Bastard-sword
From Academic Kids
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A bastard-sword is commonly thought a generic name for several varieties of straight-bladed European swords that can be wielded in one or two hands. In fact, a bastard-sword was a specific type of weapon, one that appeared in virtually all West European countries after 1000 AD and remained in use well into the 1500s. A compromise between the lightness of the one-handed arming sword and the weight of the two-handed great sword, a bastard-sword is essentially a modified arming sword. It is made to be versatile in that a strong person is capable of wielding it in one hand, and its weight makes it difficult to guard against. It was originally a spinoff of the great sword, however, and most are actually made more for their two-handed capabilities.
A bastard-sword's weight is balanced so that it is not only powerful enough to dismount a riding opponent, but also capable of the finesse and speed sometimes needed on the battlefield. At the same time, its length and weight make it almost as effective as a greatsword for breaking up pike formations (thought to be the original purpose of two-handed swords).
Also known as the hand-and-a-half sword, it earned its name from the fact that it is a "bastard" version of long-swords and great swords. A bastard-sword has a longer blade and hilt than a normal long-sword, and is also somewhat heavier. On the other hand, a bastard-sword's blade is not much thicker or wider than its hilt, unlike great and other two-handed swords, which are characterized by their thick blades.
Another, probably apocryphal, etymology of the name sometimes used is that it is called so because it made so many children bastards (ie, slew their fathers). This does, however, seem somewhat unlikely an explanation.de:Bastardschwert
