Sword and Mace of the City of London 2011, being carried by the Sword Bearer and Serjeant-at-Arms

The City of London swords are five two-handed ceremonial swords owned by the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, namely the Mourning (or Black) Sword, the Pearl Sword, the State (or Sunday) Sword, the Old Bailey Sword and the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. A sixth sword, the Travelling Sword of State, replaces the Sword of State for visits outside the City. They are part of the plate collection of Mansion House, the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

Mourning Sword

The Mourning Sword is used on occasions of ceremonial mourning and has also been known as the Black Sword and the Lenten Sword. Its history is somewhat uncertain—''The Telegraph'' reports that it is believed to be 16th century and that there is a rumour that it was found in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, but there has been more than one Mourning Sword through time.

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

describes in his diary entry for 2 September 1663 a conversation with the then-Lord Mayor

Anthony Bateman Sir Anthony Bateman (died 1687) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1663. Bateman was the son of Robert Bateman, chamberlain of the city. He was a city of London merchant and a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners. Fr ...

as follows: In his footnote to that entry in his 1893 transcription, Henry Benjamin Wheatley quotes William St John Hope, assistant secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, who had read a paper on the history of the insignia of the City of London to the society on 28 May 1891, as saying "It has long been the custom in the City as in other places to have a sword painted black and devoid of ornament, which is carried before the Lord Mayor on occasions of mourning or special solemnity. ... The present mourning sword has an old blade, but the

hilt The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel. ...

and guard, which are of iron

japanned Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the ...

black, are of the most ordinary character and seemingly modern. The grip and sheath are covered with black velvet." In ''Ceremonial Swords of Britain: State and Civic Swords'' (2017), Edward Barrett dates the current Mourning Sword to 1615 or 1623. It has a blade long and wide, and a hilt. While the velvet on the scabbard looks black, it is actually very deep maroon. The Mourning Sword was carried by then-Lord Mayor

Roger Gifford Sir Michael Roger Gifford KStJ KNO (3 August 1955 – 25 May 2021) was a British banker in London who served as the 685th Lord Mayor of London from 2012 to 2013. Gifford was the UK head of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) from 2000 and was ...

at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher in 2013, leading

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

in and out of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

for the ceremony. It had not previously been used at a funeral since the

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

in 1965. In addition to its use at funerals, it is used on Good Friday, feast days and the anniversary of the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

Pearl Sword

According to tradition, the Pearl Sword was presented to the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

in 1571 on the occasion of the opening of the Royal Exchange. There are approximately 2,500

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

s on the sword's

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and Lever action, lever-action ...

, from which it gets its name. In his footnote to the ''Diary of Samuel Pepys'', Wheatley quotes Hope as saying that it is a "fine sword said to have been given to the city by Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of the opening of the Royal Exchange in 1570." but continues: "There is, however, no mention of such a gift in the City records, neither do Stow nor other old writers notice it. The sword is certainly of sixteenth century date, and is very possibly that bought in 1554, if it be not that "verye goodly sworde" given by

Sir Ralph Warren Sir Ralph Warren (c. 1486 – 11 July 1553) was twice Lord Mayor of London, for the first time in 1536 and the second in 1543. Biography Ralph Warren was the son of Sir Thomas Warren of Feering, Essex, and grandson of William Warren. Warren wa ...

in 1545." Its blade is long and wide, and it has a hilt. It weighs without the scabbard. The first of the blade have been blued and etched with images of fruit, trophies of arms, a quiver of arrows, the city arms and a ship at sail. Its scabbard dates back to at least 1808. When the Queen comes to the City in State, she is ceremonially welcomed at the boundary with Westminster, where Temple Bar used to be, by the

, who offers her the hilt of the Pearl Sword to touch. Before 1641, the monarch would take the sword for the duration of their visit, but in 1641

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

was offered it and immediately returned it to the Lord Mayor, a practice that was then carried on. The ceremony as a whole dates back to 1215 and the

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

allowing direct election of the mayor (now the Lord Mayor). A similar ceremonial surrendering of the local Sword of State (a sword granted by royal gift or authorised by royal charter) is performed on royal visits to certain other cities, including York. At the coronation of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

on 22 September 1761, the royal Sword of State was forgotten and instead

Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon PC (13 March 1729 – 2 October 1789) was a British peer and politician. Life He was the eldest of seven children of the 9th Earl of Huntingdon and his wife, Lady Selina, a leader of the Methodi ...

, carried the Lord Mayor's Pearl Sword for the ceremony. In 1977 Queen Elizabeth II mused that should

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

attend her Silver Jubilee uninvited, she might hit him over the head with the Pearl Sword, according to Lord Mountbatten's diary. In 2012 the ceremonial surrender of the Pearl Sword was carried out during her

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

. In 2016 the Pearl Sword was carried by Lord Mayor Jeffrey Mountevans to lead the Queen into St Paul's Cathedral for a service in honour of her official 90th birthday.

