The Imperial Sword ( la, Gladius Imperatoria, german: Reichsschwert) is one of the four most important parts of the

Imperial Regalia The Imperial Regalia, also called Imperial Insignia (in German ''Reichskleinodien'', ''Reichsinsignien'' or ''Reichsschatz''), are regalia of the Holy Roman Emperor. The most important parts are the Crown, the Imperial orb, the Imperial sce ...

(''Reichskleinodien'') of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. During a coronation, it was given to the emperor along with the

Imperial Crown An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors. Design Crowns in Europe during the Middle Ages varied in design: During the Middle Ages the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed (or arched) and op ...

(''Reichskrone''), Imperial

Sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

(''Reichszepter''), and the Imperial Orb (''Reichsapfel''). All four parts of the Imperial Regalia are displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria.Kunsthistorisches 1991, p. 170. It is also known as ''Mauritiusschwert'', or the sword of

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that Ma ...

History

The Imperial Sword was made for Emperor

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

in the twelfth century, possibly for his coronation as

King of the Romans King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

in 1198. Its predecessor, the sword of Otto III, is also preserved, in the

Essen Abbey Essen Abbey (''Stift Essen'') was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany. It was founded about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid (died 874), later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint, ...

treasury. The first known explicit mention of the sword dates to 1315, in a letter of a lady-in-waiting of Elisabeth of Aragon, wife to Frederick III. It may also be referenced in an inventory of 1246, which mentions merely ''zwey swert mit zweyn scheiden, gezieret mit edelem gesteyne'' (''two swords, with two scabbards ornamented with gems''). The first pictorial representations of the sword date to the fifteenth century, but the first detailed depiction only to the seventeenth century. By legend, the Imperial Sword was connected with the donation of the sword, lance, and spurs, of Saint Maurice by the Abbey of Saint Maurice to king

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...

; the actual sword, however, postdates both Maurice and Henry.

Description

Sword

The Imperial Sword has an overall length of 110 cm (43.3 in), with the length of the blade being 95.3 cm (37.5 in).Leithe-Jasper 2004, p. 54. The sword originated during the high medieval period, but was refitted and decorated several times during the late medieval and early modern periods—e.g., the addition of the silver wire wrapping the hilt. The

crossguard On a sword, the crossguard, or cross-guard, the individual bars on either side known as quillon, is a bar of metal at right angles to the blade, placed between the blade and the hilt. The crossguard was developed in the European sword around the ...

on one side bears the

Middle Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying deg ...

inscription ''CHRISTVS : VINCIT : CHRISTVS : REIGNAT : CHRISTVS : INPERAT'' (''Christ triumphs, Christ reigns, Christ rules''). On the reverse side, the shorter variant ''CHRISTVS : VINCIT : CHRISTVS : REINAT''. Schulze-Dörrlamm (1995:27) interprets the theological intention of this inscription as referring to ''Christ the Victor, Christ the King, and Christ the Emperor''—the refrain of the '' Laudes imperiale'' and an invocation of Christ as legitimation for secular power and the ''

translatio imperii ''Translatio imperii'' (Latin for "transfer of rule") is a historiographical concept that originated from the Middle Ages, in which history is viewed as a linear succession of transfers of an ''imperium'' that invests supreme power in a singular r ...

'' to the

. The pommel is of the "mushroom" or "tea-cosy" shape typical of the high medieval period.Oakeshott, Ewart (1964). ''The Sword in the Age of Chivalry''
p. 81
The pommel is engraved with the arms of Holy Roman Emperor

, who reigned from 1209 to 1215. The lower edge of the pommel is inscribed with ''BENEDICTVS · DO inv DE QVI DOCET MANV viz'' (''Blessed be the Lord my God, who teaches the hand

o wield O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...

'). This is an abbreviated form of

Psalm 144 Psalm 144 is the 144th psalm of the Book of Psalms, part of the final Davidic collection of psalms, comprising Psalms 138 to 145, which are specifically attributed to David in their opening verses. In the King James Version its opening words ar ...

:1, ''Benedictus Dominus Deus meus, qui docet manus meas ad prælium, et digitos meos ad bellum'' (''Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war'').

Scabbard

The scabbard of the sword is adorned with 14 gold plates engraved with depictions of monarchs. These pictures date to the eleventh century, and are thus about a century older than the sword itself. The figures have been identified as depicting the consecutive German monarchs from

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

to Henry III, who was crowned in 1046.

Gallery

File:Reichsschwert stich mit zeremonienschwert.JPG, Imperial Sword colored etching showing both sides by Johann Adam Delsenbach, 1751 File:Authentica repraesentatio Insignivm Schwerter.jpg, Imperial Sword illustration from the workshop of Johann Baptist Homann, 1755

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * *

External links

Kunsthistorisches Museum
{{Authority control 1198 works Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire Medieval European swords Medieval European metalwork objects Individual weapons Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor