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An executioner's sword is a sword designed specifically for decapitation of condemned criminals (as opposed to combat). These swords were intended for two-handed use, but were lacking a point, so that their overall blade length was typically that of a single-handed sword (ca. 80–90 cm (31–35 in)).
He beheaded them without using a block; just a single swing of the sword. He would have lost his job and his reputation if he had needed two sword strokes. It had to be a clean death. He used a new, sharp sword when executing his friend Jan Jessenius, an educated man who performed the first public autopsy in the Czech Lands.
The executioner's sword with scabbard (17th - 18th century), kept by the Stadtmuseum Berlin Foundation . [38] Southern Europe. The sword of Saint Galgano (12th century), a medieval sword said to be of San Galgano embedded in a stone, located at the Montesiepi Chapel [it; es; fr] near the Abbey of San Galgano in Siena, Italy. [39]
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Symbolic robed figure of a medieval public executioner at Peter and Paul Fortress, Saint Petersburg, Russia Photograph (hand-coloured), original dated 1898, of the lord high executioner of the former princely state of Rewah, Central India, with large executioner's sword (Tegha sword) Depiction of a public execution in Brueghel's The Triumph of Death 1562–1563 Stylised depiction of public ...
The sword and scabbard were suspended from either a baldric on the shoulder or from a belt on the waist. The former method was evidently popular in early Anglo-Saxon England, but the latter gained popularity in the later Anglo-Saxon period. For example, the Bayeux Tapestry only depicts the use of belts for sword carrying. [45]
The upper sword appears to be an exaggerated parade piece or executioner's sword, the second down is typical of a later kilij, the third has the characteristics of an earlier kilij and the lowest one possibly has a later European-style blade. Imperial Armoury, Topkapi, Istanbul
The reaching gave honor to the condemned, as he was exhibiting intent by doing so, and the "early" stroke of the sword could be dismissed as a small mistake in timing by an overzealous kaishakunin. In reality, this was planned ahead of time to spare the condemned the pain of actually trying to disembowel himself.