I’ve read several stories about the
lantern shield and realized that a lot of historians did not like it much. Some
called it impractical and clumsy, some said it was for amateurs, and some
claimed that a sword and shield on their own was much better. I disagree with
them all. This weapon was never meant to be used by itself. Combined with a
rapier (thin bladed fencing style sword), it was a game changer for anyone who
had actually trained with the thing. This is one of the most insane weapons I’ve
ever run across and I will find a way to get one for my collection someday. It’s
truly a masterpiece of mind boggling weaponry.
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| The Lantern Shield (Art by TL Jeffcoat) |
A lantern shield is hard to describe.
It has a lot of pieces. All those moving parts are one of the things that make
it look clumsy. In Italy during the 1500’s, many duelists practiced using
Lantern Shields. The entire thing was made of steel, and bolted together. It
was worn on the shield arm. The Lantern Shield was designed to replace the
standard lantern carried by duelists when they fought in the dawn hours when
sometimes the sun wasn’t up enough. Lanterns made
decent shields if the duelist knew how to use them, and if raised at the face of
an opponent, would blind them. It was a cheap move, but very effective.
