Editing Falchion (section)

==Types==

The blade designs of falchions varied widely across the continent and over time. They almost always included a single edge with a slight curve on the blade towards the point on the end and most were also affixed with a quilloned [[crossguard]] for the [[hilt]] in the manner of the contemporary [[arming sword]]s. Unlike the double-edged swords of Europe, few actual swords of this type have survived to the present day; fewer than a dozen specimens are currently known.<ref name="conyers">{{cite web|url=http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/h_conyers_eng.htm|last= Hellqvist| first=Björn|title=The Conyers Falchion}}</ref>  A number of weapons similar to the falchion existed in Western Europe, including the [[Messer (weapon)|Messer]], [[hanger (weapon)|hanger]] and the [[backsword]]. Two basic types of falchion can be identified:

===Cleaver falchions===
One of the few surviving falchions (the Conyer's falchion) is shaped very much like a large [[cleaver]] or [[machete]]. This type is also illustrated in art. The type seems to be confined to the 13th and 14th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |title=European Weapons and Armour |last= Oakeshott |first= Ewart|year= 1980 |publisher= Lutterworth Press |location= Guildford & London |isbn= 0-7188-2126-2|page= 152}}</ref> However apart from the profile they present a very thin blade, often only {{convert|1.2|mm|abbr=on}} thick spines, {{convert|7|cm|abbr=on}} from the point with a slight taper leading near to the edge before dropping into a secondary bevel which brings the blade to a very acute edge while maintaining some durability. Current theories are that they were the anti-cloth armour weapon of the day.<ref>James G. Elmslie</ref>

===Cusped falchions===
The majority of the depictions in art reflect a design similar to that of the ''[[großes Messer]]''. The Thorpe Falchion, a surviving example from England's 13th century, was just under {{convert|904|g|lb|2}} in weight. Of its {{convert|956|mm|abbr=off}} length, {{convert|803|mm}} are the straight blade which bears a cusped or flare-clipped tip similar to the much later [[kilij]] of [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myarmoury.com/review_mrl_falc.html|title=German Falchion &ndash; myArmoury.com|author=Nathan Robinson|access-date=26 October 2014}}</ref> This type of sword continued in use into the 16th century.<ref>Oakeshott (1980), p.152</ref>

===Other falchions===
[[File:Maciejowski falchion.png|thumb|[[Elmslie typology|Subtype]] of 'umbrella hilted' falchion, from the [[Morgan Bible]].|275x275px]]

In addition, there are a group of 13th- and early 14th-century weapons sometimes identified with the falchion. These have a falchion-like blade mounted on a wooden shaft {{convert|1|-|2|ft|cm|abbr=on}} long, sometimes ending in a curve like an umbrella. These are seen in numerous illustrations in the mid-13th-century [[Maciejowski Bible]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibOnlineThumbs.asp?id=OnlineKings|title=The Crusader Bible|date=16 March 2016 }} e.g., folio 3v., folio 14v</ref>