State Sword

The State Sword forms one half of the Sword and Mace, symbols of the authority of the Lord Mayor and the City of London Corporation. At ceremonial events it is carried by the Sword Bearer, while the mace is carried by the

Serjeant-at-Arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

. The City of London has had a Sword of State since before 1373 and the first known sword-bearer of the City was John Blytone, who resigned in 1395. The current sword, which is from the mid 17th century, has a red velvet sheath and a pommel decorated with images representing Justice and Fame. It is also called the Sunday Sword, and is one of a group of eight swords made around the same time, between 1669 and 1684, and to similar specifications. Of these it particularly resembles the State Swords of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

and

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby was the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. I ...

. It was made around 1670 and acquired by London around 1680. The blade is long and wide. The hilt is long and it weighs without the scabbard. Most of the blue and gold damascene pattern that the blade used to have has since worn off. Lord Mayor Micajah Perry was attended by the "Sunday Sword and Mace" when he laid the foundation stone of Mansion House on 25 October 1739, where the City of London swords now form part of the plate collection. The Sword and Mace are also two of the symbols used when the new Lord Mayor is invested at the

Lord Mayor's Show The Lord Mayor's Show is one of the best-known annual events in London as well as one of the longest-established, dating back to the 13th century. A new lord mayor is appointed every year, and the public parade that takes place as his or her in ...

. In 2003 James North was appointed official sword-bearer. The costume of the bearer includes a long black robe, white gloves, large fur hat and the ceremonial sword.

Travelling State Sword

Because the State Sword is so valuable, there is in addition a Travelling State Sword used on ceremonial occasions outside the City of London. It looks very similar to the State Sword itself, but weighs less at and has a slightly longer blade at . It was made by

Wilkinson Sword Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for Safety razor, razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in Co ...

in 1962 and presented to the City by Lord Mayor Sir Ralph Perring. Rather than the Damascene pattern, its blade is finely etched. Perring himself took the Travelling State Sword on its first foreign excursion, together with the mace, on a visit to Canada in 1963, during which he opened Ottawa's Exhibition.

Old Bailey Sword

The Old Bailey Sword hangs behind the senior judge sitting at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, one of the buildings housing the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

in London. When the Lord Mayor opens the term at the Old Bailey, it is placed above his-or-her chair. The Cutlers' Society records that this is the sword that was made by Richard Mathew in 1562–63 and presented to the City in 1563. They quote William St John Hope describing it as follows: It has a blade long and wide, and an hilt. It weighs without the scabbard. Five inches (13 cm) of the point have been damaged and repaired with

electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...

. Like the Pearl Sword, the lower part of the blade is blued and decorated. Its scabbard is covered with crimson velvet and decorated with gold lace, copper-gilt and silver-gilt.

Mansion House Justice Room Sword

The Justice Room of Mansion House was converted from the former Swordbearer's room in 1849 to operate as a court, since the Lord Mayor is chief

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

of the City. Though the court has since moved, the Mansion House Justice Room Sword retains the name. Its blade is long and wide. It has an hilt and weighs without the scabbard. It is from around 1830 and believed to be Portuguese.

Related collections

Where the City of London has six ceremonial swords (including the Travelling Sword of State),

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

each have four, though two of Exeter's are not borne before the mayor. A further 13 places in Britain have two swords each, as does

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The swords of the

Lord Mayor of Bristol The position of Lord Mayor of Bristol was conferred on the city in June 1899 (effective 15 November 1899) as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours and was confirmed by letters patent dated 1 April 1974. Prior to November 1899 the position of M ...

are: * A Mourning Sword from before 1373 when Bristol became a

county corporate A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county, county-e ...

, originally used as a Sword of State * A Pearl Sword from the 14th century given by Lord Mayor of London John de Welles in 1431.

Ewart Oakeshott Ronald Ewart Oakeshott (25 May 1916 – 30 September 2002) was a British illustrator, collector, and amateur historian who wrote prodigiously on medieval arms and armour. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Founder Member of the Ar ...

described the Type XVII sword as being large and "of superlative quality" with a "beautiful

silver gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...

hilt". * A Lent Sword from the 15th century, formerly carried at the Lent

assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

* A State Sword from 1752 described by Barrett (2017) as "an inelegant but grandiose giant of a sword with a blade almost twice as wide as any other mentioned." Lincoln's four are a Sword of State from before 1367, a Mourning, or Lent, Sword circa 1486, the Charles I sword, circa 1642, which is missing its hilt, and the George II Sword, put together in 1902 from a hilt made in 1734 and an older blade. Exeter's bearing-swords are a Sword of State, circa 1497, and a Mourning Sword, circa 1577.

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * * * {{cite book, last1=Welch, first1=Charles, title=History of the Cutlers' Company of London, date=1916, publisher=The Cutlers' Company, location=London, url=http://scans.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/2/21/historyofcutlers01welcuoft/historyofcutlers01welcuoft_bw.pdf, access-date=19 January 2018, archive-date=3 February 2018, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064201/http://scans.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/2/21/historyofcutlers01welcuoft/historyofcutlers01welcuoft_bw.pdf, url-status=dead City of London Ceremonial weapons European swords Individual weapons