Persona detail question.

[Timothy]

Good evening,

If one was developing a persona for reenacting and the said person had a sword or other items from a given period but was living in a later period how long into the future can he get away saying he received the items from say his father, grandfather, great-grandfather??? In other words how long could a sword be handed down and still be usable?

Thanks

Timothy

[Ian]

If well maintained a sword can be usable for several generations.  However, if you're talking about a knightly persona, while a sword may be passed down as an heirloom, the later in the period you go, the less likely it would be used in battle.

Sword technology and function changed enough over time to counter the changes in armor that it would be impractical to use a sword designed for the context of warfare several generations earlier.  The single-handed type XII cutting sword and XIV cut and thrust of the early 14th century are rather limited in use in the hands of a late 14th century knight facing well armored opponents.  No matter how much sentimental value their Grandfather's sword might hold, they're going to opt for a sword much more capable in the thrust with stiffer blade design like a type XVa, XVIa, or XVII.

In my living history group, our knight has his grandfather's sword in camp to show patrons, but makes it clear that it's more of an object of family pride than what he would use in a real fight.  (This enables us to show earlier sword design while still being true to the history).

You also have to consider that by today's standards, knights and gentle men-at-arms (not counting the monastic orders, but even a lot of them were probably pretty rich despite their vows) were obscenely wealthy compared to the 3rd estate.  As such they were very concerned with fashion and displays of wealth.  So grandpa's sword may hold a place of honor in the house, but they're certainly going to have a modern blade as well.

TL;DR, it seriously depends on your persona and time period

[Thorsteinn]

Would it be equal to trying to take my grandfathers M-1 to war?

It's a good rifle, accurate & powerful, but insufficient to today's needs?

[Lord Chagatai]

Kind of...your M-1 would be a show piece while your M-16 would be your weapon of choice. Or if you had something real flashy and expensive..that would be your show piece. Anything that would show your stature as a knight/lord.


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[Timothy]

Sir Ian,

Thanks, that make perfect sense. Will proceed accordingly.

Timothy

[Sir Matthew]

If your doing a lower class or common soldiers kit, there is far more leeway. I do Elizabethan to the end of the English Civil War, and there are plenty of period images depicting soldiers from that period using swords that are well out of date. More than one woodcut seems to show soldiers of the Thirty Years War carrying and using blades that would not have been out of place in the mid-14th century, though it is a pretty far stretch to think they are that old. More likely they were made within 50 years of the depicted event by a smith who was still using something that had been taught by his master who had been taught by his master who had been... Swords of this type would have been cheap and thus desireable to the cash strapped rulers issueing them to troops of often dubious training and loyalty. Of course, while this is specific to my period, it would have held true for earlier eras as well. This is one of the advantages to portraying the common soldier as opposed to the higher ranking officers and Knights 

[Sir Ulrich]

I use an 1100s period sword (the Albion Reeve) for my late 1200s outfit. But thats more plausible because the armor types used during those 2 periods were rather similar, as well as Germany having a tendency to hold onto older styles, I have seen brazil nut pommel swords dating to 1200s in Germany as well.