“To this day it is and remains a mystery what the meaning of the inscription on an ancient sword, a masterpiece, is”, says Ron Haveman of the De Roos museum in Geertruidenberg. The 14th century sword was accidentally found in August 2005 during archaeological investigations.
“A great deal of research was done after the discovery, but many questions have still not been answered seventeen years after the discovery,” Haveman says. “Whose did the sword belong to and what does the text mean? You keep looking until you have an answer.”
In the museum, the sword is displayed in a separate vertical display case. “Through, through, I was told seventeen years ago that something special had been found. The finding of the sword was then still (ultra) secret.”
“In my eyes it’s a ‘normal’ fighting sword.”
Haveman remembers that after the discovery there was plenty of speculation about the origin of the mysterious sword. “It might well be an episcopal sword, a sword that would have been lost in a knight’s tournament, and the text has sometimes been suggested as an incantation.
“In my view it is a ‘normal’ fighting sword,” says Haveman, who is an expert in medieval weaponry himself. “The text on the sword is very mysterious because to this day no text on a medieval weaponry sword has been deciphered.”
“Recognised is the word ‘dieu’, the French word for God.”
Isn’t it time for a new investigation, using new contemporary techniques into the texts on the sword?
“That won’t yield much, thinks Haveman, because the text mainly consists of abbreviations, which have never been deciphered in comparable medieval situations. “Not even by the writing experts who researched the text at the time. The word dieu, the French word for God, is recognized.”
The only known sword in the world, which resembles the one found in Koestraat in Geertruidenberg, hangs in a museum in Copenhagen.
The museum president thinks the sword must have belonged to a knight of prestige. “The necessary knight tournaments have been held in Geertruidenberg, so that would explain how the weapon ended up here. By the way, there are multitudes of medieval swords on display in museums, but medieval swords with an inscription like this one are extremely rare.”
“It’s in a display case in a climate-controlled room.”
Whether something so rare belongs in a small museum, Haveman is short and sweet. “Yes, of course it belongs here. It was found here, it revives the past of knight tournaments that were also held in Geertruidenberg.”
The sword is cherished in the museum. “It is in a display case, in a room with climate control. Realize that the sword is much thinner than it was in the 14th century. It has been underground for centuries, it is very fragile.”
“Every time you stand by the sword, you stand there with the same question marks. Curiosity is also in man. You keep looking until you have an answer.”
