Hi Philip,
Its great to hear from you, and I'm glad you came in on this unusual topic. Thank you for the kind words
I very much appreciate you adding further depth to the data at hand, and especially for your notes on the actual structure and use of these weapons. I had not noticed the lenticular cross section that you well pointed out, and that feature certainly does seem characteristic on most examples.
I think that there has been some confusion in the resources I had checked and that in many cases 'bearing swords' are confused with actual 'heading' swords by writers on weapons. In some sources they seem to suggest these weapons were seldom used for thier suggested purpose. As you have noted, there certainly was an established use of them in these Continental countries.
Emanuel,
Although the subject matter is somewhat morbid, I'm actually glad you brought this topic to discussion, as I always am when something can be learned from it. I think here we all have.
I think that when considering material included in any work of fiction, one must beware the degree of license employed by the writer. Naturally most elements of historical data are embellished as required to lend well to the imagery of the story. I recall one instance years ago when questions were posted concerning a huge Scottish broadsword described in a 'historical' legend which had a ten pound sliding weight to 'add force to the cut'!
Naturally at the outset this seemed impossible. After considerable research this of course was found incorrect, and though several instances of sliding weights were mentioned, they occurred only in other literature, not in actual weapon descriptions.
Thank you for the very interesting query
Nicely done.
All the best,
Jim