Hail to the King! Of Cutting Longsword! Albion Principe
Sept 18, 2022 21:01:57 GMT
Post by Kane Shen on Sept 18, 2022 21:01:57 GMT
Hail to the King! Of cutting longsword. Or war sword. The Albion Principe has won more accolades at longsword cutting tournament than perhaps any other single model. The type XVIIIc swords have caught the imagination of the sword community in recent years even though they have been discovered at the Alexandria Arsenal and auctioned around the world for decades now. Many museums like the Metropolitan Museum and the Philadelphia Art Museum are lucky enough to acquire one for their collections.
These exceptionally broad and tapered blades of medium length were apparently made by one or the same group of Italian makers in the first 15th century and the King of Cyprus and Jerusalem had got his hands on a number of these. Many of them ended up being tributes to the sultan of Egypt either as war booties or as direct gifts, and were kept in the Alexandria Arsenal until recent times.
They mostly have wheel pommels but after Peter Johnsson designed the Alexandria for Albion as a direct replica, he decided it would be a fun idea to merge these colossal blades to a type of 15th century English two-handed sword hilt to create this bastard sword named "The Principe". Clearly the unique elongated pommel has not only lengthen the space for a two-handed grip, but also shifted the length of the lever so the point of balance is closer to the hilt than its half-brother the Alexandria. Behold a monster of a cutting sword was born. Since then it is pretty much obligatory for longsword cutting enthusiasts at competitive level to own one of these. Many have challenged it, but only a few have succeeded to come close. More people debate its authenticity in longsword fencing although it has been demonstrated that despite its heft it's more than possible to pull off all longsword techniques with it.
This one, ordered through Kult of Athena in August has some minor issues and oddities and I plan to communicate with Mike at Albion about them. Namely it is 100 grams or more than 5% heavier than specified weight. Although it is extremely symmetrical and the surface finish is like a minor, there seems to be some under grinding on the blade and the sharpening is a bit rougher than the other 5 Albions I own, almost on par with their affordable Squire-Line swords. Curiously the blade's base is 3.2mm broader than spec, too, which I don't mind at all, as the design isn't as broad as the type XVIIIc originals purchased for the Met by Bashford Dean. The central ridge on one side of the blade isn't as prominent as I would like even though on such a broad and thin blade indeed it is difficult to grind, especially if you want to keep the surface perfectly flat and smooth. The other fit and finish is at the same level as Albion's usual. As you can see, the aperture of the cross guard is a tight fit to the blade. The hot peened pommel is ground flush with the peen. The grip's circumference is a bit too much on this model, as many have pointed out, mainly due to the cord underwrap, instead of their usual fine cord impression, which typically results in slender grips.
These exceptionally broad and tapered blades of medium length were apparently made by one or the same group of Italian makers in the first 15th century and the King of Cyprus and Jerusalem had got his hands on a number of these. Many of them ended up being tributes to the sultan of Egypt either as war booties or as direct gifts, and were kept in the Alexandria Arsenal until recent times.
They mostly have wheel pommels but after Peter Johnsson designed the Alexandria for Albion as a direct replica, he decided it would be a fun idea to merge these colossal blades to a type of 15th century English two-handed sword hilt to create this bastard sword named "The Principe". Clearly the unique elongated pommel has not only lengthen the space for a two-handed grip, but also shifted the length of the lever so the point of balance is closer to the hilt than its half-brother the Alexandria. Behold a monster of a cutting sword was born. Since then it is pretty much obligatory for longsword cutting enthusiasts at competitive level to own one of these. Many have challenged it, but only a few have succeeded to come close. More people debate its authenticity in longsword fencing although it has been demonstrated that despite its heft it's more than possible to pull off all longsword techniques with it.
This one, ordered through Kult of Athena in August has some minor issues and oddities and I plan to communicate with Mike at Albion about them. Namely it is 100 grams or more than 5% heavier than specified weight. Although it is extremely symmetrical and the surface finish is like a minor, there seems to be some under grinding on the blade and the sharpening is a bit rougher than the other 5 Albions I own, almost on par with their affordable Squire-Line swords. Curiously the blade's base is 3.2mm broader than spec, too, which I don't mind at all, as the design isn't as broad as the type XVIIIc originals purchased for the Met by Bashford Dean. The central ridge on one side of the blade isn't as prominent as I would like even though on such a broad and thin blade indeed it is difficult to grind, especially if you want to keep the surface perfectly flat and smooth. The other fit and finish is at the same level as Albion's usual. As you can see, the aperture of the cross guard is a tight fit to the blade. The hot peened pommel is ground flush with the peen. The grip's circumference is a bit too much on this model, as many have pointed out, mainly due to the cord underwrap, instead of their usual fine cord impression, which typically results in slender grips.
