - One handed sword. 
Spada a due mani - Two handed sword. 
Tagli - Cut or slice. 
Tutta Volta - Full/Complete turn. 
Volta Stabile - Footwork where the fighter turns on the balls of their feet to face the opposite direction. 

==The Getty==
The Getty is known as one of the most complete and "by far the finest" manuscript written by Fiore. This manuscript includes in-depth instructions accompanied by illustrations on how to perform various techniques. Now while the Getty does give instructions, is is not a how-to book. The manuscript assumes that the person reading has already had some fighting experience so it will not deal with explaining the basics. This piece is broken up into 3 main sections, unarmed combat, dagger, and longsword. These sections are then broken up into masters and plays. The term master refers to the starting position of the play, whether with the right hand, left, both or even a dagger. A play then refers to the sequence of moves or the technique in a whole that is being performed. This set-up makes it easy to search the manuscript for a certain play if you know what the starting position or master is.
Another thing worth noting in this manuscript is its use of symbolism throughout the entire piece. All of the plays in the manuscript contain two opponents but at all times at least one of them will be wearing either a garter on their leg or a crown. The person that has either one of these objects is the one enacting the play and is the master of the scenario. This is helpful in that a quick glance it is easy to tell exactly what is going on in the picture. Another example of symbolism can be found in the dagger section of the treaty. This refers to the level of mastery that can be achieved, which is illustrated in four pictures along with accompanying descriptions. The first level is disarming the opponent as the person is shown with both his own and his opponents daggers. The next level of mastery is breaks shown by a figure holding his opponents arms in the air. The third level of mastery is displayed by the fighter now holding a key in his hands, this is in reference to his ability to lock his opponent or bind them. The fourth and final level is complete control over the opponent which included throws as he has a picture of a man at his feet. Another thing to note in these illustrations is that as the levels progress the clothes that the man in the picture are wearing grow more and more extravagant as does his facial hair, which indicates his level of skill.

 

=Section 2: Deliverable=
 
Over the course of 4 weeks, I attended a total of 12 hours of historical martial arts classes put on by Scholar Gladiatoria and The Exiles. During these classes I learned many different styles of medieval martial arts, such as grappling, victorian saber, long sword, and dagger. These classes usually involved some time of warm-up and stretching. After the warm-up the class learning simple single plays that were performed in groups of two, after both people could perform the plays adequately and new one was learned. This would continue for the rest of the class save the last 20 minutes where the pair would then used what was learned in a simple mock spar. This style of teaching was done for the classes that I took mainly because I was in the begginer group, I did notice that while our group was learning the more advanced students would go around and correct our forms to help.
 
==Demonstrations==
Below are demonstrations of some of the plays from Fiore's Getty treaty out of the dagger section. The Getty treaty is view by many as one the most complete manuscripts from Fiore, having a large number of plays and descriptions. It is this reason that I have chosen to use the Getty treaty, I have also chosen this set of plays because these were the ones that were taught at the classes that I took with the Exiles and I had the most experience with them. When watching the videos note that the person enacting the regular plays is the one on the right, while the person performing any contraries is the one on the left similar to the pattern found in the treaties.
 
First Master, First Play
<mediaplayer>File:First Master; First Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
First Master, Sixth Play (Contrary)
<mediaplayer>File:First Master; Sixth Play (Contrary).mov</mediaplayer>
 
First Master, Twelfth Play
<mediaplayer>File:First Master; Twelfth Play.mp4</mediaplayer>
 
First Master, Twenteth Play
<mediaplayer>File:First Master; Twenteth Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
Second Master, First Play
<mediaplayer>File:Second Master; First Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
Second Master, Third Play
<mediaplayer>File:Second Master; Third Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
Second Master, Fourth Play (Contrary)
<mediaplayer>File:Second Master; Fourth Play (Contrary).mov</mediaplayer>
 
Third Master, First Play
<mediaplayer>File:Third Master; First Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
Third Master, Fourth Play
<mediaplayer>File:Third Master; Fourth Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 
Fourth Master, Firsth Play
<mediaplayer>File:Forth_Master;_First_Play.mov</mediaplayer>
 

=Conclusion=
 
Over the course of five weeks I had the opportunity to visit two different styles of classes. Both were great but one thing I did notice was the size difference. One class that I attended had a maximum of six students including myself each week while the other class averaged twenty. I believe this can be attributed to popularity, the larger of the classes was put on by a group called Scholar Gladiatorius, which interestingly enough has a very popular Youtube channel. The other class group however only has a webpage. It was from this that I decided to make video demonstrations as video have become a popular and fast way to share and learn new information. Simply be watching a video on the internet one can easily learn skills with the ability to pause rewind and replay as many times as they like. While the manuscripts that Fiore have written are great tools into decoding his style of martial arts, the ability to watch his plays I feel is invaluable as some things don't translate well just on paper.
 
=References=
Add a references section; consult the [[Help]] page for details about inserting citations in this page.
 

[[Category:History Projects]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>
...and '''NO OTHER TAGS''' except for the year the project was completed by you, like this: 
<nowiki>
[[Category:2017]]</nowiki>

Strategical Architecture

2017-06-22T23:25:48Z

Vnmercouris:

=Strategical Architecture=
by [[User:Vnmercouris|Victoria Mercouris]] 

{{Infobox
|title = Strategical Architecture
|bodystyle = width:25em
|image = [[File:Castle-542417 960 720.jpg|x450px|alt=Milestone Image]]
|label2 = '''Photo Credit'''
|data2 =Patrice Soudier
}}

__TOC__

=Abstract=
This project looks at how the architecture of castle might have been used in warfare. By looking at both Farnham Castle and Ashby de la Zouch I explored the remains of two castles that were involved in the British civil war. I then compared what I found while visiting both of the castles and explained how each of the defenses work.
 
