Templar Sword with gold damascene decoration

Description of the Product

The Knights Templar was founded on Christmas day in 1119 by nine knights. Their aim was to protect Christian pilgrims arriving from Europe to the kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been captured by Christian forces ten years previously. Although the Templars started relatively modestly, soon their wealth, power and military might were surpassed by none, due to papal favoritism: at the council of Troyes in 1129, the Templar Order was confirmed by Pope to be above all secular laws and only answerable to the Pope himself. All through the 12th century they grew as an economic might, partaking in trading and banking, as well as receiving large donations. The warrior-monks of the Knights Templar were, alongside the Knights Hospitaller, the best equipped and trained soldiers in the Middle East, and were often crucial for the Christian armies in ensuring their victories.

King Baldwin II, the King of Jerusalem, installed the Order in a part of the Palace of Jerusalem believed to be Solomon’s Temple, from which they took the name of Knights of the Temple or Templars. After losing the Holy Land to Muslims the wealth and power of the Templars shifted to Europe and continued to grow until the King of France decided to take the Templars down. With the acceptance of the Pope in 1307 the Order of the Temple was disbanded, all Templars ordered to be captured, and France took possession of their wealth. The order’s battle honors in the defense of the Holy Land are now legendary, while the accounts of their missing accumulated wealth are still a mystery.

Our Templar sword is beautifully ornate: it possesses a fully-detailed guard and hilt, set with several different symbols and designs, all relating back to the Templars. The pommel, for instance, has the seal of the Templars, with two riders. Templars used a variety of different seals during the centuries but this one was one of the most commonly used ones and still best known. According to legend these two riders are Hugues de Payens (the first Grand-Master of the Templars) and Godfrey de Saint-Omerwere (one of the founding members of the Knights Templar). According to the legend they were so poor that between the two of them they had only one horse. This gave rise to this famous image on the seal of the Templars, two men riding on a single horse. The cruciform guard has the Templar cross with the text SIGILLUM MILITUM XPISI, Seal of the Soldiers of Christ in Latin. This version of the sword also has luxurious red velvet on the handle, and there is gold damascene decorations on the silver hilt. The blade has openwork decorations along its full length.

This Templar Sword is a fantastic collectors item that is sure to thrill any fan of the Knights Templar. The sword is available in three other versions as well: a full sized 118 cm long version, a smaller 75 cm version and as a letter opener.

The stainless steel blade is easy to care for, and the sword is ideal as a decoration, as part of a costume, as a collectible and suitable for light cutting practice. The material is not suitable for steel-on-steel fencing or heavy cutting practice. No sheath included.

• Overall length: 121 cm
• Blade length: 93,8 cm
• Handle length: 20,5 cm
• Pommel: 8,3 cm
• Weight: 2,74 kg
• Width at Guard: 4,94 cm
• Thickness at Guard: 5,5 mm
• Blade material: 420 Stainless Steel
• Sharpness: Unsharpened
• Made by Marto (Toledo, Spain)