I’m surprised the lantern shield hadn’t had more rep in fantasy. I suppose the closest equivalent would be the Uruk Hai shields but those seem closer to spiked pavises.
Fencing with this looks so odd but it works, I used to think the lantern shield was just a proof of concept or a curiosity a wealthy patrician would hang on his wall but this video proves it's an actual weapon. This is why experimental archeology is so important, we find out History is stranger than fiction.
I made something similar that's like a heater shield with a short sword blade at the downwards tip that can switch between a very defensive stance to a more ofensive one where it looks a lot like this. Out of cardboard, since I don't have the woodworking or metalworking skills.
Make the sword to be able to be detached and used. Maybe since its a "lantern" shield the lantern oil itself will provide a fire element to said detached sword!
Never considered that the extra blade sticking out of the shield would provide so much extra coverage for parries, but it clearly does. Holding it raised diagonally almost closes off the line of attack to the head as well as the arm and shoulder. For its size that's an amazing amount of cover.
Місяць тому+3
yeah, the protection against meele weapons seems awesome, considering how light it looks. Its of course much worse against ranged weapons, where bigger shield would work better, but I absolutely love this concept :)
If you want an example of Lantern Shields in video games, Final Fantasy 14 has some in the base game. It's only really a model for a shield and doesn't give you extra stats to attack or extra moves, But it's there.
We made it custom a few years ago. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet - www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
One thing I noticed is the sword on the shield blocks your swings, so while with a normal shield you can swing a sword while blocking, you have to be careful doing that with a lantern shield.
I wonder how the lantern shield would play with a two handed weapon, like a longsword, i noticed that the inside of the gauntlet looked to have maille, so id assume its for grappling or redireting an enemies blade, but id still love to see it. I also wonder how is would effect armored fighting, maybe not full plate, but i think half plate would be neat. Wonderful video as always.
What would be the advantage of a lantern shield over an off-hand arm harness for someone in half-plate? Seems like if you've got that much of your upper-body armored already, the lantern shield would provide only marginally more passive protection, and there's an argument to be made that it offers _less_ active protection, as a plate-clad arm with an off-hand weapon is substantially more agile, affords a greater range of motion, and is better offensively.
@@irrelevantfish1978 i dont think there would be one lmao, i honestly just wanna see how armor effects its use. (I was also thinking half plate as in Aegis' munitions armor with only spaulers for the arms too)
@@somerandoinaknightsarmor9938 While my arguments are more true for armors with more coverage, I was also assuming half-plate without arm protection below the shoulders. My point was that if you had a choice between carrying a lantern shield and adding a single full arm harness to just your off-hand, you'd be better off doing the latter. Would that be historical? Dunno. AFAIK, the only European plate armor that fully covered one arm and left the other fully bare was the Roman _manica,_ but arm protection on medieval/Renaissance armors were often asymmetric (eg, the Milanese style of full plate).
Your lines of movement would be *very* restricted and predictable if you were to wield a two-handed weapon with that thing. It really does not look very feasible at all.
Makes me think of... wielding a tonfa but you are holding the length towards your opponent. If the tonfa came with a board. I don't have a lantern shield, but I do own a pretty hefty tonfa. Time to go to the workshop.
I notice that you are doing a lot of leading with the right foot, which makes sense because that's how you would normally fight with a sword and buckler, but I'm wondering if the lantern shield would work better if you lead with the left foot, holding the shield out front, and keeping the sword at high guard. I get that that would seem to give the opponent a reach advantage if they're leading with the sword, but you would be very well protected with your shield arm out front if you approached the fight like you're boxing a someone righthanded who's trying to fight southpaw: just always keep your leading foot on the outside of their leading foot and there's really nothing they can do. The only way the opponent would be able to get you is if they hooked a stab around your left of your shield, which would require them to telegraph the attack by reaching way out to their right, giving you plenty of opportunity to rotate the lantern shield left, close the distance, attack high with your sword, and skewer them in the mid section with one of the several points on the lantern shield if they raised their shield to defend against the high sword attack. That's just a thought. I'm no HEMA expert or anything.
I found the lantern shield very effective when either lifting the shoulder and dropping the point to stop the opponents right hand swings all together or fighting Viking style with the elbow bent and getting the spike right in their face to move the buckler or steer the opponents foot work resulting in them having to step out of the clinch and possibly open their back or side just to free their sword.
Hmm, it has been over a decade, but I used to fight with a heater shield but strapped "Tombstone" method. So the pointed tip of the triangle aligned with my gripping hand. Defensively takes a lot of work, which younger me could manage. But you're constantly swiveling up and down rotating at your elbow, to parry strikes at your leg and at your head. The advantage however, was that I could easily hook the tip of the shield around the opponent's shield and draw their guard open suddenly. The "tombstone" moniker came from holding it in a classic pugilist pose, the wide base is down, and the point resembles the tip of a tombstone sitting in a cemetery.
