|
The
Hospitaller
Limited Edition Medieval Sword
(Oakeshott Type XI)
The Knights
Hospitaller (the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem
or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as
a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century. Originally based
in the Holy Land, it soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order
under its own charter, and was charged with the care and defence of pilgrims.
The knights built and manned a hospital at Jerusalem for pilgrims in A.
D. 1042.
Following the loss of Christian territory in the Holy Land, the Order
operated from Rhodes, of which it was sovereign, and later from Malta
as a vassal. The medieval Order was driven from Malta by Napoleon in 1798.
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of
Rhodes, and of Malta is still in existence, with 12,500 knights and dames
serving as hospitallers around the world. Like the Red Cross, they are
first-responders to humanitarian crises around the globe. They are headquartered
in Rome.
Our Hospitaller is loosely based on a sword in the Royal Armoury at Leeds
(#1027), and is a classic sword for a mounted knight of the Crusading
era.
Oakeshott describes a Type XI as having a long narrow blade, sharply contrasting
with the short broad blades of Type X., the edges running almost parallel
for about two-thirds of the blade's length. The fuller is narrow, often
shallow, and runs for four-fifths of the blade length.
The Hospitaller
has a long and handsome blade with a short point section, clearly dedicated
to the cut.
The grip is
of moderate length, making this a single hand sword despite its great
size.
A Limited Edition Hand Crafted Collectible Sword
This sword
is offered in a limited edition of only 500 collectible swords worldwide.
Name That Sword Contest Winner:
Jeremy Krause
"I mean you guys need swords representing BOTH of the great millitary
orders involved in the Crusades and this sword seems to be a very appropriate
choice to balance with the Templar. I do not believe that your line will
be complete if both orders are not represented."
Specifications
Total length:
40" (102 cm)
Blade length: 33.75" (86 cm)
Blade width: 1.88" (4.8 cm)
CoG: 5.25" (13 cm)
CoP: 22" (56 cm)
Weight: 2 lbs 10.2 oz (1.2 kilos)
You
can customize your sword's grip color -- see the
standard grip colors here.
The Hospitaller (Type
XI)... $840
Order
now before this limited
edition collectible sword runs out!
|