Introducing... The Condottiere -- myArmoury.com

Howard Waddell · Industry Professional

At last, here is the Condottiere Type XIX...

Specifications
Overall length: 40.25" (102.2 cm)
Blade length: 33.5" (85.1 cm)
Blade width: 1.5" (3.8 cm)
CoG: 5.125" (13 cm)
CoP: 21.75" (55.25 cm)
Weight: 2 lbs 5.5 oz (1.06 kilos)

More photos here:

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...re-xix.htm
http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/ne...photos.htm

Though he prototype is "in the white," I think this would look great with blackened fittings.

This is a sweet and elegant sword - to wildly paraphrase Heinlein from Glory Road - with a sword like this knocking on your thigh, you feel like daring him to touch your wench...

Best,

Howy

Roger Hooper · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 8:48 am Post subject:

That is a lovely sword. I have one on order and look forward to wielding it. The finger ring seems a little narrow, but I'm sure there is enough room.

Howard Waddell · Industry Professional

Tim Lison · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 9:11 am Post subject:

WOW! As usual, this sword looks great. Albion doesn't disappoint. Keep up the good work guys!

Michael Clark · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject:

Yum! Gorgeous, as always... And with the exceptionally attractive Type XIX blade, no less. Great to see this finish up.

Paul Watson · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

Damn...now another Albion "favourite" of mine. My wish list of your swords is almost as long as the entire line up of the Next Generation.

How well do these type of swords cut and handle. Would they more comparable to a type XII or type XVIII in this respect. (being the only types I have handled). I have read the article on sword typology but I would like some input from someone who has one.....perhaps Mr Griggs could comment having cut with that rather nice looking Gallowglass of his????

Stefan Toivonen · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 1:10 pm Post subject:

Beautiful! I really love swords with ricassos and those small fullers, makes the blade very stylish.

Aaron J. Cergol · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 3:10 pm Post subject:

you guys really just keep raising the bar. truly a beautiful piece of work.

what century would that be in use with???

Aaron

Mike Arledge · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 5:07 pm Post subject:

Aaron J. Cergol · Posted: Tue 03 Jul, 2007 5:19 pm Post subject:

I did see that but I thought it was refering to only the mercanary leader-not the type of sword. thanks for the clearification.

man I think I'm going to order this one. I agree about the blackened finish looking awesome. you do offer that as an option?

BTW-you wouldn't have a picture of the sword in someones hand would you? I'm having a really hard time figuring out the size of it. I saw the original one in the article here on myArmoury but your version says it's bigger.

Thanks for making another wonderful sword,

Aaron

B. Stark · Industry Professional

Excellent! Can't wait to see the other XIX single handers! The "Kern" especially.

Peter Johnsson · Industry Professional

Hey guys, thanks for reactions and questions!

The period you could find swords like this one can go back to the first half of the 14th C. A V B Norman states in his "The Rapier and Small-Sword" that hilts of this type can be traced from about 1340 and continue in use up to early 16th C. A painting i the Metropolitan Museum by the "Master of the Codex of St. George" from about 1340-50 shows a falchion with this type of hilt.
The famous "Alexandria Sword" that everyone knows about has a date marked in Arabic script cut into the blade: 1432. The sword itslf would probably be a few years older. (Note, this is just one of many swords that were stored in the arsenal of Alexandria).

As to handling and cutting, it is more akin to other blades of wide and thin cross section, than ones with a raised midrib and narrow point. Handling charactersistics between types do overlap, so it is impossible to answer this question in a general manner.
I can compare the "Condottiere" to the "Knight" in handling charactersistics, comparing two specific swords rather that two sword types.
The Condottiere is lighter in overall mass and longer in the blade by 5 cm. This affects handling when compared to a shorter and slightly heavier sword. The difference is not as dramatic as one might think in this case. The "Condottiere" is actually pretty close in handling to the "Knight". The longer blade (and its greater momentum) is offset by the lower overall weigth. Druing a fully comitted cut the Condottiere might deliver a little more forcefully because of its longer blade, but can also be a tad slower in recovery. I would expect different swordsmen will appreciate the difference between the two swords in various ways depending on personal style and personal body mass.

Neither of these swords are wristbreakers. They would both qualify as nimble weapons.

The Condottiere might have a slight aggressive edge on the Knight as a result of the combination of lower overall weight and greater momentum in full swing. The fact that you finger the guard of the Condottiere also allowes another type of appreciation of heft and responsiveness.
The edge geometry is every bit as crisp as that of the Knight, and even a bit finer still.
I have not made side by side test cutting with these two swords, but I would expect the Condottiere not to lack much in comparison to the Knight.
The 5 cm difference in length makes the Condottiere look quite a bit bigger than the Knight, even with its more narrow blade. The point section is also broader on the Condottiere.

A note of caution: you cannot draw conclusions on cutting performance of the single handed "Condottiere" by comparing to the "Gallowglass". They are both type XIX swords, but very different weapons. Apart from the obvious difference in size and character between a long hand and a half blade and a single hander, you also have to be mindful of the effect of the ring pommel on the Irish sword. It only gives a bare minimum of mass, compared to the wheel pommel of the "Condottiere".

Something that I think will strike you when you see the Condottiere "in the flesh" is that the blade is quite thin. In pictures the hexagonal section looks rather massive, but this is a trick of light. (...And also a testimony of the grinding skills of Joe: it is not an easy task to keep these ridge lines crisp and straight, leaving the thin decorative lines intact, while shaping an unusually crsip edge geometry)
The Condottiere has a long, slim and pretty nimble blade for its size.
The decorative features you see in the ricasso and the lines outlining the fuller are cut into the blade in its blade blank state. They are not etched on the surface, but actually cut into the blade.
I have a feeling the curious L-shaped lines in the ricasso were cut/forged into the blade blank by the blade smith to act as a guide for the blade grinder: a mark for where the plunge cut for the edge bevels were to be made.

They fulfill a similar function today in the production of these blades.

David Sutton · Posted: Wed 04 Jul, 2007 2:22 am Post subject:

All I can say is Beautiful!! Cool

Peter, I think thats another masterpiece to add to the 'I want one' list! Laughing Out Loud

Paul Watson · Posted: Wed 04 Jul, 2007 11:47 am Post subject:

Thanks Peter for your answer. Very thorough and well explained. Comparing this sword to he Knight was very beneficial for me as I am the recent owner of a Knight and very happy with it. Being completely unfamiliar with swords such as the Condottiere I had no idea about it's performance or how it was meant to be used. For some reason I thought blades of this geometry would be more suited to thrusting than cutting, but your comments and comparisons with the flatter thinner blades are very helpful.

Greg Griggs · Posted: Thu 05 Jul, 2007 7:57 am Post subject:

Mmmmmmmmm...yummy! Been waiting to see how the one-handers look and you guys just keep giving out better than the expectations. Congrats on another beautiful design Peter and Howy.

Man, I love the way Peter writes about the differences of sword design in handling, cutting, appearances, etc. You always nail it down well, Sir. Since I have only cut with the larger Gallowglass along with Types X and XII(a), as Peter said, it will be of limited use for how the Condottiere would handle. I can say that the Type XIX blades do cut very well. Yes, they take much better form, with little forgiveness if you don't follow through, but when you do it right..........Yeaaahhhhh baby!! What surprised me the most about the GG though was the control in hand-and-a-half form practice. Point control is perfect, and the blade answers to your every twitch and whim as if an extension of the hand and arm. Hope that helps a bit, Paul.

Wish you guys would quit making me drool over all these new swords. It's making me dehydrated...................