Item ref: 5284
Private collection, United Kingdom
Swords with hilts and blades of this form were included as a typological group within the significant wider hoard of swords excavated near the town of Castillon-la-Bataille on the Dordogne. The Battle of Castillon took place on 17th July 1453 and established the conclusion of The Hundred Years War; the swords of the hoard would have been common to both English and French knights involved in the war from the early 15th century onward.
The present sword belongs the type classified by the authority Oakeshott as Type XVa. It is entirely possible that it was a part of the Castillon find, and if so, the larger proportions of both the blade and hilt flag this sword as a particular rarity within the find. Another closely comparable larger example from Castillon, of two-hand size, is now in The Royal Armouries, Leeds (No. IX.1787).