An interesting relic of this period is the sword (G13) which the Conde de Valencia thinks may be safely ascribed to Ferdinand the Catholic (plate 10). The blade is rigid, of rhomboidal section, and without ricasso; the crosspiece is of gilded iron, very plain; velvet-bound grip; the pommel is pear-shaped and facetted. “Like nearly all the swords for the saddle-bow of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which were fastened by the scabbard to the front bow of the man-at-arms’ saddle, this blade has a hilt of the kind then called ‘a hand and a half,’ because its length allowed of its being used with one or both hands without disturbing the equilibrium necessary for the proper handling of the weapon.”--Valencia, _Catálogo_. G1 (plate 11) is the Ceremonial Sword of Ferdinand and Isabel. The blade is metre 1.070 long by 0.050 broad, almond-shaped, and without ricasso. The crossguard is of gilded and engraved iron, the ends of the arms cusped. On the cusps are the inscriptions TANTO MONTA[F] and MEMENTO MEI O MATER DEI MEI. The grip is wire-bound and covered with red velvet. The pommel is disc-like and cut and perforated into a cruciform device; it bears on one side the yoke, the emblem of Ferdinand, on the other, the sheaf of arrows, the emblem of Isabel. G2 is the sheath of the preceding sword. It is of wood, covered with crimson silk, minus the rim and the ferrule; it bears the Spanish shield of arms as charged after the taking of Granada, and the devices of the two Sovereigns. “This Royal sword is extremely interesting in every way, as it was the same that Ferdinand and Isabella and their grandson the Emperor, used in the ceremony of conferring knighthood. This statement is in the _Relacion notarial de Valladolid_, thus: ‘a wide sword, old, for making knights, with flat pommel with holes and gilded cross’--a description which agrees with the illustration of the same sword in the Illuminated Inventory of Charles V. “In our opinion, it is the Royal sword which, during the rule of the House of Austria, and in accordance with the etiquette of the Houses of Castile and Burgundy, in the solemn entries into cities and on Princes taking the oath, was carried bare by the Chief Equerry of the King, in the absence of the Count of Oropesa, ‘whose privilege it was in Castile, and the Count de Sástago’s in Aragon.’ In support of this opinion we may instance picture 787 in the Museum of Paintings in Madrid, called the Pacification of Flanders, where Philip IV. is represented crowned by the goddess Pallas, assisted by the Count-Duke de Olivares, who has the sword referred to in his left hand.”