Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Mare Rosu · 8th December 2004, 11:47 PM

Pulled out from the old Viking forum. So that you can see why it is very important to Radu that if you can get a photograph of the Great Sword.
He need his soul for other things.
Radu has helped all of us so it would be nice to reciprocate the favor.

Dedicated to my dear pal, Mr. Earl G. Beall whos contagious positive energy and hunger for knowledge have been so motivating to me lately... Thank you for being my friend, Gene ! Radu F.
THE AMAZING STORY AND JOURNEY OF THE STEPHEN THE GREAT`S SWORD

Certain unique weapons and armour pieces, most particularly the guns and swords belonging to extraordinary people have undoubtly been the subject of many fantastic stories in their time of deeds of facts but very few have transceded to raise crises or make the news headlines now, past their age of glory, such as this one...
So, here is a different lecture in the Forum, a contemporary story, a live happening and long expected event by many, including myself ...
Ever since I was a kid back in my Transylvanian homelands I was fascinated by the figur and life of one of our Romanian medieval rulers, Stephen the Great, known to us Romanians as Stefan cel Mare.
He was the quintesential Moldavian medieval ruler (1457-1504), he embodied the national spirit and the archetype of the Eastern European, at the time he was mainly famous as crusader against expanding imperial Ottoman forces but he also fought succesfully or less against other threatening neighbours like Poland or Hungary, at times friends rather than enemies however. As the very complicated web of political interests in a gothic medieval age dictated, he was friend or foe to even with his relatives, like the infamous ruler of Wallachia, Vlad The Impaler, or Dracula, as he mistankelly remains baptised by the history.
So, many battles and campaigns have been fought and won consistently by this arguably righteous and legendary autocrat in the name of his people, for posterity bringing him even the status of Saint by the local Greek-Orthodox church of Romania few years ago
and therefore named is now canonised as Stephen the Great and Holly (Stefan Cel Mare si Sfant).
Late in life, his power grew weak like his health and so was the country in the end paying tribute but not ceased to lose the soveranity of its country. However, one remarcable things he did lost to the Ottoman army (undated and untold) and that was his famous weapon, THE BATTLE SWORD.
Stephen the Great, ironically, was not a man of an imposing physique appearance, rather short but still muscular and with a pleasant face. His sword, unlike him, a very stylish monarch of Bysantine fashion, rivaling if not surpasing many courts of western Europe, was a plain and fairly large straight, classic, European medieval steel with a 102 cm blade and a total length of 125 cm. Simple, grooved, yet sober and imposing the sword was little personalised with perhaps the only exception of ring like pommel bearing the following aproximate cyrilic inscription in archaic Romanian ,,IO STEFAN, VOIVOD AL MOLDOVII,, meaning : I, Stephen, the ruler of Moldavia. This almost mythical, battle forged sword, became more or less claimed by Romanians as a national trasure and symbol; Stephen used to hold it like a cross by the edge after the battle announcing a Christian victory.
Later in time, the Turks however, took it as war booty and spectacular trophy, triumphantly presented to the sultan who deposited with the most prized treasures at the Royal Palace in Istanbul, today`s Topkapi National Museum of Turkey, where the sword still remains in display, secondary in importance to only some pieces like the swords of Prophet Mohammed, also in exhibit there.
Romanians, in this last decade, personally or trough cultural and historical societies started presurising their own government to request and negociate the retutn of this national symbol.
As a result of this much mediated national crisis, in the year 2001 situation became so critical that contacts have been made at the highest political level from both president of Romania. Mr. Ion Iliescu and his ,,adverse,, counterpart, Mr. Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the president of Turkey. Hence, international negotiations began imediatelly but even so, the only one most notable result by far was the temporary loan of Stephen the Great`s sword from Topkapyi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul to the National Art Museum of Romania in Bucharest. That happened in July 2004, exactly 500 years after the death of Stephen the Great, so after half a millenium the extremelly disputed weapon revisited homeland, alongside other two Moldavian nobiliary swords from the same period . With this bycentenial ocassion from his death other exhibitions in Paris, Vatican and other important cities were hosted.
No sign however yet from the Turkish government to announce intentions of return of this national treasures, still the festivities underwent peacefully in a happy celebration of both rich national heritages, leaving behind any historical rivalry as the president of Romania stated : "The presence in Bucharest of Stephen the Great's battle sword represents an important moment in the bilateral relations between the two countries, confirming over the centuries the ruler's vision about the need for tight relations between the two nations" ... "Stephen the Great's deeds are a model and a yardstick for his successors. He was a man of his times"...""At the moment, the sword is playing a different role. It is a link between two countries and peoples in one of the most difficult battles, that for building a world of reason, security, peace and wisdom" while the head curator of the National Art Museum Mrs. Roxana Theodorescu affirmed: ""I believe that this is the most important event of the year 2004, the year devoted to Stephen the Great" ... And commentaries went on and on from TV, journals and countless VIP`s : ministers, diplomats, historians and artists each one with its own opinion and speech... Still I wasnt there to take a picture of the sword and could not find one anywhere ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The Romanian Academy Encyclopedia, Bucharest, 1977
The Romanian Minerva Encyclopedia, Bucharest, 1936
The Wikipedia Encyclopedia on-line edition
David Nicole - Armies of the Otoman Turks 1300-1774 by Osprey Publications, Oxford - 1983
Corina Firuta - Romania, Editura ZoomSoft
Nicolae Iorga - History of Romania, Iasi 1938
Grigore Jitaru - Blazoane domnesti in Tara Romaneasca si Moldova in sec XII - XV