I made a (cardboard) heater shield variant with essentially a short sword at that pointed tip, with a mechanism to let it swivel up and it function more like a pata. Mayba you'll be able find it if you look up JugglingAddict and look for something like dual wielding shields. The video quality s**ks, but you should still be able get some ideas. (Of course works best combined with a sword or spear instead of the video suggested dual wielding, but the videos idea was that it wasn't impossible to make it somewhat work.😅 only later I found out about lion head shields like the ones used in Choy Li Fut)
Saw this in Final Fantasy 14 and I am shocked to learn that it actually existed. I thought it was just fantasy nonesense that looks cool and nothing more.
I'd be interested to see how 2 lantern shields would handle. Both primary and secondary at once. I have a background in hand to hand and traditional martial arts, so I see this tool and I see an extremely well guarded and long-reaching push dagger. With proper extension and form, you could get a lot more reach out of a straight "punch" than you'd think, and also, a lot more _speed_ than you'd think. Obviously it's gonna weight down your arm a bit, so it won't be as fast as an open hand or glove, but you'd be surprised the kind of speed you can achieve throwing a punch with a comparable wrist weight. Following shield/blade placement logic, you can strike at an opponents center this way much faster, with much better defense, and with a whole other hand free to feint with. I'd pay a lot - well, I don't have a lot - but if I did I'd be willing to pay a lot of money to spar with one of these on each hand against a more traditional set of weapons, or someone else with the same weapons for that matter. I mostly just want to try these and spar with someone.
Part of me thinks the shield boss sticking out so far is a liability in the wrong circumstances. If it were half that length with Sai or Trident-like sword catches protruding from it, that could absolutely be useful for disarming or even breaking an opponent's sword, especially if it's done in a way to use the width of the shield surface to deflect and guide their sword toward the center where it could be stopped by the spike. There it would get wedged against the spike and its barbs too tightly to remove it quickly. At that point, you're also tethered to your opponent, but you have a significantly better grip. A good lift straight up should either twist their weapon out of their hands or break it.
I think it could be a solid choice for an archer. I mean (mounted) archers (often I believe something like mamlukes) that were holding a shield of about similar size have been known to hold a shield at the same time as shooting their horsebows and it's great to have something of a shield if/when you run out of arrows/are caught unawares and need to defend yourself. The lantern shield looks like it does the whole keep your hand free for shooting a bow even better than those rotella like shields. The lantern shields blade can work decently in melee and if we don't deploy it, being able to benefit from a shields cover while rushing into grappling range and still having that hand free is pretty handy. 😂😊
I'm curious to see how much of a difference it would make if the blade on the lantern shield was replaced with a sword breaker. Seeing as how many times the opponent struck the blade, if it was a sword breaker, you could bind it and get in close to your opponent and either stab with your main hand or spike them with the shield spike.
i feel that maybe u hang a lanter in the outside from that spike that came out in the center. since it have slits there to secure the lanter of sliding out
I think they are useful, especially when the main blade is not extended into it's full length (it is retractable). If you had to use it at a moment's notice certainly. But also the vertical blade on the shield dome goes to show just how useful extra blades are for trapping, and those little blades won't add much weight. We didn't build it in to ours simply for safety considerations.
Impracticality, it's a lot of weight and complexity to carry around considering it is used in a civilian context even in it's folded down state. Basically overkill for most scenarios. That;s before we consider the cost. In the same way that full size shields are amazing for defence, but civilians didn't typically carry them around because it is too much weight, mass and hassle.
Reminds me a bit of the chinese hook shield in the way it is able to defend a large area with its protrusions despite the relatively small shield. It would be interesting to see how the lantern shield would pair against it.
If I am not mistaken the lion head shield is sort of the successor to the chinese (swallowtail) hook shield. If I am imagening the right type of shield!, well those are really cool! 😊
No, because the aim here is replicas of real pieces rather than fantasy. We are working towards a gun shield though, which were build in fair numbers in the mid 16thc, they had no blades but had a breech loading gun with the barrel in or near the centre of the dome of the shield.
Is the plate sticking out the back for grappling/hooking maneuvers? I could see catching something behund it and manipulating it out of the way while whipping that blade at the opponent.
It;s mostly for catching and trapping blades. Stopping swords dropped past or under the shield and locking them in place momentarily. It doesn't really ever trap in a way that could get a hold of a weapon but it can hold them long enough to allow closing and counters.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing That's what I mean, yeah. A quick brush aside, but that same motion of straightening the arm would alsoswing the attached blade.
