Ewart Oakeshott

Ronald Ewart Oakeshott (25 May 1916 – 30 September 2002) was a British illustrator, collector, and amateur historian who wrote prodigiously on medieval arms and armour. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Founder Member of the Arms and Armour Society, and the Founder of the Oakeshott Institute. He created a classification system of the medieval sword, the Oakeshott typology, a systematic organization of medieval weaponry.

Ronald Ewart Oakeshott was born in 1916. His uncle Jeffery Farnol wrote romance novels and swashbucklers and also had a collection of antique swords, through which the young Oakeshott became interested in swords. After leaving Dulwich College, Oakeshott studied at the Central School of Art in London. He worked at Carlton Studios and at A. E. Johnson Ltd as a commercial artist, while still being interested in collecting arms and armour. During the 1930s and 1940s, antique swords could still be acquired relatively cheaply and Oakeshott began collecting them. Because of the scarcity of information about these he began to research them himself. As a trained artist he illustrated most of his own books and also became a speaker on arms and armour. Oakeshott served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1945 on destroyer escort during and was relieved from service after being wounded. He returned to A. E. Johnson, Ltd. and served as its director for fifteen years Oakeshott had a son and two daughters from his first marriage.

Oakeshott's typology of medieval and early renaissance swords is among his most influential and most lasting works. He has been described as the sword's "most distinguished modern commentator". Dr. Jan Peterson had previously developed a typology for Viking swords consisting of twenty six categories. Peterson's typology was simplified by Dr. R. E. M. Wheeler in short order to only seven categories (Types I–VII). This simplified typology was then slightly expanded by Oakeshott by the addition of two transitional types into its current nine categories (Types I–IX). From this basis, Oakeshott began work on his own thirteen category typology of the medieval sword ranging from Type X to Type XXII. What made Oakeshott's typology unique was that he was one of the first people either within or outside of academia to seriously and systematically consider the shape and function of the blades of European medieval swords as well as the hilt, which had been the primary criterion of previous scholars. His typology traced the functional evolution of European swords over a period of five centuries, starting with the late Iron Age Type X, and took into consideration many factors: the shape of blades in cross section, profile taper, fullering, whether blades were stiff and pointed for thrusting or broad and flexible for cutting, etc. This was a breakthrough. Oakeshott's books also dispelled many popular cliches about Western swords being heavy and clumsy. He listed the weights and measurements of many swords in his collection which have become the basis for further academic work as well as templates for the creation of high quality modern replicas.

The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry Boydell Press, 1960. The Sword in the Age of Chivalry Boydell Press, 1964. Records of the Medieval Sword Boydell Press, 1991. European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution Boydell Press, 2000. Sword in Hand Arms & Armor, Inc. 2000. A Knight and His Weapons Dufour Editions 1964, 1997. A Knight and His Armor Dufour Editions —, 1999. A Knight and His Horse Dufour Editions 1962, 1995. A Knight in Battle Dufour Editions —, 1998. A Knight and His Castle Dufour Editions 1965, 1996. Swords of the Viking Age Boydell Press 2002. The Sword in Anglo Saxon England Boydell & Brewer 1962. Dark Age Warrior Dufour Editions 1974, 1984.