The Alexandria Sword by Albion
Aug 30, 2018 2:00:22 GMT
Post by Aikidoka on Aug 30, 2018 2:00:22 GMT
The Alexandria Sword by Albion
Historical overview
They are of Oakeshott type XVIIIc, having very wide blades that taper to a sharp point. Their hilts consists of a wide slim guard with downturned ends and a pommel that is either of wheel type or octagonal in shape. No two swords of this group have exactly the same dimensions, but they share so may similarities in form and proportion that it seems likely they were are all made to the same description. The blades bear marks of bladesmihts from Milan.
All these type XVIIIc swords were introduced to the arsenal in the years 1414-15, 1415-16 and finally a large group in 1419.
It is probable that the swords were given as dipomatic gifts following the peace treaty of 1414 between King Janus of Cyprus and the Sultan al-Mu´ayyad Shaykh (a peace that lasted ten years). They may have been specially made as gifts to the Sultan, or were perhaps chosen because of their high quality as fighting weapons, representing the martial spirit of the knights and men at arms who fought for King Janus of Cyprus."
Full Disclosure
I have no affiliation with Albion Swords. I bought this sword with my own money.
Statistics
Grip Length: 6.9 inches
Overall Length: 43.5 inches
Guard Width: 11 inches
POB (Point of Balance): 3.5 inches
The guard on the Alexandria is quite wide at 11 inches and curves slightly forward at the tips. It has a hexagonal profile that swells quite a bit near the center and tapers at the tips. The lines and polish are very clean and the overall design of the guard is very attractive.
The Alexandria has a heavy wheel pommel that serves as a good counter weight to the large wide blade. The pommel is not particularly wide, but is quite thick. An interesting design feature of this pommel is that the thickness of the side of the pommel tapers from the grip to the peen.
Handling Characteristics
This sword weighs 3 lbs 9.7 oz and has a point of balance of 3.5 inches. The resulting static balance feels good in either two hands or one. This balance also carries over well to dynamic performance. The blade cuts well in one hand. In two hands, the grip has a similar length to the Crecy, and as with the Crecy, some people will like this, some will not. I personally like the shorter grip. I find that the pommel shape interfaces well with the hand that is in contact with it. And when cutting with the sword in one hand, I appreciate the fact that the grip is a bit shorter than some other longswords.
Test Cutting
In this video, I attempted a variety of cuts with the sword in one hand and two. The sword cut Mugen Dachi tatami extremely easily in either case. The only adjustment needed was to place my thumb on the blade to maintain edge alignment when cutting with one hand, as the wide blade wanted to turn inside the mat. At the end of the cutting session, I performed a dragonfly cut. The second cut demonstrates the ease with which this blade cuts tatami, as the small piece of mat is cleanly cut while falling in the direction of the cut.
Pros
- High performance cutting blade
- Accurate weight and balance as compared to the original swords
- High level of fit and finish
Cons
- Expensive
- Year wait time (at least) if ordered from Albion
The Bottom Line
Historical overview
From the Albion website:
"Among the famous European Knightly swords that were deposited in the arsenal of Alexandria during a period from 1367 to 1436, one group stands out because of their striking proportions and fine quality.
They are of Oakeshott type XVIIIc, having very wide blades that taper to a sharp point. Their hilts consists of a wide slim guard with downturned ends and a pommel that is either of wheel type or octagonal in shape. No two swords of this group have exactly the same dimensions, but they share so may similarities in form and proportion that it seems likely they were are all made to the same description. The blades bear marks of bladesmihts from Milan.
All these type XVIIIc swords were introduced to the arsenal in the years 1414-15, 1415-16 and finally a large group in 1419.
It is probable that the swords were given as dipomatic gifts following the peace treaty of 1414 between King Janus of Cyprus and the Sultan al-Mu´ayyad Shaykh (a peace that lasted ten years). They may have been specially made as gifts to the Sultan, or were perhaps chosen because of their high quality as fighting weapons, representing the martial spirit of the knights and men at arms who fought for King Janus of Cyprus."
The swords from the Alexandria arsenal have been documented and described by Clive Thomas in several articles that can be found in the London Park Lane Arms Faire catalogues. In the 2003 and 2018 catalogues pictured above, he describes all of the known type XVIIIc blades from that collection.
He noted that this group of swords is defined by the following characteristics:
- An extremely broad blade of "flattened diamond section, whose straight edges taper, then curve to a sharp point.
- A fairly long hand and a half grip which enables the sword to be wielded by one or two hands.
