Falchion
Also known as: fauchon
A European single-edged sword, 13th-16th centuries, at first shaped like a large chopper, later close to the messer; common in art, fewer than 30 pieces survive.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The falchion appears in various forms from roughly the 13th to the 16th century. The name comes from the Old French fauchon and the Latin falx, sickle. Early types, confined to the 13th and 14th centuries, closely resembled a large chopper or machete in shape; later pieces resemble the great messer (großes Messer). Blades were usually 81 to 97 cm long. Surviving falchions are very thin and, on average, lighter than a double-edged blade; they were thus fast cutting weapons, not heavy choppers. The English Thorpe falchion of the 13th century weighs 904 g and has a straight blade with a curved point. In medieval art, for instance in the Maciejowski Bible, falchions appear often, in the hands of ordinary infantrymen. Yet fewer than 30 surviving medieval pieces are confirmed; scholars explain the discrepancy by an artistic convention that equipped enemies and non-Christians with the falchion. Surviving pieces, however, reveal a high level of craftsmanship: a gilded example from the 1560s bears the engraved personal coat of arms of Cosimo I de' Medici.