16th century AD. A hand-and-a-half sword with double-edged blade, the broad blade with brass stamps for German armourer, one side with stylised Passau wolf, the other with globe and cross; long-armed quillons with rounded knobs; knuckle guard formed of two flat openwork parrying rings with linked horizontal rings, long grip and pear-shaped pommel. See Wegeli, R., Inventar der Waffensammlung des Bernischen Historischen Museums in Bern, Bern, 1929; Dufty, A.R., European Swords and Daggers in the Tower of London, London, 1974; Tarassuk, L. and Blair, C., The complete encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons, Milan, 1989; Grotkamp-Schepers B., Immel I., Johnsson P. and Wetzler S., Das Schwert. Gestalt und Gedanke: The Sword. Form and Thought, Solingen, 2015; the weapon finds a parallel with various double-edged swords in Bernischen Historischen Museum (Wegeli,1919, pls.VII,X) and three swords published by Dufty (1974, pls.13-14"). 2.5 kg, 1.32m (52"). From a private family collection; previously acquired from a collection formed before 1990; thence by descent; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10210-167287. The use of the Doppelsöldner sword, a variant of the normal two-handed sword used in the Late Middle Ages for foot duels between knights, underwent a radical evolution during the Renaissance. A heavy and wide-range weapon, devoted to massive cutting attacks, became standard equipment of the infantry and the most skilled swordsmen, arranged in the front lines of the battle-array with the duty of cutting through the forest of enemy pikes to allow their companions to pass thorough the ranks. Very large broadswords, Zweihänder or two-handed swords, became very popular during the 15th and 16th centuries, and are probably best known for their association with the famed Landsknechte or German mercenaries.