- An extremely broad blade of "flattened diamond section, whose straight edges taper, then curve to a sharp point.
- A fairly long hand and a half grip which enables the sword to be wielded by one or two hands.
- A straight crossguard, of hexagonal section which narrows towards down-turned tips.
The pommels can be divided into three sub-types:
The proportions of these swords vary quite a bit. For example, the Bashford Dean sword in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a blade length similar to the Alexandria, but that blade's base is a half inch wider than the Albion sword. Of the swords listed in the 2003 article, there is a sword in the Military Museum in Istanbul that has very similar dimensions to the Albion sword in most regards. The main difference with that sword is the fact that the pommel is the octagonal Type 3 rather than the wheel shaped Type 2. As stated in the description on the Albion website, this sword is representative of the swords from the Alexandria arsenal, rather than being a copy of any particular sword in that collection.
I found the following excerpt from the article in the 2003 Park Lane Arms Faire catalogue to be of particular interest, as it described the probable reasons for the blade's design and the likely military uses for these swords:
"...the sections of the broader swords show that they could not have been intended for use against any kind of substantial armor. Although they have accute points, they are far too thin and flexible for thrusting with and would probably only bend and cause little damage if the wielder attempted to pierce even light armour (such as the padded European gambeson or its mamluk equivalent, the qarqal).
Therefore, these are essentially cutting swords; photographs do not really do justice to the sheer breadth of some of these blades which, combined with their greatly flattened sections were optimized for cleaving lightly armored opponents. We can assume that they were tapered to improve their agility and balance, for with much of their weight concentrated toward the broad upper half of the blade, they feel considerably more mobile in the hand than one would expect.
Put into use, this would enable the wielder to maintain a fairly precise control over his sword. These are still quite heavy weapons, though and ample weight remains at the "business end" of the blade to ensure that a lethal slicing cut could be delivered - the larger examples would have been especially deadly if wielded with two hands or from the back of a horse.
It is certain that these swords were designed specifically for use in the middle east, where heavy plate armor was not used because of the local climate. In common use in the area were the dir' - a mailshirt very similar to the mail hauberk of European soldiers - and the kazaghand, which was basically a sandwich of mail and padding covered with light cloth. This was actually quite a heavy garment to wear and its exact composition is unclear. It is likely that by the early fifteenth century its mail element had been discarded, thus reducing its protective qualities somewhat. Thus, it would appear that our swords would have been perfectly effective when used in their intended environment, especially when we consider that, apart from the elite mamluks and their knightly counterparts, most common soldiers wore little in the way of substantial armor.
It is certainly feasible that these weapons were occasionally used by the mamluks themselves against local adversaries such as Bedouin tribesmen who, shunning armour on account of their beliefs, would have been particularly vulnerable to weapons such as these."
Therefore, these are essentially cutting swords; photographs do not really do justice to the sheer breadth of some of these blades which, combined with their greatly flattened sections were optimized for cleaving lightly armored opponents. We can assume that they were tapered to improve their agility and balance, for with much of their weight concentrated toward the broad upper half of the blade, they feel considerably more mobile in the hand than one would expect.
Put into use, this would enable the wielder to maintain a fairly precise control over his sword. These are still quite heavy weapons, though and ample weight remains at the "business end" of the blade to ensure that a lethal slicing cut could be delivered - the larger examples would have been especially deadly if wielded with two hands or from the back of a horse.
It is certain that these swords were designed specifically for use in the middle east, where heavy plate armor was not used because of the local climate. In common use in the area were the dir' - a mailshirt very similar to the mail hauberk of European soldiers - and the kazaghand, which was basically a sandwich of mail and padding covered with light cloth. This was actually quite a heavy garment to wear and its exact composition is unclear. It is likely that by the early fifteenth century its mail element had been discarded, thus reducing its protective qualities somewhat. Thus, it would appear that our swords would have been perfectly effective when used in their intended environment, especially when we consider that, apart from the elite mamluks and their knightly counterparts, most common soldiers wore little in the way of substantial armor.
It is certainly feasible that these weapons were occasionally used by the mamluks themselves against local adversaries such as Bedouin tribesmen who, shunning armour on account of their beliefs, would have been particularly vulnerable to weapons such as these."
Full Disclosure
I have no affiliation with Albion Swords. I bought this sword with my own money.
Statistics
Blade Length: 34.25 inches
Blade Width: 3 inches
Grip Length: 6.9 inches
Overall Length: 43.5 inches
Guard Width: 11 inches
POB (Point of Balance): 3.5 inches
Weight: 3 lbs 9.7 oz
Components
From the Albion website:
"The overall proportions of the Next Generation Alexandria closely matches a number of original swords in the group. A short video demonstrates how the proportions are defined with geometry, following principles that were used by medieval artisans in the Gothic period.
