King of Cutting Longsword? Albion Principe Review and Test Cutting ft. Tod's Workshop Scabbard

Hail to the King! Of cutting longsword. Or war sword. The Albion Principe has won more accolades at longsword cutting tournament than perhaps any other single model. The type XVIIIc swords have caught the imagination of the sword community in recent years even though they have been discovered at the Alexandria Arsenal and auctioned around the world for decades now. Many museums like the Metropolitan Museum and the Philadelphia Art Museum are lucky enough to acquire one for their collections.

These exceptionally broad and tapered blades of medium length were apparently made by one or the same group of Italian makers in the first 15th century and the King of Cyprus and Jerusalem had got his hands on a number of these. Many of them ended up being tributes to the sultan of Egypt either as war booties or as direct gifts, and were kept in the Alexandria Arsenal until recent times.

They mostly have wheel pommels but after Peter Johnsson designed the Alexandria for Albion as a direct replica, he decided it would be a fun idea to merge these colossal blades to a type of 15th century English two-handed sword hilt to create this bastard sword named "The Principe". Clearly the unique elongated pommel has not only lengthen the space for a two-handed grip, but also shifted the length of the lever so the point of balance is closer to the hilt than its half-brother the Alexandria. Behold a monster of a cutting sword was born. Since then it is pretty much obligatory for longsword cutting enthusiasts at competitive level to own one of these. Many have challenged it, but only a few have succeeded to come close. More people debate its authenticity in longsword fencing although it has been demonstrated that despite its heft it's more than possible to pull off all longsword techniques with it.

I cut tatami mats with different longsword techniques at Academie Duello, a HEMA club in downtown Vancouver.

Stats and measurements
Weight: 1761g (3 lbs 14 oz)
Blade length: 34.25"
Overall length: 45.7"
Point of balance: 3.25" from the hilt
Profile taper
Width at the base: 79.8mm
Width at midpoint: 54.8mm
Width at 2" from the tip: 17.4mm
Distal taper
Thickness at the base: 4.9mm
Thickness at midpoint: 3.6mm
Thickness at 2" the tip: 1.7mm

The Albion Principe: https://www.albion-swords.com/The%20P...

00:00 Intro
01:17 Design Philosophy
04:14 Handling Characteristics
05:37 Tip Geometry
06:16 Width & Profile Taper
07:02 Distal Taper
09:06 Edge Bevel
09:50 Usage in Historical Context
13:49 Modern Reproduction
15:42 Performance Analysis
22:10 Tale of 2 Principes
29:17 Sharpness
30:28 Test Cutting
34:43 Fit & Finish
38:53 Tod's Workshop Scabbard
42:20 Final Verdict