=Introduction=
 
The goal of this milestone is to explore architecture beyond style and look at instead functionality. This was done by visiting two castles and exploring the remains of both in search of examples of defenses that would have been useful if an enemy decided to attack. There has been a lot of previous studies on castle defenses in general but I intended to focus on two specific castles, Farnham and Ashby de la Zouch.
 

=Section 1: Background=
 
Castles were designed to be medieval strongholds that usually housed the lord of the territory in which it stood. In western Europe, the castle developed rapidly starting in the 9th century beginning as just a motte and bailey structure. An enclosed courtyard usually accompanied this type of fortification; over time castles began to include different features that helped with defenses. Some of these included being located on a high mound with a ditch surrounding the stronghold, having a surrounding wall and a keep that served as a safe place to retreat to in times of a siege.
 
==The Influence of Castles on Medieval England==
 
In the 1000s motte and bailey castles were being built all over England and gave way for establishing Norman control through William the Conqueror. The castles provided a small garrison of men the ability to control a decent portion of land and population. By having this control they were able to drive the Saxon rebellion out of the land. After that castle became a place for a lord to run his estate and see the surrounding area that was claimed as his. Over time the small wood motte and bailey castles became large stone fortresses showing off the lord's wealth and power. Over time castles became very important in warfare as a castle usually control a land economy by acting as the Treasury.
 
==Castles in Media==
 
As of recently, castle have grown quite famous due to their role in media. Many TV shows and movies have used castles as the backdrop to their productions such as the American musical comedy, Galavant, which was filmed in Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Merlin, The Crown and more. The famous castle Hogwarts was created by J.K. Rowling for the series Harry Potter and has become widely known. Many people also visit restored castles or ruins and take videos, which are posted on the web. Before these portrayals though the most famous comes from the many different versions of the Arthurian Legends that have been around since the early 12th century.
 
==Ashby de la Zouch Castle==
 
[[File: Ashby de la Zouch Castle.jpg|x320px|right|thumb|Ruins of Ashby Castle]]
The castle of Ashby de la Zouch was a manor house that was modified by [[Lord William Hastings|Lord William Hastings]] in the 15th century. Lord Hastings also build a new chapel and two towers that still stand in the ruins. The ruins also contain the remains of a kitchen and a great tower. While Lord Hastings was the one to start work on Ashby de la Zouch Castle he was executed in 1483 interrupting work on the castle, however, Ashby became a prominent site for his descendants. During the time of the Civil War, Ashby became an important Royalist base under the command of Henry Hastings. The castle served as a steady fortification during the war till it surrendered in 1646 with its fortifications being demolished two years later. It wasn't until the 19th century that Ashby became popular as a tourist location, due to Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819).

==Farnham Castle==
Farnham Castle, almost 900 years old, was a place for powerful and wealthy medieval Bishops of Winchester. For hundreds of years, it served as an administrative center, fortress, and accommodations, as well ass providing a convenient stopping place in between London and Winchester. For over 800-years bishops renovated and rebuilt the castle buildings which ensured the castles survival as well as covered up and destroyed evidence of earlier building work. During the British Civil War Farnham's position on the western edge of the area held by Parliament made the castle strategically important. In 1642 Captain George Wither became a commander of a Parliamentarian garrison at Farnham Castle. On November 10 he evacuated the castle after reports of a Royalist advance across the Thames into Surrey. A few days later the keep was occupied under a Royalist. Parliament then sent a regiment under the command of Colonel Sir William Walle to the keep. On November 26 after a three-hour assault, the attackers blew up the central gate and attacked the keep causing the Royalist soldiers to surrender. It was then on December 29 that Waller ordered the north-eastern wall of the keep blown up. Once the war had ended Parliament in 1648 ordered that Farnham Castle be made indefensible. In 1958 archaeologists discovered the remains of a smaller square tower buried withing the larger round keep. This earlier keep was a variant form of a motte and bailey castle. Sometime in the middle of the 12th century, the tower was knocked down, probably order by Henry II, leaving the foundation and the well which remained until a Tudor Bishop had both filled in. The castle now is used as a training, conference, and event venue. In 2011, a permanent exhibition '900 Year of Living History' opened in the stable block and is still open to the public today
=Section 2: Deliverable=
 
==Ashby de la Zouch Castle==
 
This Castle started out as a manner so while being built there was never a need to make sure that the castle had much defensive architecture. Ashby de la Zouch was designed to be a place of luxury so it was filled with a large kitchen, bedrooms, a hall for entertaining. There also was a chapel on site for the household who would have been served by priests and singers. It wasn't until the time of the civil war that the Ashby was used a base for the RoyalistsBoth the town and castle were fortified by Henery, the fifth Earl of Huntingdon. In the town, several buildings were torn down and used to create defenses, with the castle as the focus of these arrangements being dubbed 'Hastings' Stronghold'. When the Royalist eventually surrendered Ashby they were allowed to leave safely but the castle was unfortunately bombed.
 
===Uneven Steps===
[[File: Stairs 1.png|x320px|right|thumb||One hand and a quarter high]]
[[File: Stair 2.png|x320px|right|thumb||Almost two hands tall]]
One thing that I noticed was this particular step of uneven stairs, while I was on the lookout for defensive architecture I actually found these because I trip over them, which was the purpose behind them. The idea was that the people living there and climbing the stairs every day would get used to the steps but those who would try and storm the tower would trip unfamiliar with the layout. As you can see in the picture one step is about a hand and a quarter high while the other is almost two hands high. While this many seem like not much to the eye people climbing the stairs in a hurry would be used to all steps being a certain level and this would cause them to at least stumble.
 
 

===Winding Steps===
Since the castle was blown up there is not much remaining in the way of staircases but on the one tower remaining there is a tall winding staircase. When the tower was being attacked these staircases would provide a benefit to those at the top due to the direction the stairs traveled. If coming from the top a person would be traveling counter clockwise. As most people are right-handed this gave them more room to swing their sword then the enemy who would be travel clockwise as the made their way upwards.
 
