I just ordered this Cinquedea sword from Michael "Tinker" Pearce, a swordsmith out in Seattle, WA. A Cinquedea is an Itallian shortsword and is so named because it is approximately five fingers wide at the base of the blade and was carried by the young bravos during the Italian Renaissance (think Romeo, Mercutio, & Tybalt from the Shakespeare play, "Romeo and Juliet") in a mid-back scabbard. This was a location where it could easily be hidden by a medium cloak. My guess is that it was used rather like the similarly sized Bowie Knife of later days. The blade on Tinker's Cinquedea is 2.875" wide at the base and 13.75" long. The hilt totals 6.625" and the whole weighs 1.5 pounds. I should imagine that it would give a wicked back cut and would make a great cut and thrust weapon. I had been drooling over it for some months and I finally ordered it. It should be in my hands by the end of next week.
For pics of it, go to the following webpage and look at the second item down:
http://www.tinkerswords.com/Page%203.html