What gloves/gauntlets are they wearing? Need a new pair for sidesword and want something that allows greater range of motion than what most gauntlets seem to offer.
Thokk weaponmaster and a new prototype by HFA. For what is available right now, the Thokk and Superior Fencing Impact resistant models are the best sidesword gloves.
Nothing as bright as we are used to torches and lanterns of today. Don't think of it as blinding someone by shining a powerful torch in their eyes, but instead destroying their night vision causing them to be effectively blinded, whilst at the same time they are well lit for the wielder of the lantern to see.
We made it custom. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet - www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
That is what they have been built for, but I as I have not seen them personally I cannot say more than that. However, we have had good experiences with their products so far, we use their armour often.
Not likely no, if a mace was to connect with it the most it would likely do is deform the shield, and the arm itself is protected by a lot more of the inner structure than just the shield dome. But putting that aside, it's just not likely that this type of device would ever face a mace. They were used by bodyguards in civilian settings, watchmen etc. They would really only ever likely face swords, cudgels, perhaps a staff. This trainer has been in use for 6 years of training against all manner of weapons and never been an issue.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing thanks for the reply, it's surprising how much protection it offers. For that shield to have lasted 6 years is really impressive! Never would have guessed it could take more than slashing hits.
They are, and there are a few thigh shots in this video, but the two fighters here do not target each others legs as often as some due to decades of fighting one another and the countering of such shots. It's very much a case of adapting to the opponent, but if you watch against other fighters you will see a lot more.
One thing im gonna comment, that gauntlet is a big weakness, its waiting for your hand/wrist to be broken. I dont see a reason why it shouldnt be behind the shield portion.
The gauntlet is fixed rigidly to the shield, it's physically impossible for the hand/wrist to be broken. There are a number of reasons it is in front. Firstly, the main blade on the original is retractable, as is the handle which the gauntlet holds, and so that gloved hand is actually usable as a normal hand. Also, the shield part is small and compact, and if you shift it further forwards towards the hand it no longer protects the elbow, which is a massive weakness. You'd also be pushing a massive amount of weight further forward and make it much more unwieldy. It is a weird design, but each seemingly odd design choice is specifically in support of the other features of the the device.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing while the gauntlet is still metal, sufficiently hard hits will hurt you. And a polearm would have a much higher risk of breaking the hand. Another problem is the sword part, which is under the gauntlet instead of above so most powerful strikes, which come from above, will hit the hand before the sword. So there are definately non-synergistic design decisions. Also your comment the elbow, just retract the hand inside the shield, or better yet remove it making the shield lighter, and just hide the hand behind shield section. And make the shield either elliptical, or bigger so elbow is covered as well. There are far bigger shields that were used quite extensively so i dont think that extra amount is going to break its usefulness. After all, the thing that sets this shield apart is the sword protrutions, not the hand.
Remember what this is for. It is something worn about a civilian context by a bodyguard or watch or similar. It;s not likely to ever fight pole arms. And yes larger shields existed, but once again, this is a small device for easy wear, carry and transportation in a civilian setting. As for the sword position, well if you se the way we use it and, the sword is best place for many strikes, as the rotations commonly used bring the sword edge in to play. Once again, if your hand is inside the shield,. it cannot be used for other duties, because you are only seeing it in it's fully deployed mode in sparring. Let's say you want to club, hold on to something, hold the rail on the back of a coach, control yourself over terrain, handle other weapons, etc. You can also use it like a dueling glove and shield at the same time if you choose not to deploy the blade and handle. So it is a multi tool. You need to remember the context with this shield. It is not intended to be the best at any one thing, it is intended to do many different things in many different settings, whilst being very compact in wear and transportation.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencingI think it not being inside the shield actually could make it useful for an archers bow hand. (If we ignore the weight that is) As soon as they enter into melee, we ditch our bow and become either a nightmare to duel or grapple against. (In my opinion that is of course. 😅 if the blade is deployed dueling becomes an advantageous situation for us or undeployed in the grapple we have essentially something like a dagger in the gauntlet spike as we as a free hand, to me that looks like a massive advantage) (I could totally see this as a cool piece of kit for a fantasy archer adventurer)
We made it custom. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet - www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
I think a spear wouldn't be bad, I mean would you have an easy time rushing someone like that? With that layered defense/offence, no thank you. (Spearpoint would be further forward than the shields sword and even closer in are the gauntlet spikes. You get past the 1st layer only to get sheesh kebbabed on the 2nd, that's like having to run into a 1 men wide phalanx formation)
There are quite a number of accounts of lantern shields being carried and used and so they were not super rare, though it is hard to know what form they took and if they were anything as complex as the type reproduced here. Overall I would say it is impractical. Heavy and awkward to wear/carry and so overkill in most scenarios. Also an expensive item to produce.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Thank you for that detailed response, much appreciated. The historical example does look quite intricate and the sword catchers on the fist definitely caught my eye. The switch from that to a stab was, from my point of view, an obvious technique that would have been used.
