[Taylor Ellis]

As the reproduction market gets more and more historically accurate, I have to wonder if the hilt and pommel decorations are far behind. In the maciejowski bible for example, all swords appear to be gilded or bronze. How common was the burnished stell finish on hilt furniture so popular today? What sort of modern finishes are historically accurate, for example blueing etc? I recall reading that the swords of some of the military orders were usually left plain, but that certainly doesn't seem the case with the rest of the knights of the era.

[Chad Arnow]

If you check out books like Records of the Medieval Sword or The Sword in the Age of Chivalry or Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight, bare steel hilts were probably the most common finish in the high Middle Ages. I'd recommend picking up some books like these for research if you don't have them already. You can simply click on the link for each title and go directly to Amazon.com.

If you check out our features page, the Oakeshott type spotlights show many historical examples from the medieval era.

Blackening was done historically, as was russeting (like browning). I've read that some were painted. Gilding, whether with gold or another metal like silver, was also done.

[Taylor Ellis]

Hi Chad, I own "Records" and "Sword in the Age of Chivalry" and Oakeshott states that most words were gilded with gold or silvered or they were simply painted. Do you know if "painted" refers to blueing in this era? Blueing aside, I can't eem to find much evidence that plain iron was the norm, at least amongt the knightly caste, though I could very easily be wrong!

[Chad Arnow]

[Taylor Ellis]

Hi Chad, the only thing that I'm wondering about is the likelihood of blueing or painting surviving in excavated like conditions for centuries as well as the lack of plain steel or iron in sources like the maciejowski bible (not that that is evidence in itself).

Cheers mate!