Renaissance executioner sword from Germany

[David]

Wow! Now that's somethin'!

[Reichsritter]

The sword in saltire was perhaps a symbol of his office, I cannot recognize the crown. At first glance a marquee hat comes to my mind.

Very interesting on the other side is the coat-of-arms of Saxony (barry of ten or and sable a crown of rue) at first look, but again after counting the horizontal bars on the shield it has only eight. Such shield I have seen on the Lords of Kuenring (a bastard line of the Duke of Saxony). Maybe the reason the crown (hat) is not Ducal.

[Matchlock]

The three holes near the tip of the blade are of course not for making the piece lighter by 2-3 grams (!) but are the last Baroque decorative element of the older Gothic trefoil (Dreipass).

This of course is no longer a Renaissance sword as that epoque ended in the early 17th century. It is of High Baroque type (2nd half 17th c.).
Best,
Michael

[broadaxe]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

The three holes near the tip of the blade are of course not for making the piece lighter by 2-3 grams (!) but are the last Baroque decorative element of the older Gothic trefoil (Dreipass).

This of course is no longer a Renaissance sword as that epoque ended in the early 17th century. It is of High Baroque type (2nd half 17th c.).
Best,
Michael

The three holes are supposedly not for removing but rather adding weight by attaching two pieces of steel via nuts or rivets. This is probably an urban myth, the reason is purely decorative and religious, a trefoil indeed. However not all beheading swords of this type have the three holes. I can think of a secondary benefit created by the holes: a sinister whistle while the blade spins rapidly in mid air... Unlike the axe, the motion was paralell to the ground and the executioner had to build up speed with 2-3 free spins, before the death blow was struck.

[Matchlock]

Exactly, broadaxe!

m

[Mauro]

Many thanks to all of you for these very interesting informations. I am always surprised from the many simbols are hidden in an old sword. I enlarged the photos of the shield and I can note that the horizontal bars are surely 9. I checked the coat of arms of Saxony in wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony) and it has 9 stripes so many many thanks. One of the coat of arm seems surely Saxony. I don't know the meaning of the other but I shall continue to search in that direction.

[Mauro]

Looking into wikipedia trying to follow the coats of arms of Saxony I found a coat of arms that could represent the second shield. It is made of two sword crossed. “The lower right fourth quarter shows in sable and argent the electoral swords (Kurschwerter) in gules, indicating the Saxon office as Imperial Arch-Marshal (German:Erzmarschall, Latin:Archimarescallus), pertaining to the Saxon privilege as prince-elector, besides the right to elect a new emperor after the decease of the former. The Lauenburg branch duchy adopted this coat-of-arms, used before by the other brach duchy Saxe-Wittenberg until its extinction in 1422, in order to enforce its failed claim to succession in Saxe-Wittenberg.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sachsen-Lauenburg.PNG

[Reichsritter]

Originally Posted by Mauro

Many thanks to all of you for these very interesting informations. I am always surprised from the many simbols are hidden in an old sword. I enlarged the photos of the shield and I can note that the horizontal bars are surely 9. I checked the coat of arms of Saxony in wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony) and it has 9 stripes so many many thanks. One of the coat of arm seems surely Saxony. I don't know the meaning of the other but I shall continue to search in that direction.

Hi Mauro, All Saxon coat of arms are always barry of 10 Sable (black) and Or (gold)...regardless of branch, or period from duchy, Kingdom until it became a state. The coat of arms on your sword I noticed has barry of 8 (8 bars horizontal). This interests me since such shield are used by the Lords of Kuenring. If you can wikipedia the coat of arms of the Princes of Liechtenstein you will notice on the 2nd quarter a similar shield with 8 bars of yellow and black. This signify their Kuenring ancestry. No conclusion on my part but just an observation.