[kronckew]

the french ecole de mars sword is on my list of swords to acquire. at it's bottom. one of the ugliest useless cumbersome looking swords i have seen including some modern frangible stainless steel 'fantasy' wall hangers. i include the ecole in the 'fantasy' category, it's only saving grace is that it is not stainless.the steel part of the guard & knuckle guard is it's best feature tho. they should have used that bit and left off the thick rectangular part of the guard. the blade looks too short and the point is way too obtuse. example below.

it is an award to be treasured by those who actually won and were presented with them, a tribute to their performance at the ecole, but the school could have used a better design. it looks like it was designed by a committee. the spanish swords with their proximity to the iberian arab world and morocco may be closer. example also below.

or the itlaian connections mentioned earlier, as in my falchion (sharp repro) way below which is even better.