Late 13th-early 15th century AD. A beautifully balanced hand-and-a-half sword of Oakeshott Type XIIa with double-edged blade, long central fuller with damascened maker's marks, one a pierced heart and the other a letter 'H'; crossguard variant of style 1, long tapering tang with compressed chamfered wheel pommel. See Oakeshott, E., Records of the Medieval Sword, Woodbridge, 1991; Oakeshott, E., The sword in the Age of the Chivalry, Woodbridge, 1964 (1994); Oakeshott, E., Sword in hand, London, 2001; for a similar sword from the Alexandria Arsenal, see Oakeshott, 1991, p. 92, dated 1350-1400 AD; two very similar specimens sold at Bonhams, Antique Arms and Armour, including items from the Dr. T.J. Mortimer Collection, Wednesday 30 November 2016, Knightsbridge, London, 2016, pp. 85-86; see also Gillot, C., Armes & Armures/Weapons and Armours, Bayeux, 2008, pp.128 & 131. 1.6 kg, 1.11m (44"). From a 1980s collection, acquired by the vendor’s family; thence by descent; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato. According to Oakeshott, the swords of typology XII were the most difficult to identify, for many swords of this category could be easily confused with the type X or even XVI, especially for the forms of their hilts. Originally Oakeshott excluded the hand-and-a-half length blades from this category, but after years of studies, he created a sub-category of XIIa, comprising the swords used with two hands. Fine condition.