Proportion between hilt and blade is 3:11, a prime number ratio that is always the result of a design where the guard is placed in the first Vesica.
The width of the blade is one quarter of the diameter of the basic circle.
The width of the pommel is a sixth of the diameter of the basic circle and the width of the guard is defined by an equilateral triangle inscribed into the basic circle.
The design is made according to the idea that all parts should come together into a meaningful and harmonious whole, a notion that was as important to medieval philosophers as it was to artists and artisans."
Proportion between hilt and blade is 3:11, a prime number ratio that is always the result of a design where the guard is placed in the first Vesica.
The width of the blade is one quarter of the diameter of the basic circle.
The width of the pommel is a sixth of the diameter of the basic circle and the width of the guard is defined by an equilateral triangle inscribed into the basic circle.
The design is made according to the idea that all parts should come together into a meaningful and harmonious whole, a notion that was as important to medieval philosophers as it was to artists and artisans."
The Blade
The Alexandria's type XVIIIc blade is broad and thin, with a flattened diamond cross section. With a 3 inch wide base that is only 5 mm thick, a concern might be that the blade would be too flexible. I have cut with much less expensive Windlass swords with a similar blade design and those blades were overly flexible (whippy). No matter how sharp a blade is, if it is overly flexible it will not cut well, because the blade will bend and flex during the cut.
The design of the Alexandria's blade is such that it has just enough dynamic stiffness to allow it to cut cleanly while remaining very thin. I believe this design goal can be viewed as one of the paradoxes of sword design that Peter Johnsson describes in the video below. The Albion Alexandria sword (and the type XVIIIc Alexandria arsenal blades as a whole) tread a fine line, being just thin and wide enough to achieve a high level of cutting performance, while also being just thick enough to achieve the dynamic stiffness needed.
Note: I use the term "dynamic stiffness" to describe the fact that the blade isn't overly flexible when in use, performing a cut. If you reach up and grab the tip of the sword, though, you'll find that the blade is fairly flexible, even compared to other popular cutting swords.
The Guard
The guard on the Alexandria is quite wide at 11 inches and curves slightly forward at the tips. It has a hexagonal profile that swells quite a bit near the center and tapers at the tips. The lines and polish are very clean and the overall design of the guard is very attractive.
The Pommel
The Alexandria has a heavy wheel pommel that serves as a good counter weight to the large wide blade. The pommel is not particularly wide, but is quite thick. An interesting design feature of this pommel is that the thickness of the side of the pommel tapers from the grip to the peen.
Handling Characteristics
This sword weighs 3 lbs 9.7 oz and has a point of balance of 3.5 inches. The resulting static balance feels good in either two hands or one. This balance also carries over well to dynamic performance. The blade cuts well in one hand. In two hands, the grip has a similar length to the Crecy, and as with the Crecy, some people will like this, some will not. I personally like the shorter grip. I find that the pommel shape interfaces well with the hand that is in contact with it. And when cutting with the sword in one hand, I appreciate the fact that the grip is a bit shorter than some other longswords.
Test Cutting
In this video, I attempted a variety of cuts with the sword in one hand and two. The sword cut Mugen Dachi tatami extremely easily in either case. The only adjustment needed was to place my thumb on the blade to maintain edge alignment when cutting with one hand, as the wide blade wanted to turn inside the mat. At the end of the cutting session, I performed a dragonfly cut. The second cut demonstrates the ease with which this blade cuts tatami, as the small piece of mat is cleanly cut while falling in the direction of the cut.
EDIT 9/1/18:
This afternoon, I did some more cutting with the Alexandria. It cut single tatami mats with such ease that I wanted to give it a real test. I rolled three Mugen Dachi mats together and soaked them overnight. I performed the 6 basic cuts without any real issues. I found that keeping my thumb on the guard/blade helped to maintain edge alignment. The Alexandria impressed me with its ability to both cut extremely well and track fairly easily through this very thick target.
Conclusions
Pros
- High performance cutting blade
- Accurate weight and balance as compared to the original swords
- High level of fit and finish
Cons
- Expensive
- Year wait time (at least) if ordered from Albion
The Bottom Line
The Albion Alexandria is a very fine, well made sword. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high performance cutting sword, as well as to anyone looking for a very good representation of the Oakeshott type XVIIIc swords from the Alexandria arsenal.
