The Fornovo sword by Arms & Armor is a sword recreated from an original 15th century sword that probably originated in Southern Europe. It has a blade of 6150 high carbon steel and has been tempered to a hardness of 50 HRC. The crossguard and pommel are steel and the grip is hardwood overlaid with leather that has been dyed to have a dark and mottled red.
The Fornovo Sword may seem to have a small hilt and grip, but this has been done intentionally: The design of the Fornovo is intended to securely couch the hand between the guard and pommel; this way the hand is in full contact with the crossguard and pommel and thus the back of the hand can be better used to power the sword – especially when the back edge is used to strike.
This design also makes the Fornovo a compact arming sword – its hilt is not so large as to seem cumbersome when worn as a sidearm. Its blade is tapered acutely enough to make it a deadly thrusting sword, whilst the main cutting portion of the sword farther up the blade retains more than enough meat to make it a good cutting and slashing sword. Its natural agility and balance only help in making the Fornovo a formidable arming sword.
Arms & Armors inspiration for the name of the sword derives from the 1495 Battle of Fornovo – a battle that could have seen both the French and the Venetians wielding a sword of this design or similar. Blades akin to the Fornovo are well represented in art of the time and swords such as the Fornovo are seen at the side of both nobles and soldiers.
Terry –
Fornovo Very fast and agile sword, excellent handling characterstics, as with all swords I’ve encountered from A&A the blade is excellent, perhaps some of the best blades out… as for the components, guard , pommel, leather wrap, they are mediocre at best