Christian
Very similar to the earlier Christian crusader sword from the 12 to early 13th century, this sword is a French Crusader sword from the 13th-century. Made of iron, the sword features the long, double-edged blade attached to a slender crucifix. The pommel at the end is a disk shape, rather than a pointed oval.
The knight’s sword was full of deep spiritual significance. In the fifteenth-century chivalric romance, Tirantlo Blanc, a wise old hermit explains the significance of a knight's weapons as "the noblest of weapons," because its cruciform shape symbolizes the Cross, on which Christ died for the salvation of mankind, "and every true knight should do likewise, braving death to preserve his brethren." The pommel symbolizes the world, "for a knight is obliged to defend his king." The two edges and the point of the sword indicate that the knight should serve in three ways; to protect the Church, to fight for his king, and to see to it that "common folk" are not abused. Here, very similar to the Islamic crusader sword, the Christian crusader sword illustrates the knights devotion to faith, which gives him power and prestige.
Depicted here is a close-up of the sword in the tomb effigy of Jean d'Alluye, a French knight of the thirteenth century, who died in 1248. This type of effigy is known as a gisant, meaning the deceased is lying atop his tomb.
Like other medieval knights, Jean d’Alluye combined Christian and military ideals and aspired to the virtues of piety, loyalty, and honor. However, his sword presents a different image than that of the knights of his day in Europe. Rather, it corresponds to Chinese swords of that time. Jean d'Alluye journeyed to the Holy Land in 1241, but it remains a mystery how he obtained a Chinese sword.
Nonetheless, the Chinese sword on this medieval knight illustrates the clashing of cultures that accompanied the violence of the Crusades. Here, the sword has a trilobite pommel, rather than a disk or oval, modelled like a budding flower, with a central bulbous element emerging between two outward-turning scrolls. The grip, in contrast to the straight, slender grips of other Western European swords of the time, is wrapped in an intricate pattern of interloping straps. Why this sword was included in Jean d’Alluye’s tomb effigy remains a mystery, yet it provides tantalizing evidence to the cross-cultural influences of the Crusades. By including this sword, the physical representation of the combination of Western and Eastern cultures, the tomb effigy illustrates how the power and prestige of Jean d’Alluye endured after his death.
Citation: Nickel, Helmut. "A Crusader's Sword: Concerining the Effigy of Jean d'Alluye." Metropolitan Museum Journal 26 (1991).