[[File: Winding Stairs.jpg]]
 

===Supply Tunnels===
It was only during the civil war that the castle had supply tunnels built. These ran under the castle's wall and were used to move troops and supplies. There also was a large storage area at the end of the tunnel that was used to store supplies.
[[File: Tunnel.jpg|Supply Tunnel]]
 
[[File: Tunnel Stair.jpg|Steps leading to the tunnel]]
 
==Farnham Castle==
 
===Archer WIndow===
These windows were created to be used for archers. There skinny long shape was to allow for an archer to be able to shot at the incoming enemy from above while providing as much protection as possible.
[[File: Inside Arrow Window.jpg]]
 
===Drawbridge===
Before entering the keep an enemy would first have to cross a deep pit. This would be done by going over the drawbridge when down. What is good with this set up is that there was a room right about the bridge that housed all the mechanics for it so if an enemy attempted to cross over it would be easy to raise it. Unfortunately when the castle was made indefensible the bridge was destroyed and the pit filled in. Below is an artist rendition of what it might have looked like and then what it looks like today.
[[File: Drawbridge.jpg]]
[[File: Brick Path.jpg]]

===Murder-Hole===

Assuming that a group of enemies managed to make it over the bridge the next line of defense would be the murder hole. Before they could enter the keep a gate would drop and the drawbridge would close locking the invaders in a small room with a hole over it. Then while trapped inside burning hole oil would be poured down the hole leading to a gruesome and painful death.
[[File: Bottom Murder Hole.jpg]]

==Comparison==
 
Each of the castles have their own unique set of architecture and in my opinion, I feel that they are so different from each other because of the way the buildings were originally designed. With Ashby de la Zouch there really wasn't much thought of warfare when designing the building, most of the money and resources were for style or luxury. This lead to very few and non-effective defenses such as with the stairs. The other thing to note is that the tunnel also was something that was built once the civil war had started so when looking at the original building it would not have been there. Farnham Castle, on the other hand, was built to be defended. This allowed for the drawbridge and murder-hole to be purposefully put into the design. It is unfortunate that both of these castles were so radically altered after the civil war we will never have true images of the buildings' original forms.
 

=Conclusion=
 
This project forcused on looking for strategical or defensive architecture in castles that would have help protect it against enemies. I found that the type of defensive varied based on the original purposed of the building. One way to expand upon this project is to visit some more of the many other castles in the United Kingdom and look at how their defenses compare with what I have already found.
 
=References=
Hidden complexities of the frankish castle (2012). . Amsterdam: Leiden University Press. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/lib/wpi/detail.action?docID=3327210
 
Hooker, D. (2004). The importance of medieval castles. Prep School, , 12.
 
The idea of the castle. (2004). In A. Wheatley (Ed.), The idea of the castle in medieval england (NED - New edition ed., pp. 19-43) Boydell and Brewer.
 
Seats of power in europe during the hundred years war (2015). . Havertown: Oxbow Books. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/lib/wpi/detail.action?docID=4542922
 

[[Category:2017]]
 
[[Category:History Projects]]

File:Castle-542417 960 720.jpg

2017-06-22T23:23:37Z

Vnmercouris:

Strategical Architecture

2017-06-22T23:22:09Z

Vnmercouris:

=Strategical Architecture=
by [[User:Vnmercouris|Victoria Mercouris]] 

{{Infobox
|title = Strategical Architecture
|bodystyle = width:25em
|image = [[File:ProjectPicture.jpg|x450px|alt=Milestone Image]]
|caption = Your Project Page Picture Caption
|label2 = '''Photo Credit'''
|data2 = [[User:Vjmanzo|V.J. Manzo]]
}}

__TOC__

=Abstract=
This project looks at how the architecture of castle might have been used in warfare. By looking at both Farnham Castle and Ashby de la Zouch I explored the remains of two castles that were involved in the the British civil war. I then compared what I found while visiting both of the castles and explained how each of the defences work.
 
=Introduction=
 
The goal of this milestone is to explore architecture beyond style and look at instead functionality. This was done by visiting two castles and exploring the remains of both in search of examples of defenses that would have been useful if an enemy decided to attack. There has been a lot of previous studies on castle defenses in general but I intended to focus on two specific castles, Farnham and Ashby de la Zouch.
 

=Section 1: Background=
 
Castles were designed to be medieval strongholds that usually housed the lord of the territory in which it stood. In western Europe, the castle developed rapidly starting in the 9th century beginning as just a motte and bailey structure. An enclosed courtyard usually accompanied this type of fortification; over time castles began to include different features that helped with defenses. Some of these included being located on a high mound with a ditch surrounding the stronghold, having a surrounding wall and a keep that served as a safe place to retreat to in times of a siege.
 
==The Influence of Castles on Medieval England==
 
In the 1000s motte and bailey castles were being built all over England and gave way for establishing Norman control through William the Conqueror. The castles provided a small garrison of men the ability to control a decent portion of land and population. By having this control they were able to drive the Saxon rebellion out of the land. After that castle became a place for a lord to run his estate and see the surrounding area that was claimed as his. Over time the small wood motte and bailey castles became large stone fortresses showing off the lord's wealth and power. Over time castles became very important in warfare as a castle usually control a land economy by acting as the treasury.
 
==Castles in Media==
 
As of recently castle have grown quite famous due to their role in media. Many TV shows and movies have used castles as the backdrop to their production such as the American musical comedy, Galavant, which was filmed in Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Merlin, The Crown and more. The famous castle Hogwarts was created by J.K. Rowling for the series Harry Potter and has become widely known. Many people also visit restored castles or ruins and take videos, which are posted on the web. Before these portrals though the most famous comes from the many different versions of the Arthurian Legends that have been around since the early 12th century.
 
