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: 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

[@kronos1794]

Love mine, the moment I got my hands on it I promised if I could help it I'd never get rid of it.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Same here!

[@KKRCeb]

I have the exact same sword and scabbard from Tod's! It is a beast cutter!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Love the combo!!

[@TheHazmate]

Gotta say, I love the red leather, very sexy!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Me, too!

[@daemon_I_blackfyre]

Finally you can sign up at those competitions.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I WILL do that.

[@ElDrHouse2010]

it is designed for that. the problem is, that it is thin so it can chip off on harder objects. It* can cut very well specific hardness like flesh, plastic, tatami but, it cannot cut everything without getting destroyed.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Oh you CAN'T cut through a building without the blade suffering some deformation. That much is for sure, as if there's A sword in this world that's designed to cut through a building and not suffer any damage. Because as we all know, historically swords were designed to cut down a stone castle.

[@ElDrHouse2010]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold My point is, dont try to cut wood with it, it will chip. It can but its a bad idea to do it a lot.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@ElDrHouse2010 I don't think it will chip on any wood. There simply isn't any wood hard enough to chip steel temper to 54 HRC. If you cleave deep into some hard wood and turn the blade, there's a chance it will deform, but not enough to chip steel. And yeah, swords are used to cut wood. It will probably be fine cutting down saplings, but not actual mature trees. You can chop down trees with flying color using a premium forest axe (Gransfors Bruk) less than 1/10 of the cost of a sword.

[@ElDrHouse2010]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold lmao dont do it... Learn from Skallagrim he had the same sword & he chipped it against wood.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@ElDrHouse2010 He didn't "chip" the sword, the edge took a roll. It was deformed. It didn't lose material. Chipping is the steel breaking out and departing the blade. He also use a half-assed zwerchau to cut into a ZGB head's jaw, which is anatomically incorrect. Your mouth cavity is a hollow chamber, not a solid cement block. The zygomatic bone and maxilla bone that he was supposed to cut to (had the head been correct) are both plates that are easy to cut (trust me, my wife is a surgeon specialized in facial reconstruction). So Skallagrim basically cut a 34.5" long into a solid block of cement at where the blade already took a roll previously (and he cold-hammered it back, ruining the tempering of that area), and twisted it while putting his body weight into it. Yeah, no wonder it took a roll that large. BTW, it wasn't a chip, because there's no material loss. He sent it back to Albion, they annealed it and fixed the blade.

[@hungamunga5860]

That is one frightening sword!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

It’s quite an imposing sword, isn’t it?

[@iratezombiemann]

Strange I haven't been getting notifications from you lately. Fantastic review, as always.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thank you very much! KZbin is doing its best at suppressing smaller channels, business at usual in San Bruno, of course.

[@iratezombiemann]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Hey man, it just means I have top notch content to catch up on

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thank you for the continuous support, man!

[@Ian.Mackenzie]

You can’t go wrong with the Principe if you want to go competitive at sword cutting.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Yes, that is my conclusion as well.

[@keirfarnum6811]

Why would I want to cut a sword? That would make it not very functional; I prefer to keep swords intact, myself. 😁

[@bladeoftheemperor3133]

The King lives up to his title's grandiloquent claim!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Well I sure hope he has, even though it might be a razor thin margin.

[@lorenzhelmschmid]

I prefer the closer replica of Alexandria Arsenal swords. But this one is a community favourite.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Indeed, which is why I enjoy the two offerings by Albion. One is more historically accurate and the other has a hilt that helps with handling.

[@cattycoon3939]

Your place looks like heaven! Great video!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thank you!

[@BLADESKNIVESBROTHERHOOD-vn3bn]

Hello dear, I have seen this review of yours for the third time now that I am anxiously waiting for the legendary Albion Principe to finally arrive at my home. You really did an excellent job with this review… very good. See you soon and thank you as always for your advice... ahhhh and if the Principe arrives at my house after a long time... it's only thanks to you who notified me of your presence in Kult of Athena that day... for this reason alone I send you a big hug from distant Italy.🙏🏻❤️🤗

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Glad that you managed to grab it. Sometimes these rare Albion offerings pop up and then be gone within the blink of an eye. Hopefully everything arrives safe and sound so you can enjoy the sword!

