Please take notice of the finial, and also the type of quillons. They began to resemble those of the nimcha, or it is my imagination? More than any quillons in an European sword? Is there any European sword from the 11th Century or before with this type of quillons? I would like to see a picture, since I have not enough bibliography. And also see the broad blade. The provenance is unknown, but the sword is in the Museo del Ejército in Madrid. Given the globular pommel and other features, it is not difficult to imagine the origin, especially when Nicolle says “…the artistic evidence supports the idea that the spherical pommel was a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean fashion…” (David Nicolle, “Two Swords from the Foundation of Gibraltar”, Gladius, Vol. XXII, 2002, p.174).
Not unlikely also North African. And one must take into account that North Africa and Al-Andalus, contrary to common ideas, were culturally more sophisticated than the rest of Europe during all the Middle Ages.
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