Rare two-handed medieval sword, axes found in Poland

A rare longsword and two axe heads from the late Middle Ages have been discovered in the district of Biskupiec, in northern Poland’s Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The sword and axes date to the 14th-15th century.

The weapons were discovered by members of the Bishop’s Detector Association (GRYF), a non-profit organization of history buffs and metal detectorists in Biskupiec, looking for World War II artifacts. The organization has legal permission to use metal detectors with the approval of the Voivodeship Monument Protection Office. When they found the sword and axes, the GRYF members alerted the monument protection office and archaeologists from the Ostróda Museum examined the find site.

The blades are in excellent condition. One of the axes even has a fragment of wooden shaft still attached. The sword is more than three feet long and while the tip broke off at some point, it is still present so the sword is complete with all of its parts: hilt, pommel, guard and blade. The design and proportion of the sword identifies it as a hand-and-a-half longsword with an octagonal pommel and cruciform hilt prevalent in the late medieval period. The type has been dubbed hand-and-a-half because the grip is long enough to be held with both hands but the sword is balanced enough to be wielded with one hand as well.

The discovery was made outside the village of Wielka Tymawa near the Osa River. Archaeologists believe that the good state of preservation indicates the weapons were submerged for a good length of time. The Osa is relatively contained today, but its course meandered sharply in the late Medieval period. The swords and axes may have been lost there, perhaps over a bridge crossing the river.

The Voivodeship Monument Protection Office has allocated the finds to the Museum in Ostróda, where they will be studied and conserved before going on public display in its permanent collection later this year.

“These artifacts will significantly complement our exhibition. Especially since it is the first two-handed sword in our collection. We are a museum facility that deals with, among other things, preserving medieval history and is located in a former Teutonic castle,” [Ostróda museum archaeologist Łukasz Szczepański] recalled.