New Product Reveal: The Venetian Captain's Sword

Today we are pleased to share with you all a new product that we've been working on for a long time. This is a faithful reproduction of an early 16th century Italian arming sword from The Oakeshott Institute, a piece that we have decided to call the Venetian Captain's Sword. Probably made during the first two decades of the 15th century, this type XIX arming sword is perfectly suited for the Bolognese style of swordsmanship. Similar swords can be seen in Achille Marozzo's 1537 fighting book, the Opera Nova, that has been frequently cited as one of the most important texts in the Italian fighting traditions of the early Renaissance

Our reproduction, bottom, next to the original sword

From Achille Marozzo's fight book, featuring a similar sword from the same time and region.  The image is from the amazing resource, Wiktenauer.

Hilt and ricasso detail of the Venetian Captain's Sword

The original sword left, and our reproduction, right

As always, our swords are entirely made by us, by hand, at our shop in Minneapolis, MN. The blades are hand ground of 6150 carbon steel, hardened and tempered to 50-52 Rockwell. All of our products are made to look, feel, and function just like the historical originals on which they are based.

Arms & Armor is dedicated to quality and authenticity. For over four decades we have worked with museums, collectors, and scholars around the world to develop a deep understanding of European weapons; knowledge we use to make products that exemplify the finest qualities of the very best historic pieces. When we select historic items to reproduce, being pretty isn't enough, they have to move with grace and beauty, and beg to be used when in the hand. These are pieces that feel as good as they look, and that work as well as they feel. Our mission is to craft items that recreate the look, feel, and function of the best historic originals.

Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography.  He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.

Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985