Aren't longswords and greatswords just different terms for the same weapon?

Always been fond of a good warhammer myself.

@Scheneighnay I think the terminology is quite unclear. There are many names for swords, that slightly overlap. Just because DarkSouls calls the second biggest categorie of swords greatswords doesn't mean that it is correct IRL too.

We have: short-swords, longswords, bastard Swords, broadswords, greatswords, two-handed swords, hand-and-a-half swords. Some of those words do actually mean the same, but I'd advocate for just using sword, longsword and greatsword.

@Wonderboy looks a bit heavy, and more like a maul, which would be kind of the two-handed variant of a warhammer.

So not everyone has to click it ;)

Usually you'd see them with a smaller head. (And even that would still be a pretty big head)

I see the Nerran and Hrothi using a lot of pole arm weapons rather than great weapons during war as when fighting larger foes they would be at an intrinsic disadvantage in reach without them.

aint that a Flamberge???

Which is a type of greatsword. But yep, the second picture aswell as some of the greatswords on the right side of the first picture have a wavy blade, and could subsequently be called a flamberge.

Well, they were certainly more popular.

Here's a wall of text in the topic of "Great Swords" from James Clark, one of the current experts in such weapons based on questions Luminios forwarded me.

• How well does a Mordhau work. (Can I grab the blade relatively close to the tip, or does the sword start to wiggle, how much reach do I have when holding the sword that way, would he rather strike with the quillons, or the pommel)
  • A true mordhau with both hands on the blade would be a little difficult with a greatsword. The blades, even on the ones that start off quite thick, are quite flexible as well as thin and frighteningly sharp towards the point. Marozzo and Paurnfeyndt do have the shortened/half sword techniques that they still use for close work and “kampstuck” (the armored fighting), and they do still bash with the cross&pommel, one hand just stays on the grip while the other is ~halfway down the blade. There are some greatswords (notably the Doge’s palace in Venice) that in the last ~4 inches suddenly get thicker and turn into estoc-like anti-armor points, they’re very wicked looking, and may be grab-able for doing a mordhau.

• Compared to grabbing the shaft of your opponents polearm, how difficult/dangerous would he say is it to grab your opponents greatsword by the blade when it is used to thrust (though not necesarrily half-sworded) , while wearing thick leather gloves or gauntlets.
  • A rapid retraction or turn would be quite easy to do if someone grabbed the weak of your blade with a greatsword, and with the sharpness and thinness, maintaining that gripping pressure may not be in your best interest. I know there are some techniques for batting an incoming thrust away with your hand, and those would probably be fine here too with less concern than with grabbing the blade. The Anonimo Riccardiano (MS RIccardiano) has a technique for when someone grabs your spadone, and he recommends dropping it, jumping to your opponent’s back (I am not joking), and stabbing him repeatedly with your dagger.

• There is just one record, I know of that describes greatswords being used to cut pikeheads off. How easy/difficult would he say is it to disable an opponents poleweapon through damaging the shaft, while using a greatsword. Would he say one could realistically do so in 1 on 1 combat, and if yes would he judge it easier/harder than just disabling an armored opponent instead?
  • There are many, many, accounts of the montante and spadone breaking and shattering the weapons they hit, both for various polearms and for swords as well. Godinho in his treatise even makes a casual off-handed reference to it (even if the opponent’s weapon is broken he can still kill you with his dagger). Thibault also makes references to it, though the espadon he is referencing is only armpit-high. There are Italian woodcuts showing soldiers with schlachtschwert standing in the middle of pikemen with shafts broken, and a woodcut from a Marxbruder story (Honors and Praise to the Free and Chivalric Art of Fencing by Christoff Rosener, 1589) where a Marxbruder master is once again shown with a longsword in vomtag fighting against pikemen (no broken shafts), and the swiss chronicles also make mention of it. A high-frequency flammard blade has an interesting effect, wherein the stark toothing allows a cut “grab” whatever wooden shaft it hits, creating an effect similar to a steel edge-on-edge bind, while this would probably make a shaft easier to cut, I don’t know by how much, or even if it would be a significant difference. What I do know is this: Most of the anti-hafted weapon techniques recorded, the montanti&sottomani from Alfieri, the beat&jump or beat&close from Figueiredo, and the halfsword beats from Marozzo and Palladini, aren’t that damaging to the haft. However, regardless of which method is used, once you’re past the point, you can very quickly and very easily (especially with the first two) start cutting the shafts on either side of you, and cutting with diagonal or mostly vertical strikes against those shafts would be absolutely devastating, flammard or not. Wham wham wham wham, very little is going to survive strikes like that across their diameter.