==Ashby de la Zouch Castle==
 
[[File: Ashby de la Zouch Castle.jpg|x320px|right|thumb|Ruins of Ashby Castle]]
The castle of Ashby de la Zouch was a manor house that was modified by [[Lord William Hastings|Lord William Hastings]] in the 15th century. Lord Hastings also build a new chapel and two towers that still stand in the ruins. The ruins also contain the remains of a kitchen and a great tower. While Lord Hastings was the one to start work on Ashby de la Zouch Castle he was executed in 1483 interrupting work on the castle, however, Ashby became a prominent site for his descendants. During the time of the Civil War, Ashby became an important royalist base under the command of Henry Hastings. The castle served as a steady fortification during the war till it surrendered in 1646 with its fortifications being demolished two years later. It wasn't until the 19th century that Ashby became popular as a tourist location, due to Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819).

==Farnham Castle==
Farnham Castle, almost 900 years old, was a place for powerful and wealthy medieval Bishops of Winchester. For hundreds of years it served as an administrative center, fortress and accommodations, as well ass providing a convenient stopping place in between London and Winchester. For over 800 year bishops renovated and rebuilt the castle buildings which ensured the castles survival as well as covered up and destroyed evidence of earlier building work. During the British Civil War Farnham's position on the western edge of the area held by Parliament made the castle strategically important. In 1642 Captain George Wither became a commander of a Parliamentarian garrison at Farnham Castle. On November 10 he evacuated the castle after reports of a Royalist advance across the Thames into Surrey. A few days later the keep was occupied under a Royalist. Parliament then sent a regiment under the command of Colonel Sir William Walle to the keep. On November 26 after a three-hour assault, the attackers blew up the central gate and attacked the keep causing the Royalist soldiers to surrender. It was then on December 29 that Waller ordered the north-eastern wall of the keep blown up. Once the war had ended Parliament in 1648 ordered that Farnham Castle be made indefensible. In 1958 archaeologists discovered the remains of a smaller square tower buried withing the larger round keep. This earlier keep was a variant form of a motte and bailey castle. Sometime in the middle of the 12th century, the tower was knocked down, probably order by Henry II, leaving the foundation and the well which remained until a Tudor Bishop had both filled in. The castle now is used as a training, conference, and event venue. In 2011, a permanent exhibition '900 Year of Living History' opened in the stable block and is still open to the public today
=Section 2: Deliverable=
 
==Ashby de la Zouch Castle==
 
This Castle started out as a manner so while being built there was never a need to make sure that the castle had much defensive architecture. Ashby de la Zouch was designed to be a place of luxury so it was filled with a large kitchen, bedrooms, a hall for entertaining. There also was a chapel on site for the household who would have been served by priests and singers. It wasn't until the time of the civil war that the Ashby was used a base for the RoyalistsBoth the town and castle were fortified by Henery, the fifth Earl of Huntingdon. In the town, several buildings were torn down and used to create defenses, with the castle as the focus of these arrangements being dubbed 'Hastings' Stronghold'. When the Royalist eventually surrendered Ashby they were allowed to leave safely but the castle was unfortunately bombed.
 
===Uneven Steps===
[[File: Stairs 1.png|x320px|right|thumb||One hand and a quarter high]]
[[File: Stair 2.png|x320px|right|thumb||Almost two hands tall]]
One thing that I noticed was this particular step of uneven stairs, while I was on the lookout for defensive architecture I actually found these because I trip over them, which was the purpose behind them. The idea was that the people living there and climbing the stairs every day would get used to the steps but those who would try and storm the tower would trip unfamiliar with the layout. As you can see in the picture one step is about a hand and a quarter high while the other is almost two hands high. While this many seem like not much to the eye people climbing the stairs in a hurry would be used to all steps being a certain level and this would cause them to at least stumble.
 
 

===Winding Steps===
Since the castle was blown up there is not much remaining in the way of staircases but on the one tower remaining there is a tall winding staircase. When the tower was being attacked these staircases would provide a benefit to those at the top due to the direction the stairs traveled. If coming from the top a person would be traveling counter clockwise. As most people are right handed this gave them more room to swing their sword then the enemy who would be travel clockwise as the made their way upwards.
 
[[File: Winding Stairs.jpg]]
 

===Supply Tunnels===
It was only during the civil war that the castle had supply tunnels built. These ran under the castle's wall and were used to move troops and supplies. There also was a large storage area at the end of the tunnel that was used to store supplies.
[[File: Tunnel.jpg|Supply Tunnel]]
 
[[File: Tunnel Stair.jpg|Steps leading to the tunnel]]
 
==Farnham Castle==
 
===Archer WIndow===
These windows were created to be used for archers. There skinny long shape was to allow for an archer to be able to shot at the incoming enemy from above while providing as much protection as possible.
[[File: Inside Arrow Window.jpg]]
 
===Drawbridge===
Before entering the keep an enemy would first have to cross a deep pit. This would be done by going over the drawbridge when down. What is good with this set up is that there was a room right about the bridge that housed all the mechanics for it so if an enemy attempted to cross over it would be easy to raise it. Unfortunately when the castle was made indefensible the bridge was destroyed and the pit filled in. Below is an artist rendition of what it might have looked like and then what it looks like today.
[[File: Drawbridge.jpg]]
[[File: Brick Path.jpg]]

===Murder-Hole===

Assuming that a group of enemies managed to make it over the bridge the next line of defense would be the murder hole. Before they could enter the keep a gate would drop and the drawbridge would close locking the invaders in a small room with a hole over it. Then while trapped inside burning hole oil would be poured down the hole leading to a gruesome and painful death.
[[File: Bottom Murder Hole.jpg]]

==Comparison==
 
Each of the castles have their own unique set of architecture and in my opinion, I feel that they are so different from each other because of the way the buildings were originally designed. With Ashby de la Zouch there really wasn't much thought of warfare when designing the building, most of the money and resources were for style or luxury. This lead to very few and non-effective defenses such as with the stairs. The other thing to note is that the tunnel also was something that was built once the civil war had started so when looking at the original building it would not have been there. Farnham Castle, on the other hand, was built to be defended. This allowed for the drawbridge and murder-hole to be purposefully put into the design. It is unfortunate that both of these castles were so radically altered after the civil war we will never have true images of the buildings' original forms.
 

