The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object hand- crafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a sin- gular use in mind – it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long for- gotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend.