The castle of Amaiur, in the Pyrenees, was demolished shortly after the 1522 surrender. It was held by 200 troops loyal to the king Henry II of Navarre, which tried to reconquer the southern part of the kingdom, invaded by Castilla in 1512. Besieged by 10.000 troops, it fell after one week. Two brothers of saint Francis Xavier were among the defenders.

Several objects have been found in the recent archeological works that discovered most of the castle, with an important number of them being crossbow bolts, artillery projectiles, caltrops, brigandine plates... but the best piece is the sword.

Sorry, I haven't got length or weight.

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Thanks for sharing, what a great find! So few swords of this type still exist... It's almost identical to the sword shown in this painting by Francesco Granacci from around the same time.

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What a wonderful find! It must have been truly a beautiful piece in its heyday....fit for royalty. :D .....McM