Society for Creative Anachronism activities century) fencing manuals. Archery activities in the SCA include both target archery and combat archery, using equipment modified for safety in conjunction with armoured combat during melee scenarios. Armoured Combat (sometimes referred to as "Heavy Combat", "Heavy List", or "Heavy Fighting") using weapons fashioned to generally approximate the sword-and-shield, greatsword, spear, glaive and halberd of the High Middle Ages. Fencing or Rapier Combat, generally approximating the lightly armored "swashbuckling" of the 15th century and the 16th century, emphasizing the rapier over cutting swords. Many members of the Society study and practice period manuals from the salons of Western Europe whose
Bill (weapon) a spear head, and also a hook or spike mounted on the reverse side of the blade. There were many types of bill. English bills tended to be relatively short, with broad chopping heads, while Italian bills (ronche) often had very long thrusting points. The English distinguished between several varieties of bill, including the black, brown and forest bills, but the differences between them are currently not fully understood. George Silver, writing in 1599, stated that the black bill should be long, while the forest bill should be long. One advantage that it had over other polearms was that while