Ceremonial Weapons, Regalia, and Relics
Surveys weapons elevated beyond combat utility into symbols of divine right, state authority, ritual execution, and judicial law.
Inside this collection
Coronation and Investiture Swords
Covers sovereign state swords such as Joyeuse, the Reichsschwert, Curtana, and royal investiture blades.
Votive Offerings and Water Deposits
Examines intentionally bent, broken, and deposited weapons recovered from bogs, rivers, and votive springs.
Reliquary Arms and Blessed Weapons
Investigates blades encased with holy relics, papal blessed swords and caps, and consecrated battlefield relics.
Diplomatic Gifts and Trophies of War
Details luxury gem-encrusted arms sent between courts, treaty tokens, and captured arms displayed in armories.
Judicial and Executioner Swords
Examines wide, flat-tipped judicial execution blades, their inscribed moral warnings, and court heraldry.
Parade and Pageant Armors
Covers embossed, repoussé, and non-combat spectacle harnesses made for princely entries and royal carrousels.
Chivalric and Fraternal Orders
Details swords, collars, and insignias of orders such as the Golden Fleece, Garter, and Teutonic Knights.
Funerary Achievements and Tomb Armor
Examines heraldic helms, shields, gauntlets, and swords suspended over medieval tombs and aristocratic vaults.
Legendary objects deserve
a closer reading.
We study materials, makers and surviving evidence. Legends open the question; history guides the answer.
Our approach