I have for years been involved in firearms collecting and shooting, and have been active in traditional archery such as Longbow and recurve shooting, arrow fletching, and collecting various types of modern military knives. I am interested in collecting and learning about European style swords. Mainly from about the 7th century-16th century. I have looked online at various companies like Albion, Arms and Armor, and Darksword Armoury. All have great looking products. Being a history major and having ancestors involved on both sides of the 100 years war...these swords here kind of peak my interest.

French Medieval by Arms and Armor
http://armor.com/sword188.html

A reproduction of my 20th great-graddaddy's sword by Arms and Armor. http://armor.com/sword157.html

The Crecy by Albion... http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...cy-xvi.htm

And the Templar by Darksword Armoury.... http://darksword-armory.com/products-page/med...word-1339/

I would like to think I am looking in the right places...but for someone starting off in this fascinating world of swords with were my interest are. Are these good in terms of quality, handling, and cutting? Also through the Plantagenet line I am descended from King Ferdinand III of Spain, and I know he liked to be seen and painted with his sword. Any reproductions of St. Ferdinand's sword?

So what's your opinion on Darksword's Templar?

Hello and welcome aboard. You will not find a more diverse knowledgable crowd for all things medieval. For the swords you've listed you cannot go wrong with Albion and A&A, as both are very, very highly regarded. Both companies make the cream of the crop outside of custom makers, which can get insanely expensive.................Larry

The Darksword DSA1339 is less expensive, but is inferior to the other items that you listed. Look at its specs HERE

At 4 lbs. 11 oz. it is at least 1 lb. too heavy. Also the distal taper on the blade thickness is only around 17%. The blade comes as a blunt. You can get it sharpened, but since it was made to be a blunt, it will never cut as well as a blade designed to be sharp.

An alternative that is not as expensive as Albion or A&A (maybe not quite as good as them, but you do get a scabbard) - Valiant Armoury

Ferdinand III lived in the first half of the 13th century. There are a number of paintings and sculptures of him with a sword, but they were created much later, and the swords are all of a later type. Ferdinand probably used something like a type XII. A good repro would be the Albion Knight.

To be fair, the Kult of Athena specs I believe are wrong. I owned one of the newer DSA Templar swords and it was not 4 pounds. I weighte dit and it was closer to 3 1/2 or just over 3 1/2 pounds. It was a good weapon but a VA would be better.

More on Ferdinand III's sword -

There is a sword in Seville Cathedral that is reputed to be his weapon - the Lobera Sword. 85.4 cm long by 5.3 cm wide. I've never come across a replica of this sword.

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Welcome Ben
You've found a great place to learn and research, or to find research leads. I would also caution you about some of the lower price point reproductions out there. My first sword purchase was a DSA, and while I may appreciate it for what it is, I have since come to know it is not what I thought it would be looking at website photos. I've since gotten better representations in that same price area, and know more about what the higher price and qualities of other reproductions really means. I would only suggest that you spend some time looking around this site, check out the spotlight topics, read all the features and reviews, find out about and visit the sites of other makers, and then make your list of possibilities......