a true fighting sword. We might even suppose that the sword given by Richard II to the mayor of York in 1388, now missing, was also an actual weapon.
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Fig. 693. The oldest of the swords of the city of Lincoln
Probably dating from 1386
The Bristol and Lincoln specimens are the only XIVth century swords now surviving; but of state swords dating from the XVth century nearly a dozen examples are extant. They adhere in their main lines to those of fighting swords of the period; save that the pommels and guards are more or less elaborately wrought, overlaid with silver and sometimes gilt. Good XVth century swords are preserved at Bristol (two), York, Newcastle, Kingston-on-Hull, Chester, and Coventry.
Only four or five XVIth century state swords survive. The finest of
