Does anyone know where I can get aditional information about the sword on which Albion's Brescia Spadona is based? Any information at all would be helpful. Source materials prefered, but second hand information is acceptable too.

I don't know a lot, but I can offer this picture which I believe is the sword they copied for their piece.

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Here are pics and text from Francesco Rossi's Mediaeval Arms and Armour.

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Thanks, guys, I appreciate it. If anyone has any more information, I'd still love to hear it.

Also, why is this hilt style assumed to be Italian? I've seen this cross (either very similar or nearly identical) on swords found in France, England, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

Is it just because the curator said so on his card? I ask this because curators can often be, how shall we say...less than experts. A "hybrid weapon". Sheesh. :)

The pieces is here, it is considered a German blade with a Brescian (or northern italian) hilt. It carries the famous wolf of Passau logo on the blade..

Must have a pic or two in my computer ... I spent some time pretty close to the vitrine.

It is rather well preserved. The pommel cap appears not pitted, unlike the rest of the sword, so it was possibly remounted, but this is strictly a personal conjecture.

What about the hilt makes it Brescian? The description on the card suggests he is talking about the cross..."while the shape, with downward points to the hilt, is certainly Italian".

If he's talking about the cross, that is not an Italian cross...swords have been found in many parts of Europe with that style of cross. Here are some examples from Oakeshott's books:

RMS XV.5 - similar cross, found in Dordogne River in Southern France, near Castillon. Because of Battle of Castillon in 1453, this could have been an English or French sword. As the maker’s mark suggests it is a 15th century sword (indicated by Oakeshott). XV.8 is another Castillon find with a similar, but not quite similar enough, cross.

RMS XVa.1, almost identical cross, dated 1350 to 1370 found in Lucerne Lake, Switzerland. Oakeshott mentions that an extremely similar sword was found in the River Thames, but without examining that particular sword no conclusions can be drawn.

RMS XVa.6, almost identical cross, dated 1370, probably hung above tomb of the black prince of Wales, indicating possibly English origin (another link to England).

RMS XVIIIa.4, almost identical cross but with small difference in center, dated 1350 – 1400, no find place.

SAC 22B, possibly almost identical cross hidden by rain guard, dated early 1400s, XV, Italian, sword of Estore Visconti.

SAC 27C, almost identical cross, no date, XVa, found in Lake Constance, which borders Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Hi Chad,

Yes, I found the black prince sword while looking for that style of cross. What's interesting is that this is typically a 14th century style, while the BS is believed to be a 15th century sword.

Do we know that the Black Prince's sword is a product of England or an Italian import? Perhaps that style of cross was a regional style that was exported and perhaps copied because it was en vogue at the time.

The Rossi book is really a picture book, as a number of the books in this field are. So, the text needs to be taken with varying amounts of grains of salts. Some books you buy for the text. Others for the pics. Some for both. :)

Mileage will vary.

Good luck on your quest. :)

Michael,
I personally wouldn't diminish the efforts of museum curators the way you seem to want to. Many of the current generation are very diligent and are working to expand our knowledge. The problem lies more in publications on arms and armour. Many were written a generation ago or more, when the study of arms and armour was much less advanced.

Not many arms and armour books have been published in the last decade or so despite the expansion of knowledge in the field. Many arms and armour titles are out of print and/or expensive as well.

And the market for high-quality text on arms and armour is more limited than for other books, like coffee-table style picture books. These picture books often have great pictures surrounded by info of varying degrees of sketchiness.

Folks like David Edge, Dr. Tobias Capwell, Ian Eaves, the late Walter Karcheski and so many others have done great work recently; it's just not published (yet). any may never be widely published or easy to obtain.

So while it's easy to condemn many of the older published works, I wouldn't apply the label "casual" to most of today's curators at the big museums.

Chad,

I didn't mean to imply all curators, just some. I've had some interesting experiences with some of them. Not to mention the fact that you sometimes see the damdest things on the description cards.

I agree with the idea that the Italian connection with this sword might be as much convention as anything else.
Unfortunately, I do not know any details of this swords history apart from what is told in catalogues and descriptions: not much.
The blade is most probably from Passau because of its markings. We do know however that marks of origin were copied by makers in other regions, to help boost sales. I see no specific reason to doubt the Passau origin in this case.

The overall style of this sword shares features with swords from other regions.
The pommel is pretty unusual, but share some features with other swords, like the hollowed out top bevels. I do not know of any otherommel with this exact design however.
I cannot say if there is any regional limitation of this type of pommel.

The guard is of a type that was popular in a wide region of Europe at the time.
To my mind the hilt could well have been made somewhere else than in northern italy.
To me there is no reason to doubt it was made in northern italy, even if the guard is not an isolated Italian type.

If the sword has been kept in an Italian armoury from the time of its making to its deposition in the Marzoli collection, there might be reason to think the hilt was made locally for an imported blade. I have no information about this.

My knowledge of this sword is limited to the specifics of shape and dimensions. It is a wonderful blade that has clear traces of use and wear. A good quality sword with a great personality, but a largely unknown history.

Peter, thank you for taking time to add your thoughts to this topic. Your insight is always welcome.
Cheers.