Well, the .45 IS a missile launcher! Just not the blowy-uppy kind.
The cinquedea looks like a mighty stabber. I shudder to think of the disemboweling a victim would suffer from a twisting stab to the abdomen. Certainly it would be beyond any surgical intervention anyone could expect in its day. You'd see your Venetian cousin go down, slipping in his own entrails and blood faster than you could say, "Arrivederci."
I know the curator speaking to Matt Easton in the museum video says he's only found one depiction of the blade form in period art, but I'm really convinced I've seen several in the painted work of Uccello and in Renaissance tapestries. I'll try to find some online and post them here.
One of the overriding concerns of early modern Europeans was the degree to which they appeared to other members of their social class. Wearing a heavy broadsword in public (side sword, arming sword, etc.) in the age of the cinquedea would have marked a man out as someone who dealt in rough living. A thug heading out for a showdown, a soldier on his way to campaign or guard duty, a mercenary on protection duty, etc. Otherwise, the burgeoning gentle classes were jealous of their public image as people who did not stoop to such rough work. Yes, the knightly classes still existed, and many a young Italian (though Italy as a nation was centuries away) aspired to the life of a condottiere, but you wouldn't dress "tactical" unless actually going to fight. Hence, any weapon would have to attest to the gentleman's status: Highly decorated, well built, fashionable, expensive, and ready to defend the honor of his family neighborhood, and church (often all three, their being intertwined as they were). But not military looking.
Then there's practicality: A moderately affluent baker might own a falchion, grosse messer, or rustic sword, but it's in the house upstairs, not in the bakery and not worn on the hip during working hours. Going to the fair on Saturday? You bet. Pilgrimage? Of course. Visiting the mill for flour? On the floor of the wagon. But these are the sword equivalent of the farmer's shotgun. They get in the way most of the time. Even my well holstered handguns can get in my way when I'm grooming a horse and tacking up. Forget about wearing a sword when I'm working a horse in the arena or roundpen (as an erstwhile reenactor, I've tried!).
So the cinquedea is a really good compromise for these requirements. It is decorative, deadly as all hell, civilian to the core, gentlemanly, easily carried, good backup when fists lead to cudgels and then the chips are down, and drawn early in a showdown terribly menacing. I'm telling you, if I saw Joe Paranee in doublet and hose draw his cinquedea on me in a Genovese tavern circa 1450, I'd be buying Il signore drinks until I scurried back home!
To the OP, I say, "Viva la cinquedea!"
Zieg
America is crude and annoying , until you come crying for HELP !
