Fosdinovo Italy
The Malaspina family was well connected and his effigy 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.
His tomb was erected in the Church of San Remigio in 1367 and shows a knight of status and power.
The effigy of the first Marquis
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.
It also works well on a Tuscan steak from the grill :-)
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