European 14th Century Arming Sword, licensed by the Royal Armouries

The pommel of this sword looks conventional when viewed dead-on, but turn the sword sideways and an unusual, somewhat conical shape reveals itself. The sword was reputedly found in a peat bog together with another now in Rome and is unusually well preserved. Comparable swords have been found across much of Europe. One-handed arming swords were carried as sidearms by many people at the time, often used with a shield or buckler. They can be seen used with small bucklers in the famous fencing treatise Royal Armouries Ms. I.33, as well as equipping fully armored knights in numerous manuscripts and monuments. This sword could have been carried at the beginning of the Hundred Years War, and it features several very distinctive features. The subtly shaped crossguard curves towards the blade, tapering and then swelling at the terminals, and the distinctive pommel has very particular angles and facets. The hilt sits very comfortably in the hand. The broad leaf-like straight blade is of a flattened-diamond cross-section, double-edged, with a narrow fuller to reduce mass. The width swells slightly where it meets the hilt and the gracefully curved edges finish in an acute thrusting tip. The sword is quite light for the size but has a lot of blade presence and power in the hand, being very well suited to give impressive cuts and thrusts. More information...