You should try sparring with just the shield. I think you are missing the point. Ignore the fact that the long pointy bit is sharp. It is a lever. Or possibly a fulcrum? It isnt for blocking, it is for catching. Look at other examples of the format. Plenty of places to catch and lock a blade.
The one thing we know about lantern shields is that they were carried for offhand use so that a sword could still be used in the lead hand, that much is documented. Used standalone the lantern shield would be rubbish, as it has very limited reach and the user will get picked apart. Yes the different parts of the shield are for catching, though a parry in itself is a means of catching. The different trapping elements are there to stop an opponents weapon, even for a brief moment. Chances of locking anything are slim, but holding them in place for just a moment? Pretty good. Shields, swordbreakers and even main gauche daggers all work on similar principals.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencingI think that if we pair the shield with a spear, you could create a layered defense. Like with phallanx!, if they the speartip, they run into the pushblade and if they get past the blade they could get punched with the gauntlet spike in the face. Ouch. Could that be worth testing? 😅😊
Looks great. I think the lantern shield would be even better if it's just a little bigger, perhaps with some curved spikes jutting outwards to catch any cuts below the shield.
Around 3.4kg, which is in the typical weight range for a rotella, so not particularly extreme. It is a little smaller in diameter than a typical rotella but obviously gains other attributes.
If you are not getting flex in the blade during a strike, there is nothing historical or accurate about it. Mere Touch is not enough to wound a combatant in any kind of armor. And too often the footwork is not there to support a strike sufficient to wound either. Swords are not a sport, duels are a serious matter.
I’m surprised the lantern shield hadn’t had more rep in fantasy. I suppose the closest equivalent would be the Uruk Hai shields but those seem closer to spiked pavises.
it features in Dark & Darker but thats about it
Small thrusting shield
Its in Final Fantasy XIV but its just a shield.
"I have darkvision"
Not when I poke your eyes with my lantern shield!
Fencing with this looks so odd but it works, I used to think the lantern shield was just a proof of concept or a curiosity a wealthy patrician would hang on his wall but this video proves it's an actual weapon. This is why experimental archeology is so important, we find out History is stranger than fiction.
I made something similar that's like a heater shield with a short sword blade at the downwards tip that can switch between a very defensive stance to a more ofensive one where it looks a lot like this. Out of cardboard, since I don't have the woodworking or metalworking skills.
Ya know, I was struggling with a character weapon for a book I’m writing, and holy shit this is 100% it. This thing looks gnarly
Make the sword to be able to be detached and used. Maybe since its a "lantern" shield the lantern oil itself will provide a fire element to said detached sword!
@@douggaudiosi14 that’s what I was thinkin. Two swords, one goes into the shield and is shorter and sturdier while the other is just used normally
Never considered that the extra blade sticking out of the shield would provide so much extra coverage for parries, but it clearly does. Holding it raised diagonally almost closes off the line of attack to the head as well as the arm and shoulder. For its size that's an amazing amount of cover.
yeah, the protection against meele weapons seems awesome, considering how light it looks. Its of course much worse against ranged weapons, where bigger shield would work better, but I absolutely love this concept :)
It doesn't seem like a weapon for the battlefield. Probably not an issue.
Some primitive tribes would use sticks to parry instead of shields to block.
Right, it's basically dual wielding with modifed buckler.
@@budgetcommander4849 It's not, it's a weapon for protection on the street at night, in around 16th century italy.
If you want an example of Lantern Shields in video games,
Final Fantasy 14 has some in the base game.
It's only really a model for a shield and doesn't give you extra stats to attack or extra moves, But it's there.
Dark and Darker has one, with a functional lantern!
wait where?
For me it falls into the crazy cool category
You forgot to answer the most important question. Where do I get one?
We made it custom a few years ago. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet -
www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
I want a lantern shield so bad now that you made me realize that I could spar with it.
Fascinating... i honestly expected it to give more of an advantage than that.
One thing I noticed is the sword on the shield blocks your swings, so while with a normal shield you can swing a sword while blocking, you have to be careful doing that with a lantern shield.
I didn’t know this existed yesterday, and now I literally need one.
Incredible work! Also I love the olive green Chinese police riot shield in the back ground. So many great shields in one room
Thanks, and ah yes, we buy those in bulk on AliExpress as cheap and light starter shields!
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Haha Awesome! Thanks for the tip :)
I wonder how the lantern shield would play with a two handed weapon, like a longsword, i noticed that the inside of the gauntlet looked to have maille, so id assume its for grappling or redireting an enemies blade, but id still love to see it. I also wonder how is would effect armored fighting, maybe not full plate, but i think half plate would be neat. Wonderful video as always.