• Has he any tips for beginners looking to learn greatsword, like any form of training one could do alone, some basics to work with so to say.
  • For beginners looking to do greatsword, I have one piece of advice. Do no bend the back elbow when cutting. You will feel the need to turn the body more when you do, and your strikes will be faster, easier to aim (so much easier to aim), and much, much, stronger. Figueiredo has a lot of weird artifacts that are a result of his la verdadiera destreza background, and I don’t recommend starting with him (he also gets really convoluted in his rules very quickly). I recommend starting with Godinho or Alfieri. Both keep their rules relatively simple and are quite practical. Alfieri is more confusing in his descriptions, but ultimately simpler than even Godinho. If you have a long staff system you can practice alongside it, I recommend doing so, as the massive hip turns those systems require and use will help you in feeling the body turns with your greatsword.

• Does he have any thoughts on why greatswords appeared during a period where armor was at its height, as compared to when only the rich could afford it? It seems counterintuitive, that it's introduced in a period where fewer people were without armor, than ever before.
  • The earliest referenced use of the montante in a treatise is by Jaime Pons de Perpinan from 1475. His manuscript is still lost, but Destreza authors often references and pick apart his work, and Marozzo is said to have plagiarized it (according to Jeronimo Sanches de Carranza and Luis Pacheco de Naravez). Early sizings of longswords can actually produce greatsword-sized longswords in taller people. I’m six foot one, and using Phillipo Vadi’s method of sizing a longsword from the 1480’s produces a weapon with a 45” blade and 12” hilt, and many early greatswords are around these specs in terms of length and proportion. Get people taller than me, which weren’t that uncommon (look at grave records), and you get some pretty big weapons. Vadi also says that if the sword is meant to go against armor, the last four-fingers of the blade should be an anti-armor point (see the above reference to the swords from the Doge’s palace for an example of this). The main parts of the army, especially the parts you would use shock troops against, would still be relatively unarmored, or armored mostly with cloth, like many pikemen. These troops would be eaten alive by armored or even half-armored troops armed with these weapons. Likewise shields and bucklers would have a very hard time, as even the early English works of the two-handed sword include anti-shield techniques. Officers and standard bearers also need to protect themselves against multiple assailants during desperate moments, the non-human-guarding cloak guards that show up even in the early material is really advantageous to defending a standard after the standard bearer himself has been killed, preventing it from being captured by the enemy. Also, Charles V at the clusterfuck that was the battle of Algiers was said to have fought with his montante alongside his guards during the fight, as the Ottomans were pressing hard into his ranks. The montante he’s said to have used is currently on display in Palacio Real’s armory in Madrid, and isn’t what I would normally associate as a king’s weapon; very simple, 45-46” blade, black leather grip, simple cross with two rings, wide scent stopper pommel, only decoration being a couple of etched black lines and crosses in the ricasso. Perez Miguel de Mendoza and Quijada says even in the late 17th century that this weapon is still a good representative for what a montante should be.

Italian woodcut of soldiers decimating a pike formation.

Marxbruder Master fighting against pikeman. Christoff Rosen, 1589

Armored points to spadone from the palacio ducale

A close-up of Charles V montante.

Landesknecht armed with Schlachtschwert breaking apart a shield line, painting of the Siege of Alesia, 1533. Two bottom left, one top central, another mid right.

The estoc-like points mentioned in the first answer.

Fun fact I learned about Flamberge. They were originally designed by Germans and called Flammenschwert. The purpose behind the wavey bladed design was to create multiple cutting sections spaced out to make it cut and lacerate deeper than a straight edged sword. They were incredibly tedious to make, not too difficult just tedious, and because of this expansive. After some trial and error the Germans using said flammenschwert, flamberge, found that it's unique design did nothing to improve it's cutting power and worked just as well as a zweihander/greatsword of equal size and material. SO the flamberge became more of a ceremonial weapon or a fancy greatsword to be used by guards and the like, as it was expensive but pretty and usable.