provenance to this sword; but it is one of the finest of its particular type in existence.
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Fig. 1333. The Emperor-elect Maximilian represented learning the use of the double-handed sword
From the woodcut by H. Burgkmair, Wie der Weyss Kunig maisterlichen was Plosz zufechten, in Der Weiss Kunig
We made mention of the true two-handed sword when we described the Claidheamh-mor of the Scottish Highlands (see vol. ii, pp. 302, et seqq.). Otherwise we have scarcely alluded to it; for, apart from fabulous tales of mighty swords of unknown ages, it is scarcely met with until the advent of the XVIth century. As was the case with nearly all sword-play, the fight of the two-handed sword was technically of small account until the end of the XVth century. The unwieldiness and ponderous nature of the weapon were such that its actual use was slow and laboured. According to the great fencer, George Silver, it possessed a system of fence of its own, based on the fight of the "short staf of convenient length," a vague phrase