What would be the advantage of a lantern shield over an off-hand arm harness for someone in half-plate? Seems like if you've got that much of your upper-body armored already, the lantern shield would provide only marginally more passive protection, and there's an argument to be made that it offers _less_ active protection, as a plate-clad arm with an off-hand weapon is substantially more agile, affords a greater range of motion, and is better offensively.
@@irrelevantfish1978 i dont think there would be one lmao, i honestly just wanna see how armor effects its use. (I was also thinking half plate as in Aegis' munitions armor with only spaulers for the arms too)
@@somerandoinaknightsarmor9938 While my arguments are more true for armors with more coverage, I was also assuming half-plate without arm protection below the shoulders. My point was that if you had a choice between carrying a lantern shield and adding a single full arm harness to just your off-hand, you'd be better off doing the latter.
Would that be historical? Dunno. AFAIK, the only European plate armor that fully covered one arm and left the other fully bare was the Roman _manica,_ but arm protection on medieval/Renaissance armors were often asymmetric (eg, the Milanese style of full plate).
Your lines of movement would be *very* restricted and predictable if you were to wield a two-handed weapon with that thing. It really does not look very feasible at all.
The closest video we have right now is against a halberd, see here -
ua-cam.com/video/CDsA559u6Rc/v-deo.html
It would be so easy to fill a modern one with pwerful leds.
Makes me think of... wielding a tonfa but you are holding the length towards your opponent. If the tonfa came with a board. I don't have a lantern shield, but I do own a pretty hefty tonfa. Time to go to the workshop.
I notice that you are doing a lot of leading with the right foot, which makes sense because that's how you would normally fight with a sword and buckler, but I'm wondering if the lantern shield would work better if you lead with the left foot, holding the shield out front, and keeping the sword at high guard. I get that that would seem to give the opponent a reach advantage if they're leading with the sword, but you would be very well protected with your shield arm out front if you approached the fight like you're boxing a someone righthanded who's trying to fight southpaw: just always keep your leading foot on the outside of their leading foot and there's really nothing they can do. The only way the opponent would be able to get you is if they hooked a stab around your left of your shield, which would require them to telegraph the attack by reaching way out to their right, giving you plenty of opportunity to rotate the lantern shield left, close the distance, attack high with your sword, and skewer them in the mid section with one of the several points on the lantern shield if they raised their shield to defend against the high sword attack.
That's just a thought. I'm no HEMA expert or anything.
Very cool to see! Thanks!
other smiths: makes cool sword, longsword etc
that one “creative” smith:
I remember seeing this in the Palladium rpg weapon sourcebook and wondering how you'd use it.
Looks like Dragon Shiryu's left gauntlet (from Saint Seiya anime), but someone decided to make it more badass by attaching blades to it 😂
I found the lantern shield very effective when either lifting the shoulder and dropping the point to stop the opponents right hand swings all together or fighting Viking style with the elbow bent and getting the spike right in their face to move the buckler or steer the opponents foot work resulting in them having to step out of the clinch and possibly open their back or side just to free their sword.
Hmm, it has been over a decade, but I used to fight with a heater shield but strapped "Tombstone" method. So the pointed tip of the triangle aligned with my gripping hand. Defensively takes a lot of work, which younger me could manage. But you're constantly swiveling up and down rotating at your elbow, to parry strikes at your leg and at your head. The advantage however, was that I could easily hook the tip of the shield around the opponent's shield and draw their guard open suddenly. The "tombstone" moniker came from holding it in a classic pugilist pose, the wide base is down, and the point resembles the tip of a tombstone sitting in a cemetery.
I made a (cardboard) heater shield variant with essentially a short sword at that pointed tip, with a mechanism to let it swivel up and it function more like a pata. Mayba you'll be able find it if you look up JugglingAddict and look for something like dual wielding shields. The video quality s**ks, but you should still be able get some ideas. (Of course works best combined with a sword or spear instead of the video suggested dual wielding, but the videos idea was that it wasn't impossible to make it somewhat work.😅 only later I found out about lion head shields like the ones used in Choy Li Fut)
Very nice thanks.
Saw this in Final Fantasy 14 and I am shocked to learn that it actually existed. I thought it was just fantasy nonesense that looks cool and nothing more.
Didn’t realize the lantern shield was a real thing, I thought Dark and Darker made it up lol
Very interesting.
very nice!
I'm sure it'd end up being impractical as all hell, but I'd love to see what fencing with one of these on each hand would look like.
