'One of the finest historical fiction writers in the world' Ben Kane Pisa, May 1364. Sir William Gold is looking forward to a lucrative career as a hired sword

Recorded over six centuries ago, the teachings of the 14th-century Master-at-Arms Johannes Liechtenauer have been given new life by a world-wide community of mo

Adopted from the Celts in the 1st century BC, the spatha, a lethal and formidable chopping blade, became the primary sword of the Roman soldier in the Later Emp

The formidable European longsword – featuring a double-edged straight blade in excess of 40in, and capable of being used with one or both hands – remains on