#migration sword

Let's talk for a minute about the alleged Joyeuse, the sword of Charlemagne. Everyone who is familiar with European history should know who the great Charlemagne is, but for those who do not, in the simplest terms, he conquered and united a great swath of Central and Western Europe, and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in the year 800 AD.

He lived from the year 742, was crowned King of the Franks in 768, crowned King of the Lombards in 774, and, as previously stated , crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800, before dying in 814. His sword, La Joyeuse, has featured in many songs and legends, and as such is quite a famous weapon.

The above sword is not La Joyeuse.

This sword, a German original from the 12th century (from Hermann Historica) is what the alleged Joyeuse is modeled off of. Note the length of the crossguard, and shape of the pommel. Distinctly high medieval. The blade (which I can't find a good picture of) is probably an original Oakeshott type XII, which puts it to the same time as the above example from Hermann Historica, but the hilt was definitely replaced at some point.

This sword is a reproduction of a Vendel period Sword from temple.net (based on an original from Sweden), and this is what swords in Charlemagne's time would have looked like.

Swords throughout the early medieval period in Europe have the Oakeshott type X blade, and La Joyeuse would have been no different. It's broader and shorter than the type XII, and the tip would have been more spatulate, as picture below.

It’s possible that the hilt of La Joyeuse would have looked more like this,

since this reproduction is based on a Sutton Hoo original, and is geographically closer to France. Regardless, hope this was enjoyable and informative, and if not, here’s another pretty sword reproduction to look at.