I grew up in a country ambiance in that, the weapons carried by the Moors since they entered the Peninsula, included swords with recurved blades; scimitars, alfanges, you name it. Perhaps this was a legend based in that, these have a more romantic contents than straight bladed ones, i don't know.
Also i have a book about some aristrocat arms collection in that the author, a scholar, wrote:
In the battles that followed the Arabic invasion on 711 and resulted, in Northern Spain, in the uprising of Christian monarchies, Asturians and Lionese wielded swords of Roman tradition, in contrast with Persians and Arabs who exhibited the recurved models of their country of origin. The struggle for Reconquist being itensified and having submitted to Christian power the Persians and Arabs from the center and north of the Iberian Peninsula, one may not doubt that Muslim arts soon exercised certain spirit of influence in Western weaponry and, due to their influx that, in the Mossarab artistic, evoluted models od vertical swords which were supported as said, in the Roman model, suffering the effects - at least in the upper part of the pieces - the aptitude and elegance of the smiths of the Neo-christian workshops.From there, logicaly, the specimens that in Spain, Portugal and Fench midi appeared in the IX century and which development in European territory can not be denied.
Maybe the author is putting all eggs in the basket and mine is a naïve story, but i fekt like posting it anyhow.
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