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Battle of Blanchetaque 1346 - 100 Years WarA Feat of Arms A very notable feat of arms took place on the morning of August 24th, 1346, in the marshy estuary of the River Somme. The small and starving English army of Edward III was in desperate need to cross to the north side of the river as staying where they were on the south side kept them bottled up between the sea and the river. But that wasn't the worst of it, for there was also an enorm...

The Vikings were extremely fierce in battle and considered by those they attacked as blood thirsty barbarians. Some of this reputation came from the Viking code of ethics that allowed for blood feuds to be common place. And in fulfilling this code nothing was deemed out of bounds. There's even evidence of battles involving multiple men against another man. Maybe not fair by todays standards, but back then justice could be enforced by anyone wrong...

As for their sidearm, the Roman soldier was never far from his trusty short sword, the gladius (500360). The gladius was normally worn on a baldric (200368) and slung over the shoulder to hang across the body on the opposite hip. History shows us most were worn on the right hip for a pull draw as opposed to a cross draw as this type of draw was impeded by the scutum. There were several patterns of gladius and it was not unusual for mixed types to...