Long-sword

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The term long sword is ahistoric in the sense that it refers to a different kind of sword depending on historical context:

• In an early Medieval context, a long-sword refers to a Spatha type sword, which is 'long' compared to the Seax and the Gladius.

• In a late Medieval and Renaissance context, a longsword is a two-handed sword with a longer blade than its predecessor the arming sword. It was called langes Schwert (longsword) in German and spadone (large sword) in Italian. Bastard sword was an English term for a type of longsword.

• In Early Modern English, the term can refer to a two-handed sword of the above type, but sometimes refers to a long-bladed sword used in one hand; it is unclear whether this was a longsword used one-handed, or a specific type of one-handed sword.

• In a late Renaissance context, the Zweihänder of the 16th century Landsknechts, the longest sword of all, is sometimes included in the term.

• The Japanese Katana proper (大刀 daitō, Odachi, Nodachi) is sometimes translated as longsword.

• In modern usage, the term is often applied to a one-handed Medieval sword.

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