[Paul Watson]

For anyone who is interested check out Albions facebook page. They have photos of an XVIIIc blade in development.
880mm long and 79mm wide at the base. Big, broad and beautiful.

[Scott Kowalski]

Is there anyway you can post the picture here Paul? I am not a member of Farcebook and never will be. But an nice big broad and beautiful XVIIIc just might get me to change my mind. Probably not!

[Roger Hooper]

The blade is 3.125 inches at it's widest point

[Scott Kowalski]

[Joel Chesser]

Oh my God! That's not a sword, that's a monster!

[Michael B.]

Images are by Albion, taken from the Albion Facebook page.

[Scott Kowalski]

You weren't lying when you said it was a monster Joel! It will be interesting to see what fittings they match to this great beasty of a blade. The only thing that would make it better would be a short fuller. Though the blade as is looks really great. Hollow ground it would seem from the pictures.


Michael,

Not to forget you. Thank you for posting the pictures of this. Hopefully we will hear from Peter or Howie soon about this piece!

Scott

[Joel Chesser]

I totally agree on the short fuller. I'm really excited to see how this comes out. I am envisioning a Style 8 or an 'S' shaped guard and a wheel pommel. Maybe an I1.
I think I just drooled a little.

[Roger Hooper]

Here is another XVIIIc made by Peter Johnsson, though not for Albion. I don't remember where I picked up this photo

[Paul Watson]

Scott, I'm only on facebook as it allows me to view the Albion items, so don't hold it against me.

A closer example to how this latest sword may turn out would be Peters XVIIIc for the Solingen show a couple of years ago. Use the search engine to find the thread as I am totally useless and trying to attach links etc.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=solingen

OK maybe not so useless

[Chad Arnow]

[Scott Kowalski]

Joel,
I agree that an I1 and 8 would look great with this blade.

Roger,
I have pictures of that sword saved in my files. I cannot for the world of me though remember what it is from. Though it is a truly beautiful sword by Peter. Go figure, huh?

Paul,
My wife and oldest are on Facebook. I just have issues with how they do some things and so I do not go on it. Thank you for coming up with that link as I had not seen those swords before. The XIIIc looks really great.

Chad,
Thank you for posting the text as well as the picture of the original.

Even though this sword is from a later period as my main interest there is just something about big swords like this that speak to me. On a very primal level. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this through posts here to see how this develops. Hopefully I will have funds available for this when it becomes available.

[Chad Arnow]

[Scott Kowalski]

[Peter Johnsson]

The coming Principe is an old favorite (I know: I have many favorites... )

Eric McHugh and did a research trip to England a few years back. One of our stops was the Royal Armories in Leeds. Robert Woosnam-Savage was our kind and generous host. It was a very memorable visit where we got opportunity to examine and document several highly interesting swords. The XVIIIc from the Alexandria arsenal was one of them.

Several of these swords survive. They are all of a similar shape but seems to all vary a bit in size and some proportions (like grip length to blade length proportion for example) All are big swords and all are very broad. They are made according to the same concept but without an ambition for cookie cutter repetition.

The sword that resides in the Leeds collection weight some 1640 grams or 3,6 pounds. It is a little longer in the blade than the Principe and has a slightly shorter grip. Other swords are shorter than the Principe and the blade width varies. The Principe with its slightly wider blade and slightly different proportions is not intended to be a replica of the original in the Royal Armouries. It is made to fill the place of a sibling in the larger group of swords. It is in the handling characteristics and dynamic quality that the Principe will come closest to the original in the RA in Leeds. That sword is outstanding and has qualities in heft and balance that I really want to emulate in the design of the Principe.

I may make two hilt configurations for it. All the swords of this group that comes from the Alexandria arsenal have wheel pommels. They are thought to be of Italian origin. The guard type is very typical for Italian swords of this period, but there are other pommel types that also were popular and typical for Italian swords contemporary to these. A special type of scent stopper pommel comes to mind that would complement this guard and blade very well.

These are very impressive weapons. The heft is a combination of power and acute swiftness.

Some other types of swords may be said to belong to the same general family of swords: large and broad, but not overly long two handers. Some have type XXII blades (XXIIa if such a sub class would exist) or very broad type XVIa blades.
I am personally fascinated by these swords. They are very fine expressions of highly developed understanding of the design concept of swords. It is about how to best make use of low hardenability steel to produce a large blade that is both extremely aggressive in cutting, together with a body that is flexible with a spring like quality and dynamic properties that balance overall mass with effective control. Awe inspiring work from these masters.

Below a snapshot of Eric. He is a big guy and yet the sword stands out as a large and broad one. It is difficult to make justice to the physical presence of these swords in a photo like this. Magnificent swords in just about any aspect. I hope you will find this sword type as interesting as I do.

[Nathan Robinson]

Peter-

Thank you for sharing the photo of Eric with the sword as well as your thoughts. Impressive.

I'm eager to see Albion's version and more so feel the dynamics of how a sword like this might handle.

[Chris Artman]

Very Exciting!

I want to preorder ASAP... I have been waiting for this for a while, very excited.

I am also looking forward to the massive XXII.... Hopefully that will come to fruition as well. It is exciting now that these bigger swords are being made.... love it !!!!

[Julien M]

Some more shots of this magnificent sword I took during my last visit at the RA.

I remember being surprised to find out that the grip was of the sandwich type, reminding me of messer grips, showing the bare tang on both sides between the wooden slats. I'd been told (by Chad if I recall correctly) that it was a common feature on a batch of sword found in Alexandria. Are you planning to reproduce that kind of grip Peter or will you go for the usual leather over wood typical of the Albion next gen line up?

Cheers,

J

[Peter Johnsson]

The sandwiched and riveted grip is thought to be a repair made while kept in Alexandria. It is done in the tradition of islamic cutlery principles. I also think this is true. The grip is only as wide as the tang and would most probably been wider before. Also the core would have been covered with leather. The principe will have one of the standard solutions for Albion swords.

[Julien M]