A Fine and Very Rare South German Landsknecht Saber, ca. 1540

Jim McDougall · 20th February 2009, 09:55 PM

Note: The previous post contained a link to a pending auction, so had to be deleted. The question in the post by Broadaxe was quite pertinant, and I will paraphrase as I could not delete only the link to the auction.

His comment was that 'katzbalger's were thought to only carry straight blades.
This is true, however as we have discussed, these sabre type weapons though similar, are only 'of the type' and were indeed carried by Landsknechts as variations of the original form. Terminology is often maddening when applied too arbitrarily with weapons and in many cases terms are widely and loosely used in descriptions.

We know that 'katzbalgers' were often reserviced and remounted with other blades, and it seems an example even with one of the early 'Ulfberht' type blades is known, remounted in its working life.

My apologies for the error in earlier closure of this thread, and I hope we can continue the discussion on the varying aspects of these interesting swords.

All best regards,
Jim

20th February 2009, 09:55 PM	#12
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,295	Note: The previous post contained a link to a pending auction, so had to be deleted. The question in the post by Broadaxe was quite pertinant, and I will paraphrase as I could not delete only the link to the auction. His comment was that 'katzbalger's were thought to only carry straight blades. This is true, however as we have discussed, these sabre type weapons though similar, are only 'of the type' and were indeed carried by Landsknechts as variations of the original form. Terminology is often maddening when applied too arbitrarily with weapons and in many cases terms are widely and loosely used in descriptions. We know that 'katzbalgers' were often reserviced and remounted with other blades, and it seems an example even with one of the early 'Ulfberht' type blades is known, remounted in its working life. My apologies for the error in earlier closure of this thread, and I hope we can continue the discussion on the varying aspects of these interesting swords. All best regards, Jim