Arming Sword from Italy, probably Milan, dated between 1370-1430 on display at the Royal Armouries in Leeds
The forward cross-guard of this sword has a small hook-like branch for the forefinger to give extra control and protection. One of a group of about 75 swords, part of the arsenal of Alexandria.
The sword bears an Arabic inscription on both sides which dates it to about 1432 (836 in the Islamic calendar). Translated it reads:
“Unalienably bequeathed by al-Malik al-Ashraf BarsbÛy – may his victory be glorious! – in the magazines of the victorious arms in the frontier city of Sikandar ya [Alexandria], the well guarded, from what came into his ownership, in the month of al-Muharran, of the year A.H. 836.”
Photographs taken by myself 2017
