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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
It was indeed my pleasure Vendredi ! and thank you for the kind words in return. I have been most fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in this venue with others who share in these interests, with the teamwork in research and advancing comprehensive knowledge in these arms.
As you note, one of the most fascinating aspects of researching these weapons is discovering the various points of context where they were known to have been used. Case in point, the siege of Vienna where this weapon likely entered the Ottoman sphere.
By analogy, literally decades ago I bought a worn old M1796 British light cavalry saber, which had curious markings CsA on the langet. Over the years there seemed no viable resolution as to what these represented. Finally there was a breakthrough thanks to Richard Dellar ("British Cavalry Swords: Some New Perspectives") when he suggested possibly CsA represented the Castel sant Angelo at the Vatican. It finally turned out compellingly possible that this saber may have ended up there via either British support in these regions in Napoleonic period, or perhaps taken there by the many Catholic volunteers who went to defend the Pope during the wars of unification in 1860s.
Another example of a weapon from one sphere found incongruently in use in another.
With this glaive, it is most interesting that these examples seem to have possibly been made in specific intent for this unit, as suggested by the numeral 74 as highest number found on one. The form itself however seems of course likely produced for broader disbursement so it becomes necessary to discover whether the other numbered examples are distinctly associated with this elite unit in Austria.
As noted, the circumstances with the Vienna siege in 1683, which was one of the most pivotal events in Europe, adds colorful potential to this weapon as likely the best explanation to its entry into the Ottoman sphere, and ultimately into the court of the Dey in Algiers. It would seem the use of this weapon FROM the Christian sphere was likely deviously employed with in this dispatch of Christians with a twisted symbolism.
It is an unfortunate case in the study of arms that often the history held contains unsavory elements, but that is something we as arms historians learn, that we cannot always select the elements that are preserved. There is little pleasantness in war and combat, but is a truth that must be endured as it is history.
Best regards
Jim
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Thank you, Jim. Your story about the M1796 saber is a wonderful example of what makes this kind of research so fascinating. Sometimes a seemingly insignificant marking can eventually reveal an entirely unexpected chapter in an object’s history.
I was particularly interested in your mention of Castel Sant’Angelo, as I had the opportunity to visit it myself. Given my interest in judicial history, its association with Giovanni Battista Bugatti, better known as Mastro Titta, the executioner of the Papal States, was particularly fascinating to me. I thought you might also appreciate seeing this blade associated with Mastro Titta.
Your comparison is very fitting to this glaive. The possibility that it passed from an Austrian court setting into Ottoman hands following the events surrounding Vienna in 1683, and eventually made its way to Algiers, would certainly help explain its extraordinary transformation and history.
I also completely agree with your final point. We cannot choose which parts of history survive with an artifact. The darker chapters may be uncomfortable, but they are still part of its story and deserve to be researched and preserved rather than forgotten.
Best regards,
Vendredi