Be it TV, Internet or your local Dojo, if it comes to "how medieval swords were used" everyone will tell you that european medieval swords were used as semi-blunt cleavers, choppers and bludgeons. They were expected to cleave armor, breaking bones and shatter anything by their weight and brute force of the Knight's triceps. Strangely, anyone who have had a real antique (or at least a good replica) in his hand, will suddently recognise that a medieval longsword is nowhere near a crowbar in terms of mass distibution, balance and weight. And every attempt to "cleave" some iron plates in real life will simply fail.
The problem with it - physical impossibility! The whole notion of cleaving steel, stones or trees with a mighty blow is a romantic one and does not correspond with physical reality. No sword was ever designed for "brutal cleaving" because they would automatically turn into a mace, warhammer or pollaxe - weapons which are specifically designed for bludgeoning, stabbing, cleaving and smashing. Form follows function, and the whole idea of a sword is based on cutting and/or stabbing, not bludgeoning.
According to measurements from 69 two-handed great swords from the 16th century in the Austrian arsenal of Graz ( http://www.thearma.org/essays/2HGS.html ), no sword designed for actual use will exceed 6kg or 13 pounds, a natural strength limit for a human being. There are ceremonial swords reported to be 11kg or 24 pounds - which supposedly are the source of the myth - but a ceremonial or "bearing" sword is just a giant wallhanger, not sharpened or even heat treated.
Just for the sake of comparison, a warhammer, especially designed to smash things with force: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REnxd3... As everyone can see, those hammers are capable of crushing helmets and breaking even the biggest bones at an extent swords can and will never reach.
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