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EXECUTIONER'S SWORD Hungary 1600 AD
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EXECUTIONER'S SWORD  Hungary 1600 AD

"a sword in a box"

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Comments for: EXECUTIONER'S SWORD Hungary 1600 AD
fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: June 08, 2007 03:15AM

a very attractive Executioner's Sword from Hungary dating to 1600 AD. A very attractive albeit morbid specimen, with broad blade and blunt tip. There is profuse figural and text etching on the upper half: there are two warriors represented in the dressage of the period- probably Abonis and Hiporis. These two individuals could represent the patron saints of the region where the decapitations were taking place. This sword has a very long inscription - the longest we have seen in a weapon of this character. It is written in a combination of Latin and German. Such inscriptions often related to the justice associated with the act of the execution. This makes this unpublished sword unique. They are accompanied by Vine scroll and Latin mottos on both sides. The sword has an iron knucklebow hilt with long languets and cut wave decoration on the obverse side. It has leather covered grips (with small defects) and an iron pommel cap. The cross shaped Hilt has waveform decoration with black inlay. Superb condition. Some minor wear and tear on the handle.
Overall length: 35 3/8 inches. Length of blade: 30 1/4 inches. Width of blade: 2 inches.
History Of Execution:
A lot of people have been executed through the years. In British History, probably the most famous has been King Charles I (1625-49). Public beheading has not occurred in Europe since the late 1940s; Saudi Arabia still uses it publically as punishment for murder, rape, drug trafficking, sodomy, armed robbery, apostasy and so forth. Beheading was employed in Britain up to 1747. It was only abolished in Norway in 1905. Public beheading was the normal method of execution in Germany up to 1851. In 1938 Hitler decreed that all future executions should should be by hanging or guillotining. West Germany abolished capital punishment altogether in 1951. Beheading by sword or axe is quite a skillful affair, but in the right hands appears to be a very humane way of taking life. The problem with the UK was a lack of skillful beheaders, the act was frequently given to inexperienced Hangmen. It took 3 blows top behead Mary Queen of Scot's at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587. The act is of course very gory as blood spurts from the severed carotids and jugulars. Consciousness is probably lost within 2-3 seconds, as the blood supply to the brain extinguishes. Beheading was introduced in Britain during the reign of William the Conqueror for the execution the Earl of Northumberland in 1076. Treason was a common reason for beheading in Britain. However in most cases treason translated into displeasing the monarch, not the country! Most public executions in Britain were carried out at the Tower of London. Simon Lord Lovatt was the last person to be beheaded on Tower Hill on the 9th of April 1747, for treason. At the end of the act, the executioner picked up the cut head and showed it to the crowd, uttering the words "Behold the head of a traitor!".

Price: $15,500.00