The hardest part about HEMA is cleaning up the Gym after the accidental loss of a limb.
you should post more absurd historical weapons
Exia Gundam
I'd be interested to see how 2 lantern shields would handle. Both primary and secondary at once. I have a background in hand to hand and traditional martial arts, so I see this tool and I see an extremely well guarded and long-reaching push dagger. With proper extension and form, you could get a lot more reach out of a straight "punch" than you'd think, and also, a lot more _speed_ than you'd think. Obviously it's gonna weight down your arm a bit, so it won't be as fast as an open hand or glove, but you'd be surprised the kind of speed you can achieve throwing a punch with a comparable wrist weight. Following shield/blade placement logic, you can strike at an opponents center this way much faster, with much better defense, and with a whole other hand free to feint with. I'd pay a lot - well, I don't have a lot - but if I did I'd be willing to pay a lot of money to spar with one of these on each hand against a more traditional set of weapons, or someone else with the same weapons for that matter. I mostly just want to try these and spar with someone.
Part of me thinks the shield boss sticking out so far is a liability in the wrong circumstances. If it were half that length with Sai or Trident-like sword catches protruding from it, that could absolutely be useful for disarming or even breaking an opponent's sword, especially if it's done in a way to use the width of the shield surface to deflect and guide their sword toward the center where it could be stopped by the spike. There it would get wedged against the spike and its barbs too tightly to remove it quickly. At that point, you're also tethered to your opponent, but you have a significantly better grip. A good lift straight up should either twist their weapon out of their hands or break it.
Next up: Double lantern shield
The best defense is a good offense. That shield is intimidating.
just imagine
2 lanternshields
Seems like you should be carrying something in that gauntlet... like a Beer (lol), or a Dirk, or using it as the Forward Hand on a Spear.
I think it could be a solid choice for an archer. I mean (mounted) archers (often I believe something like mamlukes) that were holding a shield of about similar size have been known to hold a shield at the same time as shooting their horsebows and it's great to have something of a shield if/when you run out of arrows/are caught unawares and need to defend yourself.
The lantern shield looks like it does the whole keep your hand free for shooting a bow even better than those rotella like shields. The lantern shields blade can work decently in melee and if we don't deploy it, being able to benefit from a shields cover while rushing into grappling range and still having that hand free is pretty handy. 😂😊
@@woutvanostaden1299 Sp holding the Bow in the Gauntlet hand?
Maybe. It makes some sense.
It turns into a bicycle too.
We need a version where the bottom end is a shorter sword and somebody dual wielding.
I'm curious to see how much of a difference it would make if the blade on the lantern shield was replaced with a sword breaker. Seeing as how many times the opponent struck the blade, if it was a sword breaker, you could bind it and get in close to your opponent and either stab with your main hand or spike them with the shield spike.
Looking at the area of protection it gives and the zoning you can do with it makes me think it looks like a more manourverable kite shield.
It's cool you can give the other guy the finger the whole time, too.
sick.
Could this be useful for a one handed soldier like Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones?
i feel that maybe u hang a lanter in the outside from that spike that came out in the center. since it have slits there to secure the lanter of sliding out
Do you think that the two extra blades sticking out from the gauntlet are useful, or just extra weight?
I think they are useful, especially when the main blade is not extended into it's full length (it is retractable). If you had to use it at a moment's notice certainly. But also the vertical blade on the shield dome goes to show just how useful extra blades are for trapping, and those little blades won't add much weight. We didn't build it in to ours simply for safety considerations.
This is fascinating. I wonder why this isn’t more common historically. Is there a hidden huge drawback?
Impracticality, it's a lot of weight and complexity to carry around considering it is used in a civilian context even in it's folded down state. Basically overkill for most scenarios. That;s before we consider the cost. In the same way that full size shields are amazing for defence, but civilians didn't typically carry them around because it is too much weight, mass and hassle.
Equipt 2 hands with Lantern Shield: " My life for Jerusalem!"
I feel like this kind of thing would pair great with a spear where people want to close with you
Fascinating usage in the fight, but it looks extremely awkward to carry compared to a bucker or ever a regular small shield.
Reminds me a bit of the chinese hook shield in the way it is able to defend a large area with its protrusions despite the relatively small shield. It would be interesting to see how the lantern shield would pair against it.
If I am not mistaken the lion head shield is sort of the successor to the chinese (swallowtail) hook shield. If I am imagening the right type of shield!, well those are really cool! 😊
Have you considered incorporating a cannon into the shield aligned on the axis of the arm?
No, because the aim here is replicas of real pieces rather than fantasy. We are working towards a gun shield though, which were build in fair numbers in the mid 16thc, they had no blades but had a breech loading gun with the barrel in or near the centre of the dome of the shield.
Is the plate sticking out the back for grappling/hooking maneuvers? I could see catching something behund it and manipulating it out of the way while whipping that blade at the opponent.
