Any mounted warrior would need a secondary weapon as his lance could break and/or for when the fighting became too close for a lance. We know they could use either swords, axes or maces. A shorter weapon would be essential, so any man-at-arm would of course have at least one.

Lots of commoner melee infantry and missile units would have some kind of secondary weapon too (sword and buckler used by longbow/crossbowmen is one example)

Ancient time Hoplites or Phalangites would have swords too although it wasnt their primary weapon, especially for the pike armed phalangites.

And why only mention spears as the only weapon a swordsmen would face. Halberds and poleaxes where widely used weapons before the pike became the dominant infantry weapon. The poleaxe was a popular weapon for men-at-arms in the 14th-15th century. They were versatile weapons that could be used both for cut and thrust attacks with longer reach than a sword as well as being better for piercing armor.

Some 14th century depictions show men-at-arms used a variety of weapons when fighting dismounted and some would be using swords and others lances and polearms all in one mixed group. And use of lances dismounted are mentioned many times. I already gave examples of Swiss and Flemish armies.

The Maciejowski Bible from about mid 13th century has lots of pictures (some can be found here: http://www.keesn.nl/mac/mac_en.htm )


CBR