The About this sound Zweihänder (German for "two hander", also called Bidenhänder), is type of large two-handed sword primarily in use during the early decades of the 16th century.The Zweihänder swords develop from the bastard sword or montante ("longsword") of the Late Middle Ages and they became a hallmark weapon of the German Landsknechte from the time of Maximilian I (d. 1519) and during the Italian Wars of 1494–1559.