=Conclusion=
 
This project forcused on looking for strategical or defensive architecture in castles that would have help protect it against enemies. I found that the type of defensive varied based on the original purposed of the building. One way to expand upon this project is to visit some more of the many other castles in the United Kingdom and look at how their defenses compare with what I have already found.
 
=References=
Hidden complexities of the frankish castle (2012). . Amsterdam: Leiden University Press. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/lib/wpi/detail.action?docID=3327210
 
Hooker, D. (2004). The importance of medieval castles. Prep School, , 12.
 
The idea of the castle. (2004). In A. Wheatley (Ed.), The idea of the castle in medieval england (NED - New edition ed., pp. 19-43) Boydell and Brewer.
 
Seats of power in europe during the hundred years war (2015). . Havertown: Oxbow Books. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/lib/wpi/detail.action?docID=4542922
 

[[Category:2017]]
 
[[Category:History Projects]]

The Crafting of A Sword

2017-06-22T23:17:13Z

Vnmercouris:

=The Crafting of a Sword=
by [[User:Vnmercouris|Victoria Mercouris]] 

{{Infobox
|title = Title of this Milestone
|bodystyle = width:25em
|image = [[File:Sword and Tor.jpg|x450px|alt=Milestone Image]]
|caption = My finished sword in front of the Tor
|label2 = '''Photo Credit'''
|data2 = [[User:Vnmercouris|Victoria Mercouris]]
}}

__TOC__

=Abstract=
The goal of this project was to take a look at the process of crafting a sword. While blacksmithing used to be a very important job in medieval times its importance has diminished in today's present society due to the invention of factories and machine production. Looking at today's society it is incredible to see the blacksmithing community still thriving, while not at much in a production sense but in a historical one. While the blacksmiths do use some modern technology much of the crafting process is still done by hand as it was done in medieval times. For this project, I went through the process of crafting my own sword to be able to experience what it feels like to be a modern blacksmith.
 

=Introduction=
 
This project was all about the process of creating a sword in a modern day forge. In order to study this topic, I went to a four-day class offered by the Forge of Avalon called Forging your Own Sword. Surprisingly this is a class that has been run many times a year for over 16 years and is not unique to the forge I worked at, The Forge of Avalon. So while I did study the process I am defiantly not one of the first people to be interested in the topic. This project is the capstone of my humanities and arts experience and it actually encompasses two of my other topics that I studied, defensive architecture in castles and historical European martial arts.
 

=Section 1: Background=
 
==The Role of A Blacksmith==
 
During the middle ages, blacksmiths played a very important role in the community. They were in charge or crafting weapons, armor, keys, chains, and tool that any town would need. A blacksmith had tools similar to a goldsmith in order to melt and combine different metals and then shape them into the desired object. A blacksmith was required to have a large amount of knowledge and experience not just on shaping metal but also its composition. What types of metal an object was made of was very important to its hardness, strength, and toughness. By manipulating the composition of metal a blacksmith could create the right combination so the object created would shatter or bend. While becoming a blacksmith require a lot of time in an apprenticeship, the end goal was well worth it due to the blacksmithing guild being very profitable from the wide variety of objects that they made.
While blacksmithing used to be the center of manufacturing in the middle ages, the same can not be said for modern day society. With new materials such as plastic and carbons fiber, plus the many factories that pump out products faster than any person could craft by hand the necessity for blacksmiths have become none existent. The question then is why can they still be found and how do they make their living. Many people now are fascinated by the power that is felt from crafting objects with their hands. There is also a connection that people can feel while crafting to the blacksmiths that came before them. Many modern day blacksmiths make a living off of selling their functional or ornamental creations, at either medieval festivals or on the internet. Others also make money by holding classes teaching what they know to other people who are interested. There are some blacksmiths that specialize in making blades, known as bladesmiths and they can make thousands of dollars selling quality products. Ray Rybar of Finleyville, Pennsylvania is one of the bladesmiths that specializes in pattern-welded blades commonly called "Damascus". Damascus blades are generally made of two or more layers of metal that are forge-welded into one bar. Rybars has had such success with his blade that he was able to sell one for $75,000. Blacksmiths are also very involved in museum work and historical reproduction. While this doesn't pay much it is good for those that have a historical interest in what they are crafting. A common source of jobs for blacksmiths in New England is the restoration of historical buildings. A shop that specializes in historical reproductions might create 40,000 nails for a kitchen that was being reconstructed, reproductions of historical accurate swords, cooking implements, hinges, or locks.
 
==The Process of Becoming a Blacksmith==
The system in place for training new blacksmiths during medieval times was an apprenticeship under a master. What not many people realize is that this still continues in today's society, blacksmith apprentices can spend anywhere from five to eight years learning on the job under a master blacksmith. The work is full time and the pay ranges from $9.50 to $25 an hour. While this is still an option it is not the only one available in order to learn the craft. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, there is a school called Hart Moore Blacksmith Studio that teaches groups of students. This school serves less as a place to officially teach the craft and more as one to satisfy a curiosity that people might have about the blacksmithing experience. Another learning opportunity it through conferences held by blacksmiths' associations. Conferences are a major opportunity to gain new skill as professionals from all around the world gather to demonstrate their techniques. There is also a blacksmithing and metalsmithing program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. This university is the only one in the United States that offers a graduate degree in blacksmithing.
 
==Tools of the Trade==
Anvil - Usually made of from a cast of low-carbon steel with a higher carbon steel face welded to onto the body. This tool serves as a surface on which an object being forged is struck. When a hammer hits on side of the object with a certain amount of force the anvil should rebound that same amount of force on the other side of the object.
 
Quenching Tank - A tank that contains oil or other hardening mediums used in the heat treatment of blades. It can also just serve as a way to rapidly cool a piece of metal so that it can be quickly touched.
 
Hammer - A heavy hammer that is used in combination with an anvil to forge metal.
 
