The curious fate of the sword of Francis I, taken from him by an Italian colonel after his capture in Lombardy in 1525

The sword of Francis I has a curious history: it was taken from him by an Italian colonel after his capture in Lombardy in 1525. In the reign of Philip II this sword, with its magnificent hilt, found its way into the Spanish royal armoury. The weapon returned to France in 1808, when Murat took possession of it in Madrid.

There is no royal crown on the sword, since it was Francis's weapon before his accession, which means that he had used it for at least ten years. It is now kept in the French Musée de l'Armée.

The motto FECIT POTENCIAM / IN BRACHIO SUO is a quotation from the Magnificat, the Song of Mary.

Fecit potentiam in brachio suo;
Dispersit superbos mente cordis sui

He hath shewed strength with his arm;
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The curious fate of the sword of Francis I, taken from him by an Italian colonel after his capture in Lombardy in 1525

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

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Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s