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 This makes this unpublished sword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