The swords made at Toledo have a reputation which still endures; and the well-known name of Ferrara is derived from a Venetian family of the sixteenth century. The Ferrara blades are broad and of splendid temper, but the name was used by many smiths as a sort of “standard” mark. Andrea Ferrara or Ferara was established in business, in partnership with his brother Giovan Donato, at the town of Belluno, in the Venetian province of Friuli, in 1585. The _Trattato Militare_, published at Venice in 1583, mentions the brothers as the celebrated sword-makers of that day. Ferara blades, inscribed with the name, were, however, in existence much earlier than this; but whether all or part of these were made in Spain, where there are several towns of the name, is far from clear. The question, then, as to which city or country gave its name to the great master is not yet absolutely determined. Andrea was probably born between 1550 and 1560,[38] and his master, Giovanni Battista, some of whose blades were marked “Zandona,” was called the “Barcelonian,” which circumstance might suggest the possibility that the brothers were emigrants from Spain; but it is much more probable that they came of an Italian family which had been domiciled in Italy for generations, as there are blades of a considerably earlier date than the “Andrea” span, bearing the names of Cosmo and Piero Ferara, both of which Christian names are undoubtedly Italian. A tradition exists in Scotland that Andrea Ferara, or Ferrara, came there as a fugitive from justice, and made swords there in great numbers, but there is no evidence whatever of this being the case. There are swords bearing the brand “Andrewea Ferrara” with a St. Andrew’s Cross, which clearly discloses their Scottish origin, or at all events is suggestive of their having been made in or for Scotland. Indeed, almost all Scottish blades bearing the name of Ferara, with variations, are of seventeenth century make, some even later. We know that it was a common practice of many of the German smiths during the “renaissance” to inscribe their blades with the names of Italian makers; and while Ferara blades are to be met with all over Europe, strangely enough very few are to be found in Italy. The practice of using the marks of celebrated sword-smiths by others less renowned cannot be looked upon as a deliberate forgery, unless perhaps in the earlier instances, when marks were taken possession of by one town or country from another, proceeding, doubtless, from the importation of craftsmen; but even in such cases it was not uncommon for the maker to give his own name or mark in conjunction with such as those of Ferara, the running wolf, etc. Marks like the bishop’s head, moor’s head, Sahagun, Ayala, Piccinino,[39] were often used by others, though probably rarely in the sense of piracy. This is shown by the annexation of the Wolf of Passau by the Solingen makers, and that of Ferara by the Scotch. Mere