1801 Antique Sword

1801) MASSIVE TWO-HAND HIGHLY DECORATED GERMAN FLAMBERG SWORD CIRCA 1580: Museum quality VIP bearing sword. Absolutely one of the best two-handed swords in 35 years! As original as the day it was made. This sword was made for an exceptionally wealthy person who could afford only the absolute best!

Introduction: A two-handed sword, by definition, is a sword designed to be used with two hands for maximum effectiveness. Styles of swords can vary by nationality. Two-handed swords were widespread in the field, ceremonial, and in the lists from the mid-15th to the early 17th centuries. However, from the latter part of the 16th century, they tended increasingly to be employed in a ceremonial role.

It has been suggested that the earliest references to the use of the two-handed sword are those to be found in a French copy of the Romance of Alexander of about 1180, which mentions a “bone espée a II espieus molus,” and in the chronicle of Guillaume Guiart, written in the period 1304-7, which notes that the French, when fighting the Germans in 1264, had to adjust their tactics “Car les deux mains en haute levées/ Giètent d’unes longues espées.”

More certain evidence of the use of the two-hand sword is provided by Jean Froissart (1337–1410), who, when writing his chronicles of the year 1358, noted that the Canon de Robesart “tenoit une espée a II mains, dont il donnoit les horions si grands que nul les osoit attendre,” while Bertrand du Guesclin (circa 1320- 1380) recorded in his chronicle that Oliver de Manny carried “d’une espée a II mains” (J. Hewitt, Ancient Armour, and Weapons, Vol. II, London, 1855, p. 256).

Description: Constructed with downward turned quillons decorated with lion’s heads with manes at the tips, a round pommel decorated en suite with lions faces on both sides, hock bottle grip with rivets to secure the grip (replaced), flamberg Type I blade (blade having scallops and an empty void on opposite sides of the blade, see page 280 in my book), 8 inch long rectangular ricasso with Type B lugs, (elongated isosceles triangles pointing slightly downward to form a crescent moon, see page 279 in my book). At the base of the ricasso, a maker’s mark in the shape of a Cross Potent (attributed to the Kingdom of Jerusalem).

Condition: This sword is highly conserved/restored to German museum standards. It has some light pitting and dings that have been polished down, some wheel marks are slightly visible when put under strong light. Some of the rivets on the grip are almost certainly replaced, as is possibly the leather grip.

Length: Approximately 64 inches.

Discussion: Ceremonial/Parade/Bearing swords were primarily intended for religious, court, parades, and other social functions. Swords of this type tend to be very ornate, expensive, and very large. These swords were created to look very pretty and were not utilitarian weapons. They were usually not intended for fighting, although some fighting swords were later repurposed (modified) to become ceremonial swords after their working life. The special undulating ‘flamberg” blade is named after its flame shape. The flamberg blade was used primarily with Zweihander (two-handed swords). Flamberg is the name attributed to the sword, a fictional French knight introduced in a 12th-century narrative poem (chanson de geste) named Renaud de Montauban. From the 1600s to the 1700s, the term flamberg was used to describe special dueling swords. During the Victorian period, the term was erroneously applied to “wavy-bladed” swords.

There are three primary types of flamberg blades: Type I: The blade has (A) scallops and an (B) empty void on opposite sides of the blade. In many instances, the (C) tip is as wide as if it were not a scalloped sword. Please see page 280 for a complete description and examples.

The flamberg has an undulating design for five primary reasons:

1) The design creates a gripping crevice at the bottom where the scallops meet, offering the following advantages:

(A) trapping and redirecting the opponent’s blade (sword) to a more advantageous position for a counterattack.

(B) making it easier to dislodge the opponent‚ grip from his sword.

2) It was believed the flamberg blade could cut deeper (especially on certain types of soft armor like cuir-bouilli, mail, or fabric) because the full impact of the sword was concentrated exclusively on the high ridges of the scallop. The smaller surface area results in deeper penetration if the sword is swung with the same power.

3) A sawing-ripping motion is possible after penetrating the impacted area, resulting in a deeper cut.

4) The flamberg is an elegant blade that could also have been adopted by civic, parade, and/or ceremonial guards such as this one under discussion.

5) The sword was lighter and easier to handle because it required less steel to make.

So why did it take until the 1300s for the two-handed sword to flourish?

There are two primary reasons:

A) For the same reason, full-metal defensive armor and two-handed swords did not develop until the same period. As furnaces got bigger in Medieval Europe, steel billets (solid lengths of steel) accordingly increased in size. With bigger steel billets, swords could now be made with fewer (but larger) steel billets, eventually reaching their peak of one billet per sword. Larger furnaces generally meant higher temperatures, better steel, faster production, and probably less expensive to manufacture on a large scale.

B) As armor evolved, its counterpart, the sword, did the same, with larger, specialized swords of superior quality and design. This was the weapons race of its day.

Conclusion: This is an exquisite sword that could be proudly displayed in any museum or world class collection !!!*