Finished product/What is a buckler?

I have finished the buckler that I've been making for three months, and I am very satisfied.It is meant to be a reasonable facsimile of 14th century European examples. It's not accurately constructed in every way, and there's some small problems. One is that it's made of thin gauge steel. Next time I make one I'll use thicker sheet metal, which will be more difficult to shape but much stronger against sword blows. Cosmetically it shows obvious hammer dings that I can't get off, it's a little asymmetrical, and the wrap is kind of haphazard. These flaws are mostly because it's my first time making one, and I hope you'll agree that it's not too shabby. It took a lot of work. Here it is in my hands.

Donald and I have made this as faithfully to the historical design and construction as possible while still using some modern tools to speed things up, and how we made it is mostly what this blog is about. Soon I will discuss the next project, a medieval chest. However, here may be a good place to lay out the context in which the buckler existed. 

A buckler is a kind of small shield for foot combat that was popular in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. The English-language name for this small shield might come from French word boucle meaning a shield boss, and buckers may have evolved out of the large wooden shields used in the Viking era which had a big round central boss and a center grip. The benefit of a small shield such as a buckler over a large one is its portability and the handy, nimble way it can be used. During the hundreds of years when it was in use, various styles of fighting with a combination of sword and buckler were developed. The discovery of some surviving sword-fighting instruction manuals such as Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33 (pronounced "one-thirty-three") has helped to disprove the stereotype that medieval sword-fighting was crude or unsophisticated, and revealed that it was actually an elegant and effective martial art. The I.33 manuscript was written in the late 13th century and exclusively shows fighting with swords and bucklers. The manuals of later fencing teachers such as Hans Talhoffer (15th century) and George Silver (16th century) show how new styles of sword-and-buckler fighting evolved in different time periods, how different kinds and shapes of bucklers were invented to suit people's preferences, and what a great diversity of martial arts styles existed across the European continent. Here are some pictures of me in poses with my buckler, which are wards taught by the I.33 manuscript. The sword depicted is the "Practical Norman Sword", a production model stage sword by CAS Iberia/Hanwei.

Here is an example of sword-and-buckler fighting from a 15th century fight manual of Hans Talhoffer's system. It depicts a technique in which the swordsman on the right blocks a cut from above (oberhau) with both sword and buckler in a way that sets him up to grapple his opponent's sword arm. He traps his opponent's sword arm using his buckler arm and thrusts his own sword into his opponent. Attack and defense were seen as two sides of the same coin, requiring the sword and buckler to be used in unison, and proper posture, footwork and timing were essential. Gentlemen underwent years of hard, tedious practice under their fencing masters in order to become proficient fighters. The relatively small size of the buckler is necessary grappling to be effective. 

The buckler was considered to versatile and practical companion for battlefield and self-defense situations. Although it was not wide enough to provide much cover from missiles, it was a good swordsman's companion in a street fight or a tight press on the battlefield. Bucklers were portable, and some of them had hooks to be hung from a belt. This made sword and buckler an option for civilian self-defense, but it was also a favorite of archers and crossbowmen.

This is just a quick overview meant to cover as much of the subject as possible. My next project, which I will document soon, is a medieval-style oak wood chest. Thank you all for tuning in.