Who is “The Glad”
My name is Patrick Anthony Skura and I am the founder of this project. I am a physician and work in surgery, have been interested in history since my childhood and was a successful fencer in my youth.
I enjoy exchanging ideas with well-read and experienced people, not only about swords, and from time to time I have the privilege of being able to publish some of their knowledge or my own thoughts in this modest magazine.
THE GLADIOLOGICAL is a project I run in my spare time, as a “by-product” and natural development of my effort as an amateur researcher and collector of historical arms and armour who loves to write. With the highest expectations of myself and my work, I still can’t expect to reach the professional level of writing, design, research or imagery that some other journals have, and that’s a good thing. The small team behind this is in the luxurious situation doing this for pleasure and not money. I hope that the dear readers will keep this in mind.
Besides myself, there is a small circle of permanent collaborators. We are a young, international team whose members have so far all been involved on an amateur basis with everything to do with historical weapons and armour. The fact that none of us are professional historians or curators does not in the least diminish our desire to produce high quality work for the magazine.
Our Story
Founded in 2024, THE GLADIOLOGICAL has set itself the task of being an interface between historians, archaeologists, collectors, dealers and interested amateurs in the field of sword expertise.
THE GLADIOLOGICAL is intended to be a supplement to the established scientific journals, not a replacement. We want to make finding relevant information and reading faster, more convenient and, above all, available to everyone. With us, you shouldn’t have to pay a fortune for an article.
We have the great advantage and luxury that all members of the team realise the project in their free time. And this is precisely where the limits of the demands we place on ourselves and by which we expect to be measured lie. If you are looking for articles that are written in the old, dusty way, with thousands of recitations so that the author of an article has hardly come to any conclusions independently at the end, you are in the wrong place.
We say this quite bluntly: We are the special interest magazine for the underground, on the hammock or sitting “at the quiet place”, as even the fine minds who deal with the noble discipline of gladiology are also in these situations from time to time!
Our Goals
We want to break down old structures and boundaries between interest groups and present in a modern, popular-literary way both the latest and complex issues, as well as everyday topics that interest the enthusiast in an understandable and accessible way for all.
Our understanding of gladiology applies to all historical swords, regardless of the time and place of their creation. Cultural superiority has no place with us. In addition to a regular magazine with selected articles of longer length by experts who report on their field of work, we also present sporadic articles and previews on the website´s main page.
For example, every month we select a new ‘Sword of the Month’ – a rather jokey presentation of a selected exhibit. Of course, individual articles appear unscheduled.
We also offer support with all kinds of questions relating to swords. You can find further information via the menu items on the main page.
We observe how a field such as gladiology (as we call it) continues to be neglected in an age of unprecedented scientific and informational opportunities:
Current and serious scientific work is usually only communicated to a small circle of experts for a lot of money – it often does not reach the general public at all. We want to change that.
We understand very well that not everyone has the time to fully search for the latest findings, discoveries or even just gather experiences of seasoned collectors and rearchers. That is why we are here. We want to build this bridge between professionals, semi-professionals and amateurs because we all share the same passion.
Discover new things on a regular basis
Welcome in our midst. It has never been easier and more efficient to get relevant information and stay up to date. We guarantee you well-researched material from people who know what they are writing about.
We ourselves usually rarely subscribe – but we would subscribe to the THE GLADIOLOGOCAL newsletter. You´ll get our fresh articles in preview lenght straight into your mailbox and never miss the latest news.
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