Nice pics, Fernando. These from Exquemelin are some of my favorites. Without any question, the clamshell guarded cutlass of this period is one of the quentessential types used by pirates, but another way of looking at it is that the pirate, just like any other 'warrior tribe', carried a variety of weapons on their person at any given time. When one thinks of a samurai, they could be carrying a huge tachi, mid-size katana, plus a tanto or two. Or perhaps that day, they might have been armed with a naginata or iron fan. The point is, a pirate in particular often armed himself (or herself) with whatever they had access to. Undoubtedly, in a crew of hundreds that these floating armies encompassed, there were a variety of swords. Likewise, sometimes one type of arm was more preferable to another based on the environment. For example, you have a pic of O'Lolonais the mad-man. He was one of the true buccaneers of the 17th century. The buccaneers were unique in that they sailed the coasts of Central and South America attacking mostly land fortifications and cities of colonial Spain. Their attacks often consisted of long marches through treacherous swamps and jungles to reach their objective. One could question whether a large Sinclair saber would be practical in the thick foliage. Artists of the time period used what they knew were the most popular types of arms of the era, but not necessarily the exact ones worn by the famous. This was common even with naval officers who sat for portaits. We see British naval admirals wearing cuirass breast-plates in many of these, which was strictly for impressive effect. Finally, perhaps the lead figures such as Teach did carry the huge blades of old, but the many minions often carried what was practical.
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