Hardy - A metal working tool that fits inside a square hole in the anvil. It usually refers to a chisel that when hot steel is hammered over will cut the steel.
 
Wire Brush - A tool that is used by blacksmiths to brush away any hammer scale that may appear on the piece being worked on.
 
Spring loaded Press - A large machine with different heads that can be attached. It is good for making fast and even hammer blows.
 
Forge - A hearth used for heating metals to different temperatures so that they can be worked on. Two common types of forges include ones that run on propane or coal. A propane forge is easy to regulate the temperature of as it is just controlled by how much propane is being used. This type of forge doesn't make as much of a mess as a coal forge and is good for when trying to work on many pieces at once. A cool for though is much larger and is ideal for heat tempering as the entire piece needs to be heated evenly which can be hard to do with propane.
 
Swage Block - A large, heavy block of cast iron, or steel that is made up of many different sized shapes. A block can be used to bend, cut, punch and form a hot piece of metal with the use of a hammer.
<gallery>
Swage Block.jpg| Swage Block
Propane Forge.jpg|Propane Forge
Spring Loaded Press.jpg|Spring Loaded Press
Brush.jpg| Brush
Hammar.jpg|Hammer
Anvil.jpg|Anvil
</gallery>
 

=Section 2: Deliverable=
 
==Daily Jornal==
 

===Tuesday June 13, 2017 – Day 1 at the Forge===
Before even starting to craft our swords we spent some time going over the basics of blacksmithing. In order to be able to smith items the material that you are working with has to be hot enough. This can be determined by the color of the metal when taken out of the forge. If the material is red hot then it can act like play dough and can be shaped, when if starts to get cooler it is then considered cold. Trying to strike cold metal can be bad for several reasons, the first is that when you strike it will not change shape at all, the only thing that happens is that it causes stress to your arm. The other issue is that steel is made up of a bunch of crystallized structures, that when red-hot will rearrange, but when the steel is cold the crystallized structures start to shear and the whole piece that is being worked on will break. In total Richard, our forge master told us that there were 8 basic technics. We learned the first 5 by crafting steel nails from a rod. The first technic consisted of creating a square point on a round rod. I was able to do this by hammering the tip of the rod on the anvil with my hammer at a 45-degree angle. After a couple of swings on one side, I then rotated the rod 90 degrees and hammered again. The next technique I learned was cornering which connects the square part of the rod with the round part to form a nice corner. I struggled a lot with this technique because in order to do it I had to line up the edge of my hammer with the edge of the anvil and I had trouble keeping them lined up while hammering. Following the cornering technique was drawing. This was all about stretching the nail out my making in thinner and was applied from the square end of the corner to the point until the nail fit into a provide template hole. After that, we cut the nail using a hardy, which was placed in a hole on the anvil. To cut the nail off the rod gets placed on the blade of the Hardy about a half an inch from the top of the rounded side of the corner. The rod gets hammered and rotated till there is only a thin core left in the middle. Then the rod goes back into the forge one last time where it needs to get extremely hot. Once at the right temperature, the nail then gets put back into the template whole which then gets wiggled around until the nail breaks lose, the final technique is to make the head of the nail. While the nail is still very hot and in the template hole you hammer the head as dead on as possible to flatten out the steel on the top and create a nice round nail head.
In order to teach us all the steps, Richard created a nail for us that we were also able to use as a template. At first, it didn’t seem to be that hard watching him but when I tried it myself I was so proven very wrong. That hammer seemed to get heavier with each blow to the nail, plus is didn’t look like it was changing the shape of the rod very much. After about 45 minutes I was finally about to finish my nail, which came out so bad that it couldn’t even be nailed into the wood. It was pretty disappointing since in comparison it only took Richard about 7 minutes to make his perfectly made nail. Needless to say, I had to practice some more in order to ensure that my sword ended up coming out looking like a sword. So I created another nail for about 45 minutes, which did come out better but was still a long way away from where it needed to be, so I made a third nail. By then the improvements were defiantly noticeable. The head of the nail was centered it was a reasonable length and it was strong enough to be hammered into the wooden table. By the time I finished my third nail it was already noon and time for lunch.
After our break, we started with the creation of our swords, mainly the cross guard part. Instead of working on a round rod we had to switch to a much thicker square rod of steel. The benefit to this was that is was already square so that made keeping the shape easier, the downside was that hammering is was so much harder since there was more material. In order to create the cross guard I started my measuring out the from the end of the steel rod to 80 mm which was marked out in chalk, then from that line to 30 mm and from that line to another 80 mm. One the rod was marked out in chalk I then used a center punch to punch indents into the metal. This allowed for me to see where the marks were once the material became red hot as the chalk at that point burns away. This point was when all the practice with the nails helped out as the techniques to make the cross guard where the same. The first step was to start to make a point on the end of the rod. After that was developed I then had to draw the one side of the cross guard out from the end of the rod to the first indent till the length matched the template provided by Richard. This took more than an hour for me, where I just went back and forth between hammering and heating the steel, I think my biggest issue with this step is I don’t have the strength and coordination needed to make heavy effective hits with the hammer. Once I finished drawing out the one side of the cross guard I then had to cut the cross guard off the rod at the last indent marking. Once the guard was free I then hard to replicate the first side onto the part that I just cut. I think this was even more challenging than just creating the first side since now I had to be concerned with the symmetry of the guard. When both sides looked roughly symmetric the next point of focus was the 30 mm center. This step ended up being a two person job in which one person held the hot cross guard with the tongs and the other person used an axe and a punch to form the holes. Since the class is short on time there really wasn’t the opportunity for us to make a mistake as it could have ruined all of what we were working I was the one that held my cross guard while Richard struck it with the axe and the hole cutter. In order to make the correct pattern the axe was used first, it was held directly in the center of the cross guard and a hammer struck the back of it, once the indent was large enough, the next step was to create the hole in which the tang will go through. This utilized a square hole punch in the same manner as the axe, however, this indent continued all the way through the guard till I stuck out through the bottom. At a later time, we will cut this indent off which will finish the hole.
By the time we had finished this it was already 4:30 so we called it a day and left the forge. Overall on the first day, I feel like I learned a lot, I did start to notice that my hammering arm is already starting to get sore, as are my fingers. I am also very much covered in black from the forge.
 
