Fighting in Armor

The estimable David Mills takes a break from writing about Planned Parenthood, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and other major issues to discuss something just because it’s cool:  What it was like for knights to fight in armor.

I’d always thought that the soldiers in armor were like human tanks, clumping slowly around and taking wide swings with a broadsword, and that when two of them met they used their swords more like clubs till one finally knocked down the other. They fought with force rather than technique. But no. The knight in his armor could run (or at least trot), climb ladders, and even do a forward roll if he had to. He had to learn the techniques of fighting in armor.

He goes on to show a video (reproduced after the jump) and links to recent research, showing that iron-clad warriors were quite nimble, but that their sword fighting looked quite different from what we have currently imagined.