It;s mostly for catching and trapping blades. Stopping swords dropped past or under the shield and locking them in place momentarily. It doesn't really ever trap in a way that could get a hold of a weapon but it can hold them long enough to allow closing and counters.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing That's what I mean, yeah. A quick brush aside, but that same motion of straightening the arm would alsoswing the attached blade.
is that short sword on the shield supposed to be an OTF blade?
What gloves/gauntlets are they wearing? Need a new pair for sidesword and want something that allows greater range of motion than what most gauntlets seem to offer.
Thokk weaponmaster and a new prototype by HFA. For what is available right now, the Thokk and Superior Fencing Impact resistant models are the best sidesword gloves.
My question is how bright shine these lantern shields or other normal lanterns
Nothing as bright as we are used to torches and lanterns of today. Don't think of it as blinding someone by shining a powerful torch in their eyes, but instead destroying their night vision causing them to be effectively blinded, whilst at the same time they are well lit for the wielder of the lantern to see.
I'm obliged to ask but...
Is this weapon in any of the Fromsoft games? Elden Ring? Dark Souls? Bloodborne...?
Where can buy lantern shield for hema sparring? 🙇🏻
apparently this one was custom built.
The first time I saw this was in dark and darker
Were you intentionally giving the finger through that thing or is the gauntlet just fixed like that to add extra offensive capability?
Na, some of the stitching holding the plates to the inner gauntlet broke during the sparring.
How do you put the sheath on a lantern shield when not in combat?
I know that it's been said that the blade is retractable, I just have no idea how. 😅😊
Great video where did you get those ?
We made it custom. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet -
www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencingOK thx do you know of those of aegis Shop are safe for sparring ?
That is what they have been built for, but I as I have not seen them personally I cannot say more than that. However, we have had good experiences with their products so far, we use their armour often.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing OK thank you very much greetings from France
Damn cool.
Definitely something to be afraid of
Zulu swashbuckler.
This is a interesting and unique shield and weapon wonder what century it was made in?
Renaissance 16th century
The metal on that shield looks a bit thin, wouldn't a mace just break your arm in one shot?
Not likely no, if a mace was to connect with it the most it would likely do is deform the shield, and the arm itself is protected by a lot more of the inner structure than just the shield dome.
But putting that aside, it's just not likely that this type of device would ever face a mace. They were used by bodyguards in civilian settings, watchmen etc. They would really only ever likely face swords, cudgels, perhaps a staff. This trainer has been in use for 6 years of training against all manner of weapons and never been an issue.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing thanks for the reply, it's surprising how much protection it offers. For that shield to have lasted 6 years is really impressive! Never would have guessed it could take more than slashing hits.
I can see why those were never in widespread use :D
I want to put this in vr and train with it
Looks like an Elden Ring DLC weapon.
Question, are legs not a valid target? Y'all both had a multitude of wide open leg shot available.
They are, and there are a few thigh shots in this video, but the two fighters here do not target each others legs as often as some due to decades of fighting one another and the countering of such shots. It's very much a case of adapting to the opponent, but if you watch against other fighters you will see a lot more.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Thank you for the reply. My background is sport fighting (SCA) so I tend to look at fighting a bit differently.
Looks like a new darksouls/elden ring shield weapon
I wonder if a hook would almost be better than a sword blade for fighting against a shield
You might not want to get hooked with somebody, you might need to get out and then you can't
Would be a good weapon for a standard bearer
One thing im gonna comment, that gauntlet is a big weakness, its waiting for your hand/wrist to be broken. I dont see a reason why it shouldnt be behind the shield portion.
The gauntlet is fixed rigidly to the shield, it's physically impossible for the hand/wrist to be broken. There are a number of reasons it is in front. Firstly, the main blade on the original is retractable, as is the handle which the gauntlet holds, and so that gloved hand is actually usable as a normal hand. Also, the shield part is small and compact, and if you shift it further forwards towards the hand it no longer protects the elbow, which is a massive weakness. You'd also be pushing a massive amount of weight further forward and make it much more unwieldy. It is a weird design, but each seemingly odd design choice is specifically in support of the other features of the the device.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing while the gauntlet is still metal, sufficiently hard hits will hurt you. And a polearm would have a much higher risk of breaking the hand. Another problem is the sword part, which is under the gauntlet instead of above so most powerful strikes, which come from above, will hit the hand before the sword. So there are definately non-synergistic design decisions.
Also your comment the elbow, just retract the hand inside the shield, or better yet remove it making the shield lighter, and just hide the hand behind shield section. And make the shield either elliptical, or bigger so elbow is covered as well. There are far bigger shields that were used quite extensively so i dont think that extra amount is going to break its usefulness. After all, the thing that sets this shield apart is the sword protrutions, not the hand.