<gallery>
First Nail.jpg|My first nail that I created
Second Nail.jpg|My second nail
Third Nail.jpg|My final nail for Tuesday
Cross Gaurd 1.jpg|The First step of making my cross guard, which involved drawing the ends of a square steel rod.
Hole in Cross Guard.jpg|A two person job of putting a hole into my cross guard
Cross Guard 2.jpg|What my guard looked like at the end of my first day
</gallery>
===Wednesday June 14, 2017 – Day 2 at the Forge===

Before even getting to the forge at 0900 this morning my entire left arm was aching from yesterday. When we did arrive though we started our day making nails again, while the 2 I did make were still better than my first attempt yesterday they defiantly need a lot of work not to mention that it still took me an hour and a half to make both of them. Once everyone was had gotten enough practice in we then got to start on making the blade. The steel that we ended up using today was actually very different than what was used yesterday for the reasons. This first was the shape, which was a flat rectangular prism, the second reason had to do with its composition. The steel used yesterday was made u of about 1 percent carbon but what we used today was about 7 percent carbon, which made it much stronger and harder to shape. In order to get started Richard cut the steel with a 45-degree angle on both sides to help make the step of shaping the blade easier. The first step was to create a point on one side, in order to do this I had to hammer that the longer end of the angle to push is towards the center of the blade. Turns out, I am not good at this, instead of getting a nice smooth point I ended up with many bumps and only the general shape. Luckily Richard was able to smooth and fix my point. With the first side complete I then had to wait to let the blade cool off so I could flip it and do the same on the reverse side. Fortunately, this side went much better and although I still need some help with the details I was able to do a lot more to get the general shape. After letting both sides cool once again I then picked the end that I thought looked the best to serve as my point. With my side chosen the next step was to taper the blade; this helps with balance and aesthetic since it wouldn’t look so nice if the width of the blade was the same all the way down except for the point. The tapering of the blade took a lot of time since the blade was so large and it had to be done in sections to create a nice smooth flow. Overall I spent about 3 hours tapering the blade. We then took our lunch since we need to let the blade cool down in order to work one the other side.
Once lunch was over we began to work on the tang. This is The part of the sword that is attached to the blade and goes through the handle and pommel, effectively holding them on. We started by measuring from our bad end to about 140 mm and marking that point. This was once again tapered but at a much steeper angle and it ended up forming a triangle. After the triangle was made Richard then used a spring loaded press to create the exact shape that would fit into the hole of our cross guard. While I defiantly wanted to try the machine that was used I most likely would have made a mistake as it ended up looking like it was had to control, also if the was one blow that went wrong I would have ruined the entire blade. Once that part was fashioned the next step was tapering the rest of the tang so that was the cross guard had a way to slide onto the blade. The final step for the day was to fix the thickness of the blade. Since we shaped so much of the material we ended up making the tip of the blade much thicker than the rest, which would have completely thrown off the balance. After heating of the blade one final time, Richard ran them all through the spring loaded press to flatten them out and we end our day.
<gallery>
Before Forging Blade.jpg| What the metal looked like before making the blade
Blade Part .jpg| After creating points
Blade Part 2.jpg| The beginning of the tang
Blades in Forge.jpg| All of the blades in the propane forge
</gallery>
===Thursday June 15, 2017 – Day 3 at the Forge===
Today we didn't have to make any nails, which I was a little happy about as after a while it gets boring. Instead we focused on finishing the blade of our sword. The first step was to complete forming the tang. Yesterday we tapered the end of the tang to help the the cross guard fit on. The next step was to take the rectangular bottom part and make it round. This will be the end that fits into the hole of the pommel and will eventually hold it onto the blade as well. I was a little nervous in making this part mainly because when crafting a nail I had some difficulty making a round piece of metal square so in my head making rectangular round just seemed even harder. Luckily before we began Richard used the spring loaded press to narrow down our rectangular piece into a square making the job much easier. With the tang in a square all we had to do was hammer on the corners to make the square an octagon, and then hammer those edges and so on until it became the roughly the shape of a circle and fit into our heading tool. Surprisingly this went well and I found that my skills lay in making circles instead of squares. The next step in forging the blade was to bevel the edges of the sword. This ended up being a long and hard process that required working on the blade in sections starting from the tip. The trick in creating a nice bevel is to deliver even hammer blows down the length of the blade on both sides. The biggest problem that I faced in this task was that I didn't and still don't have great control over my hammer blows. Some of my blows were harder than other resulting in a wave on the edge of my blade, I also had accidentally hammered on edge more than the other causing the blade to curve. It turns out that when one side is worked more than the other that side stretches and expands more. I tried to fix the curve but struggled, after a little bit Richard came around to everyone and worked on cleaning up the details, in my case he was able to stretch out my other side of the blade resulting in it once again being straight. After letting the cool down so they could be touched the edges were sanded, the two reasons to this was that it got rid of any bumps on the edges that may have formed from hammering the bevel, it also gave a better view along the edge of the blade. When looking straight down the edge of the blade it was easy to tell that it wasn't completely straight. The final step in forging the blade was to get rid of as many of the wiggles as possible. Doing this was a slightly different process then all of our other times working with metal. Usually, we needed the piece we were working on to be a bright red as that is the easiest to manipulate, however in this case we wanted a deep cherry red color. At this temperature when hit with medium to light strength hammer blows the sword would only straighten out versus change its shape like we had been doing before. This process didn't take too long and once we were able to straighten our blades to the best of our abilities were finished for the day.
<gallery>
Cross Guard On.jpg| The blade and the cross guard together
Tang.jpg| The tang of the blade. (What will be under the handed and pommel)
Red hot.jpg|The blade just before forming the beveled edges
Beveled Edges 1.jpg| The tip of the sword
Sanding down Blade.jpg| Sanding down the edge of the blade
</gallery>

