Hello everyone. Any help with this latin phrase will be greatly appreciated. I got it from a 17th century pappenheimer rapier. The phrase was stamped on the blade, incorperated within a makers mark of Wilhelm Wersberg, circa 1620. On one side it has the makers name and the standard "me fecit solingen". On the other side the latin phrase "Gloria - Virtutem - Sequitum". Due to some oxidation, I may have misread a letter or two.

Again, any help translating the latin text would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I believe Solingen is a city in Germany where a number of swords were made. (Someone please confirm or correct me on this.) The rest of that text I don't know about.

I think the other side says "Glory, Virtue, and Sanctity" but I am not possitive. I am going off of a little Italian that I know of plus a little bit of Latin from when I sang in a choir.

Alex

From the smattering of Latin I've picked up over the years, I think Alexander is partly correct. Gloria=glory or fame, virtutem=virtue (or possibly valor). Sequitum, though, I didn't recognize, except that it seems to share the same root as sequitur (to follow). I ran it through an online translator and it came back as "to follow."
Since the inscription was found in a martial context, I would guess its translation to be "Fame Follows Valor," or "Glory Follows Valor," if you prefer.
Cool inscription.

That makes sense. Thanks for the correction... Alex

"me fecit Solingen" means "I was made in Solingen"

Latin is an inflected language with case endings, as Old English was.

Solingen did me. Quite common the me fecit (he/she/it did me), it is often found in paintings, sculptures, any rtwork: John me fecit, John made me.

Gloria - Virtutem - Sequitum no , it is likely to be GLORIA VIRTVTEM SEQUITUR, Glory follows virtue , glory comes from virtue

Thank you everyone. I have very little knowledge of Latin and I was stumped on this one. When reviewing the inscription the last word was quite tricky. The Q was printed in a way that made it look like a backwards P, which made a word that wasn't in any dictionary. I suppose it does make sense to inscribe a guiding moral phrase on an instrument which is capable of taking a life. It might influence a person to contemplate a decision made during a moment of passion.

Thank you again for your help. Don

Good point! I didn't think of it that way. I suppose morals are an ever changing thing.

I do remember seeing an often imitated inscription "Do not draw me without reason, do not sheath me without honor", I guess that was the direction my mind was going with this inscription. But they might not be parallel to each other.