THE SWORD has always been an object of status, both on the battlefield and for the hunt. During the 16th century the sword came to form an essential part of noble dress, and complex hilts of the period gave craftsmen greater opportunity to apply their skills and reflect the status of the sword’s owners than on the simple cruciform hilts that had dominated for the previous centuries. The period saw a flourishing of different hilt forms, some of which were regionally distinct. This sword’s straight quillons of flattened triangular section flaring into spatulate form are of Saxon type, which feature prominently in the collection of the armoury at Dresden in Germany, where this sword originally resided.
The electoral Saxon armoury of Augustus I (reigned 1553-86), Christian I (1586-91) and Christian II (1591-1611) contained a vast array of high-quality swords, some duplicates of which were sold from the Dresden armoury from the mid 19th century onwards.
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Rory Stewart - The former Cabinet minister and hit podcast host talks to Alec Marsh about the parlous state of British politics, land management and his deep love of the countryside
The gently spoken 51-year-old former Conservative Cabinet minister is a countryman at heart. That's clear: he even changes into a tweed waistcoat for the interview, which takes place at his London home and begins with a question about his precise career status. Having resigned from the Commons and the Conservative Party in 2019, the former diplomat and soldier has reinvented himself, first with an unconventional but promising run as an independent for the London mayoralty (abandoned because of COVID19 in 2020) and then as a media figure, co-hosting one of the country's most popular podcasts, The Rest Is Politics, alongside Alastair Campbell, the former Labour spin doctor.
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