Italian single handed 14th Century Sword, The Malaspina

The effigy of the first Marquis

He was a nobleman, a member of the powerful Malaspina family, which ruled over the region of Lunigiana in Tuscany.

Galeotto Malaspina is best known as a patron of the arts and sciences and for his role in the construction of the stunning Fosdinovo Castle. Though it could be said his most notable achievement was the establishment of a fair and just legal system. He introduced new laws and regulations that protected the rights of the people and ensured equal treatment for all.

The keep of the Marquis of Fosdinovo.

His effigy, erected in the Church of San Remigio in 1367, shows a knight with excellent armor and obviously a sword of some quality. He was a judge and Knight and his title originated from the Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg, who in 1355 while traveling to Rome, raised the fiefdom of Fosdinovo to a Marquisate, investing its masters as marquises.

Our Sword

The type XIII sword is well proportioned and has a dramatic hexagonal wheel pommel. It has a simple cross in the center hub and we paint this a bright red color. The guard is a gently down turned square cross sectioned bar. The tip of the sword is broken off on the tomb so we based our reconstruction on similar swords of the period and type. 

The Malaspina Sword

The blade has a short but well defined fuller in its broad type XIII blade. The stout guard gives good protection to the hand. 

The pommel has a peened steel nut on top of the hexagonal shaped wheel pommel highlighted with the cross inset into the face. Many medieval pommels had simple decoration painted in the hub of the wheel pommels similar to this.

Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography.  He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.

Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985