German Executioner Sword

The Executioner sword was a symbolic and ‘facilitator’ of judicial law. Many courtrooms displayed executioner swords on their walls. Their presence, however, was not solely symbolic, since it had a concrete purpose in the decapitation of the condemned. The blades of Executioner swords were typically engraved with vivid imagery of torture and punishment. These swords generally featured broad, flat blades that end not in a point, but as a distinctive flat edge. The blade is heavily decorated as many executioner swords would be; and while in some cases the sword would be inscribed with the executioner’s name, in this case, the inscription translates as “I spare no one” – a brutal message for criminals facing the executioner sword’s edge. Historically, medieval and Renaissance swords were weapons intended for close-quarters combat. Edge, tip, and guard were constructed in a way to maximize the sword’s versatility and therefore the human-damaging potential. This was especially true with the