[@BLADESKNIVESBROTHERHOOD-vn3bn]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold ❤️💪🏻👊🏻

[@seanmacdougall6390]

Please do a comparison between this one and the Irish ring pommel longsword and see which cuts better.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I might be able to do that in my upcoming "Evolution of Medieval Longswords" video.

[@scottyelder8351]

The original piece is an absolute masterpiece ! This is a worthy tribute to the original this weapon would have been a scourge upon the Heritics The original blade would be worthy of being worn by Christ himself ✝️ It's truly beautiful.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Indeed!

[@ravedubin3515]

You did the most adequate reading of the sword. It’s a worthwhile watch.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Glad you find it valuable.

[@daedricprinceofdebauchery7157]

The infamous Principe put through its paces.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Well I tried. The edges could be honed a but more but otherwise it performed as much as I expected.

[@salvadordali3566]

It is almost a brush for the strokes of a painting, but the paint is blood.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Give it to Ser Barristan Selmy then. It is all he needs.

[@augiedad54]

You indicated that the factory edge must be improved for the best cutting performance. I agree. But, you also mentioned that you did not see a bright secondary bevel line along the sword’s edge. How can one put a 40 degree apex edge on any sword without producing the bright, 1-2 mm wide line along the edge. Isn’t this inevitable? I’ve seen many videos in which the presenter berates a blade with a secondary bevel. The primary bevel on the Principe is approximately 10 degrees. But again, how can optimum sharpness be attained without adding a 40 degree secondary bevel and the accompanying bright line? I would very much appreciate your input.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

One: continuing with the 10-degree edge angle, and it WILL result in an apex. Sharpen that apex. Two: if you want some durability of the edge, apple seed it. Apple-seeding is not the same as secondary bevel, it's a gradual transition to a more obtuse angle at the very end before the apexing. Secondary bevel is a sudden transition between the primary bevel angle to another one, leaving an edge between the two bevels. It will impede cutting performance, naturally. If you hone the apexing to a high degree, the impact will be smaller, but it still dramatically increases the resistance the blade encounters. Three: the bright stripe can be caused either the existence of a lazy secondary bevel, or additional honing or repair of damaged edge with a belt of a different grit than the one used for the polishing of the blade surface. The latter would be acceptable if it's caused by an after-market sharpening, but less acceptable coming from a maker. Well, at least not in Albion's standards. People may accept that from other makers, but Albion's hallmark includes having the same grit of polishing and the sharpening, that, with the carefully executed apple-seeding (not secondary bevel), is one of the many reasons people buy Albion swords.

[@augiedad54]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold That is very helpful. So, the real difference in geometry between a secondary bevel and an apple-seed edge is the abruptness of the transition from the main bevel to the edge bevel. It is intuitive that an Appleseed edge would pass through a target with less resistance than and beveled transition. Another issue with factory edges is polishing. Every sword that I have ever received, from any manufacturer, had an unpolished edge. I would define an unpolished edge as one which has grind marks that are visible to the naked eye. The edge might be very sharp, and easily slice thru paper, but one can feel the drag as it does so, and tiny paper fragments are transferred to the blade. I would think that the final 1mm of the edge should have a mirror polish. But, I’ve been unable to polish the edge to that degree without creating a much wider polished edge, maybe 2mm. This bright ribbon is VERY noticeable, especially on an Albion that that a satin finish. So, once I’ve got the edge polished like I want I narrow the the shiny strip down to 1mm with some #7448 Scotchbright and a small, detailing sanding block, taking care to stay away from the cutting edge. Am I making this process unnecessarily complicated, or does this match your experience? Thanks again for all your excellent videos.

[@augiedad54]

…BTW, I am using a Work Sharp® Ken Onion sharpener with Blade-Grinder Attachment. Basically, a compact slack-belt grinder.