Remember what this is for. It is something worn about a civilian context by a bodyguard or watch or similar. It;s not likely to ever fight pole arms. And yes larger shields existed, but once again, this is a small device for easy wear, carry and transportation in a civilian setting. As for the sword position, well if you se the way we use it and, the sword is best place for many strikes, as the rotations commonly used bring the sword edge in to play.
Once again, if your hand is inside the shield,. it cannot be used for other duties, because you are only seeing it in it's fully deployed mode in sparring. Let's say you want to club, hold on to something, hold the rail on the back of a coach, control yourself over terrain, handle other weapons, etc. You can also use it like a dueling glove and shield at the same time if you choose not to deploy the blade and handle. So it is a multi tool.
You need to remember the context with this shield. It is not intended to be the best at any one thing, it is intended to do many different things in many different settings, whilst being very compact in wear and transportation.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencingI think it not being inside the shield actually could make it useful for an archers bow hand. (If we ignore the weight that is) As soon as they enter into melee, we ditch our bow and become either a nightmare to duel or grapple against. (In my opinion that is of course. 😅 if the blade is deployed dueling becomes an advantageous situation for us or undeployed in the grapple we have essentially something like a dagger in the gauntlet spike as we as a free hand, to me that looks like a massive advantage)
(I could totally see this as a cool piece of kit for a fantasy archer adventurer)
Try using it with the actual lantern attachment lit up.
Where can I buy this?
We made it custom. There is one that has been offered recently from this company, but I have not seen it in person yet -
www.aegisarmour.ca/product/16th-century-renaissance-lantern-shield-finger-gauntlet
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Thanks, will chekc it out!
Where does everybody get those sweet poofy striped pants?
There are a number of companies making them, most of the ones you see in our videos are by pluderhose range by Superior Fencing.
@AcademyofHistoricalFencing thank you, I'd love to get some. So I appreciate you replying.
Taking notes for a bard i know
This lantern shield might have better pairing with a mace or axe.
I think a spear wouldn't be bad, I mean would you have an easy time rushing someone like that? With that layered defense/offence, no thank you. (Spearpoint would be further forward than the shields sword and even closer in are the gauntlet spikes. You get past the 1st layer only to get sheesh kebbabed on the 2nd, that's like having to run into a 1 men wide phalanx formation)
Why wasn't it used more?
There are quite a number of accounts of lantern shields being carried and used and so they were not super rare, though it is hard to know what form they took and if they were anything as complex as the type reproduced here. Overall I would say it is impractical. Heavy and awkward to wear/carry and so overkill in most scenarios. Also an expensive item to produce.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Thank you for that detailed response, much appreciated. The historical example does look quite intricate and the sword catchers on the fist definitely caught my eye. The switch from that to a stab was, from my point of view, an obvious technique that would have been used.
only reason I know about this weapon is due to dark and darker
It has a tactical light
You should try sparring with just the shield. I think you are missing the point. Ignore the fact that the long pointy bit is sharp. It is a lever. Or possibly a fulcrum? It isnt for blocking, it is for catching. Look at other examples of the format. Plenty of places to catch and lock a blade.
The one thing we know about lantern shields is that they were carried for offhand use so that a sword could still be used in the lead hand, that much is documented. Used standalone the lantern shield would be rubbish, as it has very limited reach and the user will get picked apart.
Yes the different parts of the shield are for catching, though a parry in itself is a means of catching. The different trapping elements are there to stop an opponents weapon, even for a brief moment. Chances of locking anything are slim, but holding them in place for just a moment? Pretty good. Shields, swordbreakers and even main gauche daggers all work on similar principals.
@@AcademyofHistoricalFencingI think that if we pair the shield with a spear, you could create a layered defense. Like with phallanx!, if they the speartip, they run into the pushblade and if they get past the blade they could get punched with the gauntlet spike in the face. Ouch.
Could that be worth testing? 😅😊
Looks great. I think the lantern shield would be even better if it's just a little bigger, perhaps with some curved spikes jutting outwards to catch any cuts below the shield.
seems heavy...
Around 3.4kg, which is in the typical weight range for a rotella, so not particularly extreme. It is a little smaller in diameter than a typical rotella but obviously gains other attributes.
If you are not getting flex in the blade during a strike, there is nothing historical or accurate about it.
Mere Touch is not enough to wound a combatant in any kind of armor.
And too often the footwork is not there to support a strike sufficient to wound either.
Swords are not a sport, duels are a serious matter.
the doohickey
haha dude has a shield and just has it at his side. hahahah
Try a madu
Definitely need one for my morning commute
Elden Ring
*facepalm*
Real sword fighting always looks like two children fighting 😅
it looks ai generated, medieval weapons are randomly very bessar. Still cool though