@ Jim
Jim thanks you for your Always very valuable commentary, with a good track to potential sword makers of this piece
there are always questions often by collectors including myself how with these swords could be fought, more then often two-handed swords are wrongly dismissed as processional swords.
here is a good demonstration on youtube of how these two hand techniques must have looked like.
http://www.oakeshott.org/Figueiredo_...s_and_Hick.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYNy_drriXs
I believe this sword is homogeneous ( all the parts belonging together) from the third quarter of the 16th century.
I hope the marks will give more clarity at a later stage.
so 3/4 16thC! however with the note that some of the blade decoration can indeed be applied later in the 19th century.
The latin inscription seems to me from the 16thC.
for an Italian sword with similar fuller Latin inscription see pictures
and post #141
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ght=katzbalger