What was a knights sword made from?

Answer 1

The blade was forged from steel - an iron alloy containing a small percentage (around 0.5%) of carbon, which allows the springiness and harness for blades.

the cross and pommel were made from steel or bronze, sometimes with gilding or similar decoration.

the hilt was normally made from hardwood - beech or ash woods were common, and then covered with a thin peice of leather. some hilts were made from more exotic materials - black horn, ivory, or were wrapped in spirals of silver or gold wire.

Answer 2

For the most part, low-quality steel. As until almost the Renaissance, good-quality steel production was impossible for the small-forge smithy to produce, swords were made with relatively low-carbon-content steel with a considerable impurity content, which tends to make them much more brittle than other steel alloys.

In certain parts of the Middle East, more advanced steel making allowed the production of "Damascus Steel", which had a lower impurity percentage, and also a unique forging process (one that has since been lost). Such blades were considerably stronger (and could hold an edge longer) than similar-era European swords.

With the improvement of steelworking in the mid-Renaissance period, swords became made with higher-carbon steel, and the level of impurities dropped radically, producing a much more flexible and strong metal.

Answer 3

Swords and knife blades came in a wide variety of qualities but the best were forged from iron with bars of steel combined during the smithing. The cutting edges would be of steel and the blade might be "pattern welded" to create an intricate design along the entire length. Steel was simply iron with a high carbon content produced by adding charcoal as the iron was melted; this created a strong but brittle steel. Adding this to much softer iron prevented the steel from breaking in use.

Sword design changed immensely during the very long medieval period (as did every other aspect of life). In the 11th and 12th century swords had fairly wide blades with a groove down each face; guards were straight or slightly down-curving, grips were for just one hand (the other was needed for the shield) and pommels were heavy and often Brazil-nut shaped.

Later swords were for two hands and could be very long.

The guards and pommel could be of copper alloy (bronze) and the grip was often of wood covered in leather.

The link below takes you to an interesting website giving details of genuine medieval sword types:

Answer 4

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