===Firday June 16, 2017 – Day 4 at the Forge===
Our last day at the forge started with us making nails again. I am not sure if it was because Richard wanted to see if we had improved or he just thought it was funny either way, I noticed that while my nails still were lacking the amount of time it took me to make one drastically decreased. I did notice while I was making them that I had was much further down the handle of the hammer then it had been earlier this week and my hits had also been more accurate, giving my blows more strength and efficiency. Once everyone had completed two more nails we moved onto forging our last part of the sword, our pommel. This didn't take that long to make, the piece started out as a cylinder of steel that had been cut off of a larger piece. The first step in creating the pommel was to heat it up and hammers the whole thing to get rid of the cutting marks and the rust that was on the outside. The next step was to create beveled edges all the way around so that way it would be smooth. The last part definitely made me the most nervous in order to create the design on the pommel a punch in the form of a circle had to be held right in the center and hit repeated, the main problem is making sure that it was centred when hit and that the force of the hammer blow was even. One of my sides came out very nice while my other side has two circles overlapping each other as the punch move when being hit. With the pommel being complete our time forging was done, the final few steps involved cleaning up the pieces, putting the cross guard and pommel on the blade, and creating the handle. It was during this time that our class formed an assembly line, one group of two focused on sanding down the edges of the cross guards another used and angle grinder to clean the hammer scale off both the pommels and cross guard, while the final group which I was in cleaned up the blades. This involved angle grinding the large amounts of hammerscale off the blades then taking a small hammer to tap off what was left. By doing the process in an assembly format we were able to save a lot of time because people didn't need to constantly switch jobs. The next step that we did was my favorite by far of the whole process, sanding down the blade so that way it became shiny. Using a belt sanded and making long strokes with the blade we began the slow process of cleaning the blade. Now, this ended up taking much longer than it should have for me and that was mainly because of my inexperience in the forge. My blade had a lot of indents from banged in hammer scale that wasn't brushed away properly so that meant that I had to grind down much more than normal. Even after all the time I spent grinding the blade, there are still parts left that aren't shiny because the indents in the blade were so deep. With the blade cleaned up as much as possible, the next step was assembly. The cross guard got slid of the tang and I closed up the hole to make a tight fit by hammering both sides of the cross guard. Then came attaching the pommel, in order to get it securely onto the tang a hole was drilled through it's diameter that was the size of the round part of my tang. Then after heating just the tip of the tang, the pommel was quickly slid on tapped one into place then the red hot edge of the tang was flattened down to secure everything together. Once again this step was pretty nerve racking as the was only one chance to put everything on right, if the tang wasn't hammered flat then there was no way to redo it. With that pat complete the only ting left to do on the sword was make the handle. When working on the handle we actually had to move outside since it was made of wood. This is because all the wood shavings end up on the floor and when working with red hot metal that would pose a safety issue in the workshop. The wood handle didn't take long to make as it was mainly carving a hole in two pieces of wood for the tang to sit and then shaping the wood round and gluing it together with epoxy. The final part was to take a pseudo swade and glue it onto the wood.
<gallery>
Complete.png|My completed sword
Before assembly.jpg|Before assembly
Pommel Before.jpg|What the pommel looked like before forging it
</gallery>
 

=Conclusion=
 
The sword making experience was one of the most exciting things that I have ever done. Since I have never done any of the things that we did in class before there was a huge learning and experience curve, however having Richard there to fix the issues that popped up made my inexperience manageable. One of the biggest things I learned from the class was that this is an art that no matter how much you study it that can't substitute for practice and muscle memory. Another thing that I learned was how much hammer scale can affect your work. It shows up very easily and while forging it is something that isn't hard to ignore, but ignoring or just not brushing it off you piece enough can be detrimental to the final look of the object. While thin banged in hammer scale can create terribly ugly pits in a piece that are near impossible to get out by sanding even at one mm thick. Coming home with my sword is a great take way from the class because not only will I never forget the experience but now I also have a great ice breaker to a conversation. I also loved the fact that I was able to meet with 2 people from Australia that were taking the class and two from Manchester. We really had a great chance to bond and get to know each other which is something that is hard as a tourist. I hope to take another blacksmithing class in the future that will further improve my skills and give me the chance to learn new techniques.

This milestone also showed just how active the blacksmithing community is if you know where to look. There are forges scatter throughout the United States and the United Kingdom if you just look for them. It is also really easy to be able to learn how to forge your own piece as many blacksmiths happily run classes to not only fund their business but also the keep what could be a dying craft alive. A similar project could also be made to focus on comparing the process of forging and hardening different type of metals.

 

=References=
Byko, M. (2002). The modern blacksmith: Metalworker, craftsperson, historical re-enactor. Jom, 54(10), 17. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.wpi.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/docview/232571531?accountid=29120
 
Young, G. (2005). Forging metal on Mackinac. Michigan History Magazine, 89(4), 18. Retrieved June 20, 2017, from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GRGM&u=mlin_c_worpoly&id=GALE%7CA163097912&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&ugroup=outside&authCount=1#
 
Hrisoulas, J. (1987). The Complete Bladesmith: Forging your Way to Perfection. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press.
 

[[Category:History Projects]] 

[[Category:2017]]

The Crafting of A Sword

2017-06-22T20:43:52Z

Vnmercouris:

File:Stair 2.png

2017-06-22T20:42:32Z

Vnmercouris:

File:Stair 1.jpg

2017-06-22T20:38:20Z

Vnmercouris:

File:Tunnel.jpg

2017-06-22T20:37:49Z

Vnmercouris:

File:Tunnel Stair.jpg

2017-06-22T20:37:13Z

Vnmercouris:

File:Bottom Murder Hole.jpg

2017-06-22T20:36:43Z

Vnmercouris: