Thus was the estoc developed. The French word estoc translates to thrust. While there is nothing to stop an estoc from being one-handed, most are two-handed, being used half-sword or two hands on the grip. In addition to being popular for use as a cavalry weapon, the estoc was frequently used during dismounted hand-to-hand combat at tournaments, its lack of a sharp edge reducing the risk of unintentional injury.
|
|
Estoc The French estoc is a type of sword, also called a tuck in English, in use from the 14th to 17th centuries. It is characterized by a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use and a straight, edgeless, but sharply pointed blade of around to in length. It is noted for its ability to pierce mail armor.
|
|
In the case that the Maltese Local authorities instituted against Mr. Silvio Zammit, the prosecution has called Kessler on different occasions to give evidence. Kessler has not presented himself to give witness. The same applies to employees of Swedish Match and ESTOC who are refusing calls by the Maltese courts to give evidence in the case.
|
|
The estoc was a variation of the longsword designed for fighting against mail or plate armour. It was long, straight and stiff with no cutting edge, just a point. Examples from Poland are more than long, with a blade of ; however, others show a more manageable , with a blade. Such swords average about four pounds (2 kg) with no specimen weighing more than six pounds.
|
|
Most varieties of estoc provide a long grip like that of a greatsword, though others mimic the zweihänder in providing a long ricasso with a secondary guard of parrierhaken. As on the zweihänder, this extended grip gives the wielder the advantage of extra leverage with which to more accurately and powerfully thrust the long weapon. Some other forms provided finger rings, curved quillons, or other varieties of compound hilts.
|
|
Blade cross-sections can be triangular, square, rhomboid or flat hexagonal. This geometry leaves hardly any cutting capability as a sharpened edge could simply not be ground, but allowed the weapon to become lengthy, stiff, and very acutely pointed. Early on, the estoc was hung from the saddle when on horseback and simply hung from the belt when a soldier took to the ground. As the weapon developed, however, infantrymen using it began to wear it in a scabbard.
|
|
These gunboats were 30 metres long and 5 metres wide, cruised at , and drew less than one-and-a-half metres of water. Although they could carry only 60 men, they were armed with two 90-millimetre cannon and three Hotchkiss canons- revolvers, so that they packed a powerful punch. Two other gunboats of the Arquebuse class, Casse-tête and Estoc, joined the Tonkin flotilla in early 1885. They differed from the earlier models in having two masts, each with a Hotchkiss station.
|
|
With the improvement in the defensive capabilities of armor in the High and Late Middle Ages, the cross- section of the sword blade adapted to suit the needs of warriors. Swords began to favour rigidity over flexibility as more rigid blades allowed for the stronger thrusts that were used to pierce armour. These blades were made with a diamond cross-section, which could be more or less acute, depending on the purpose of the blade. Weapons such as the Estoc, for example, would have little to no cutting edge, but they would be very rigid and strong on the thrust.
|
|
A beautiful elf woman with long black hair and black eyes, Iruril is always dressed in a pair of leather pants, a leather jacket and a white blouse. She is an excellent fighter who can skin her enemy with her estoc and main-gauche without a bat of an eye, and also a powerful sorceress who has learned most of the spells known to people and has the racial affinity with elementals and spirits. She is a rational creature and has only theoretical knowledge of human psychology and customs, and often makes naive remarks with hilarious, if not embarrassing innuendos.
|
|
Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, is generally regarded as having been the first to introduce the practice of fighting bulls on foot around 1726, using the muleta in the last stage of the fight and an estoc to kill the bull. This type of fighting drew more attention from the crowds. Thus the modern corrida, or fight, began to take form, as riding noblemen were replaced by commoners on foot. This new style prompted the construction of dedicated bullrings, initially square, like the Plaza de Armas, and later round, to discourage the cornering of the action.
|
|
The term "arming sword" (espées d'armes) is first used in the 15th century to refer to the single-handed type of sword after it had ceased to serve as the main weapon, and was on its way to being used as a side-sword.Oakeshott (1997:44). "Arming sword" in late medieval usage specifically refers to the estoc when worn as a side-arm,George Cameron Stone, A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor, 2013, p. 18. but as a modern term it may also refer to any single-handed sword in a late medieval context.
|
|
It was also very easy to over-penetrate, bringing the wielder into danger from the animal's claws and teeth. Around 1500 AD, a solution was reached by replacing the thin point of the estoc with a standard leaf-shaped boar-spear head, in essence creating a one-handed short spear. To prevent the blade from over- penetrating, most were fitted with a cross-shaft above the blade. To allow the blade to fit into a scabbard, these were typically simple removable pegs of wood or bone, but some examples have spring-loaded shafts that automatically deploy when the blade is drawn.
|
|
Its development led to a generation of hafted weapons with points that concentrated impact, either to penetrate steel plate or to damage the joints of articulated plate. Increasingly daggers called misericords were carried which enabled a sharp point to be thrust though gaps in armour if an opponent was disabled or being grappled with. Swords styles became more diverse – from the two-handed zweihänders to more narrow thrusting instruments with sharply pointed tips, capable of penetrating any "chinks in the armour" of a fully encased opponent: for example, the estoc. The newly invented flanged mace, for example, was no crude bludgeon like its predecessors.
|
|
In the Late Medieval period (14th and 15th centuries), late forms of these swords continued to be used, but often as a sidearm, at that point called "arming swords" and contrasting with the two-handed, heavier longswords. Though the majority of late-medieval arming swords kept their blade properties from previous centuries, there are also surviving specimens from the 15th century that took the form of a late-medieval estoc, specialised for use against more heavily armoured opponents. After the end of the medieval period, the arming sword developed into several forms of the early modern one- handed straight swords, such as the side-sword, the rapier, the cavalry- focused Reiterschwert and certain types of broadsword.
|
|
The duel was to consist of three bouts of mounted lance followed by three bouts each of dismounted poleaxe, estoc, and dagger. They ultimately rode two additional passes and on the fifth, Baggio impaled Sirano's horse through the chest, slaying the horse but losing his lance in the process. They fought the other nine bouts as scheduled, and due to the strength of their armor (and the fact that all of the weapons were blunted), both combatants reportedly emerged from these exchanges unharmed.Mondschein (2011), p 12. Fiore was likely involved in at least one other duel that year, between his final named student Azzone di Castelbarco and Giovanni degli Ordelaffi, as the latter is known to have died in 1399.
|
|
Although hunting with a sword is less ideal than using a lance or spear, the added element of danger added to the thrill of the hunt, since using a sword brought the hunter in closer proximity to dangerous animals, as well as bringing more perceived glory. The estoc was useful for this purpose, being a long sword with a strong blade, able to take the shock of meeting with an animal without breaking, while also giving the necessary reach to attack from horseback. However, it also had a very thin, sharp point, designed for penetrating chain mail. This thin point had little immediate terminal wounding effect on a wild boar or bear, unless a vital organ was hit, requiring a second man to stand by with a spear to finish the wounded animal off.
|
|
Legend has it that stylist Nuccio Bertone uttered the word in surprise when he first saw the Countach prototype, "Project 112". The LM002 (LM for Lamborghini Militaire) sport utility vehicle and the Silhouette (named after the popular racing category of the time) were other exceptions to the tradition. The Jalpa of 1982 was named for a bull breed; Diablo, for the Duke of Veragua's ferocious bull famous for fighting an epic battle against El Chicorro in Madrid in 1869; Murciélago, the legendary bull whose life was spared by El Lagartijo for his performance in 1879; Gallardo, named for one of the five ancestral castes of the Spanish fighting bull breed; and Reventón, the bull that defeated young Mexican torero Félix Guzmán in 1943. The Estoque concept of 2008 was named for the estoc, the sword traditionally used by matadors during bullfights.
|
|
A treasury inventory of the Radziwiłł family's Nieśwież Castle (now Nesvizh in Belarus) made in 1740 includes a detailed description of a sword decorated with symbols of the Evangelists and inscriptions identical to those on Szczerbiec. According to the inventory, it was a gift from Crown Prince Jakub Sobieski to Prince Michał Radziwiłł, but the original source of the supposed replica was not given. An inventory made in 1738 of the treasure vault of the Sobieski family's Żółkiew Castle (now Zhovkva in Ukraine) mentions "an estoc (koncerz) covered with golden plates bearing images of the Four Evangelists; Skanderbek's." Based on this record, historian Aleksander Czołowski hypothesized that a replica of Szczerbiec was forged as early as 1457 and awarded to George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the national leader of Albania, in recognition of his victory over the Ottoman forces (see Battle of Ujëbardha).
|
|