[@Regneva]

Great vid. Where did you get your scabbard from? In the market for one.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Quickly, get one from Tod’a Workshop, they are running 20% off discount and it expires soon!

[@raphaelhanna8345]

Hey Kane Shen out of curiosity what do you think about flamberge's? Do you think they actually benefit cutting power? Or do you think they're just for show?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Yes, indeed flamberg pattern edge can help a bit with cutting IF sharpened correctly. It also helps a bit with binding that your opponent's blade doesn't skid off or slide off easily, they tend to stay where the impact is.

[@raphaelhanna8345]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Out of curiosity do you think it might be plausible to cut with the tip of the A474's blade as I have heard Matt Easton say that with the Royal Armouries sword since it's tip isn't fully acute you might be able to cut with it so I'm wondering if the A474 has that same advantage

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@raphaelhanna8345 yeah it’s possible. It’s not the type of XVIIIb that has a long transition to an acute tip, and it also has a rigid blade so possibly has some tip cut potential.

[@Regneva]

NVM, just finished the vid lol

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Long journey 😄

[@nightcitysamurai]

Can it out-cut a katana?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I think given the bigger reacher and bigger mass, it may very well out-cut most katanas.

[@ElDrHouse2010]

depends on the katana and the depends on the object you are cutting. the real question is: Can it out-cut a Flax or Rhomphaia. There I dont think so but those are single edge.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@ElDrHouse2010 I will out cut rhomphaia, those are smaller in dimension or in weight than the Principe. Even though they are single-edged, their bevels are not as deep for the lower 90% of the blade on the Principe, because of the latter's width. Like I said, after the initial cleaving, the slashing motion will carry the blade through the body of the target in a slicing motion, widening the wound as a secondary cutting mechanism. Being forwardly curved, both the rhomphaia and falx aren't capable of that.

[@ElDrHouse2010]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold I see. So you would say this wide* thinning & tapering blade shape of the Principe is the best shape for a cutting sword?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Yes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It is the most proficient cutting profile. It doesn't make it the most effective fighting weapon, though.

[@the_facelessman]

Do you recommend this one as a primary cutting sword over the Alexandria?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Good question. I used to think the Principe beats the Alexandria 100% of the time in terms of demanding competition cutting, because of the added leverage and closer point of balance. But now sometimes I have heard conflicting report that the reduced 6-7 ounces on Alexandria does help with the handling and some people do prefer cutting with two hands bunched up instead of spread further apart. So I guess it's a personal preference.

[@jamiecorrigan3241]

For EVERYONE Interested In Viking Age And Medieval Swords They MUST SEE Peter Johnsson's ''THE VIKING SWORD WHAT IT WAS AND WAS NOT'' This Video Should Go VIRAL !!! But Read All The Newest Comments First To Really Understand Peter Johnsson's Knowledge Of These Subjects.

[@colebertram8482]

Do you prefer this over regent ?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

For me this doesn’t replace the Regent. Very different kinds of sword. The Regent is a sword more balanced between cut and thrust and the weight is more efficient, not to mention being a sword better suited for longsword techniques. This holds its unique place in my heart, but if I can only have one sword, I’d rather have the Regent.

[@colebertram8482]

@FortuneFavoursTheBold Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply , I really appreciate this . I've been torn between the earl and principe as my first albion . The principe is very unique and beautiful but it is just so so specialized for one purpose it makes me nervous due to how thin it is , although its an amazing cutter i feel like id be so scared to deform the edge as I'm a less experienced sword user. The earl / regent seems like a better option due to how robust those blades are designed and versatile , I'd be more comfortable using it for cuts / training . The regent and earl really do look lovely in the way they handle by the videos I've seen . Thank you for the great content 🙏

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thank you for your support! Choice as the first longsword: the Earl wins. It's a better representative of the average late medieval longsword. The Principe is the opposite to the average longsword, it has a short but stout blade, much wider but thinner than the average blade optimized for cutting, but also good at thrust against combatants not in steel armor (maille and/or plate), but the heft/reach ratio is rather high. Durability wise I have a lot to say about this. The Principe is gonna be fine so long you don't cleave it into a block of cement and then twist (precisely what Skallagrim did to deform his blade, after he cold-roll to "fix" the previous edge deformation from cutting a tree). ZGB zombie heads are a pretty terrible analog of human anatomy. The cheek bone is a thin plate of bone that's hollow on the inside of the mouth cavity (bone in itself is also hollow with marrow inside). Bones are hard and dry when dead, but softer and more flexible when living. I cut bone plates such as pork shoulder blades before with a razor edge on a huge khukuri, which cleaved the shoulder blade in half, but suffered some minor roll (but still just as deadly). The Principe does not have a razor blade, it's thin but have an apple seed geometry near the edge. It will be fine. ZGB heads are made of cement and there's no mouth cavity, it's a solid cement block. Skallagrim made the worst call to use a complex technique to feint and then twist the wrist to cut into the cement block, after which he proceeded to twist the blade while it's still stuck inside the cement, as you can't cut through a cement block completely with a sword, or anything really. The blade couldn't possible pry open a cement block, so it deformed, anything would have been deformed. He should have done an oberhau from overhead position to cut into the actual hollow cavity on that ZGB head. He didn't. Neither did he explore the reason why before going on to blame it on Albion. No hate towards him, but he was utterly wrong. All that being said, the Earl is indeed gonna be more durable than the Principe, but does it make a significant difference in cutting tatami mats, bottles, and green bamboo? Not really. Still The Earl would be my choice as the first sword. My first was the Regent, basically the Earl with a different pommel and crossguard. Good luck!

[@colebertram8482]

@FortuneFavoursTheBold It was a pleasure reading your absolute wealth of knowledge on this subject. This has definitely well informed me on the skallagrim incident now. That honestly could have been a KZbin video in itself , of you just explaining and breaking that down. I'm sure like me, it has probably made many potential principe buyers shy a way, seeing a large sword KZbinr damage that blade. ( evident of the comments) So this clarification from a principe owner / avid sword user is great of value for many . It does truly come down to the user as do most things . The principe reminds me of a brush machete in terms of blade thickness and flexibility, and yet those are made out of lesser steels , but seem quite durable despite of that. So that was indeed a massive user error on his end . But I will take your well-informed opinion on the earl. I look forward to your future content . Cheers

[@raphaelhanna8345]

Something random I want to say is that I've spoken to a person on Facebook named Ryan Renfro and he said that he studied the Wallace Collection A474 and said that the thickness was 7.6mm at the guard, 6.7mm in the middle of the blade and 3.4mm near the tip do you think that might be plausible?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Indeed that sounds potentially plausible.

[@raphaelhanna8345]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Actually I want to say that I've looked at a review of the Royal Armouries 15th Century Two Handed Sword isn't as thick as it's said to be on Royal Armouries website since apparently in a review the blade is said to be near identical thickness to that of what Ryan Renfro said about the A474 if that's the case do you think maybe it could be accurate to say that the Royal Armouries website is wrong about the blade thickness and both the A474 and IX1787 are both a similar thickness of 7.6mm at the guard and 3.4mm near the tip?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@raphaelhanna8345 which review did you read or watch? On KZbin or on a forum or Facebook?

[@raphaelhanna8345]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold I found a review on the Sword Buyers Guide of the Royal Armouries Sword and it said the distal taper was 0,3" at guard - 0,14" an inch from the tip and 0,04" at the very tip I converted it to mm and it said 7.62mm at the guard, 3.556mm an inch from the tip and 1mm on the tip itself and despite being thinner than advertised the weight is 4lb 12,5 oz

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@raphaelhanna8345 yes, that’s possible. The official stat of the base thickness by Windlass is 1/3” which is 8.4mm. But Windlass often has large variations so some of them starts at 7.6mm is possible. My RAC type XVII longsword starts at 7.4mm and the official spec states 8mm. It will handle a bit differently from the original, but not by a large margin.