8th December 2004, 11:47 PM	#7
Mare Rosu Deceased Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: USA, DEEP SOUTH, GEORGIA, Y'all hear? Posts: 121	RADU'S reason for your help!! Pulled out from the old Viking forum. So that you can see why it is very important to Radu that if you can get a photograph of the Great Sword. He need his soul for other things. Radu has helped all of us so it would be nice to reciprocate the favor. Dedicated to my dear pal, Mr. Earl G. Beall whos contagious positive energy and hunger for knowledge have been so motivating to me lately... Thank you for being my friend, Gene ! Radu F. THE AMAZING STORY AND JOURNEY OF THE STEPHEN THE GREAT`S SWORD Certain unique weapons and armour pieces, most particularly the guns and swords belonging to extraordinary people have undoubtly been the subject of many fantastic stories in their time of deeds of facts but very few have transceded to raise crises or make the news headlines now, past their age of glory, such as this one... So, here is a different lecture in the Forum, a contemporary story, a live happening and long expected event by many, including myself ... Ever since I was a kid back in my Transylvanian homelands I was fascinated by the figur and life of one of our Romanian medieval rulers, Stephen the Great, known to us Romanians as Stefan cel Mare. He was the quintesential Moldavian medieval ruler (1457-1504), he embodied the national spirit and the archetype of the Eastern European, at the time he was mainly famous as crusader against expanding imperial Ottoman forces but he also fought succesfully or less against other threatening neighbours like Poland or Hungary, at times friends rather than enemies however. As the very complicated web of political interests in a gothic medieval age dictated, he was friend or foe to even with his relatives, like the infamous ruler of Wallachia, Vlad The Impaler, or Dracula, as he mistankelly remains baptised by the history. So, many battles and campaigns have been fought and won consistently by this arguably righteous and legendary autocrat in the name of his people, for posterity bringing him even the status of Saint by the local Greek-Orthodox church of Romania few years ago and therefore named is now canonised as Stephen the Great and Holly (Stefan Cel Mare si Sfant). Late in life, his power grew weak like his health and so was the country in the end paying tribute but not ceased to lose the soveranity of its country. However, one remarcable things he did lost to the Ottoman army (undated and untold) and that was his famous weapon, THE BATTLE SWORD. Stephen the Great, ironically, was not a man of an imposing physique appearance, rather short but still muscular and with a pleasant face. His sword, unlike him, a very stylish monarch of Bysantine fashion, rivaling if not surpasing many courts of western Europe, was a plain and fairly large straight, classic, European medieval steel with a 102 cm blade and a total length of 125 cm. Simple, grooved, yet sober and imposing the sword was little personalised with perhaps the only exception of ring like pommel bearing the following aproximate cyrilic inscription in archaic Romanian ,,IO STEFAN, VOIVOD AL MOLDOVII,, meaning : I, Stephen, the ruler of Moldavia. This almost mythical, battle forged sword, became more or less claimed by Romanians as a national trasure and symbol; Stephen used to hold it like a cross by the edge after the battle announcing a Christian victory. Later in time, the Turks however, took it as war booty and spectacular trophy, triumphantly presented to the sultan who deposited with the most prized treasures at the Royal Palace in Istanbul, today`s Topkapi National Museum of Turkey, where the sword still remains in display, secondary in importance to only some pieces like the swords of Prophet Mohammed, also in exhibit there. Romanians, in this last decade, personally or trough cultural and historical societies started presurising their own government to request and negociate the retutn of this national symbol. As a result of this much mediated national crisis, in the year 2001 situation became so critical that contacts have been made at the highest political level from both president of Romania. Mr. Ion Iliescu and his ,,adverse,, counterpart, Mr. Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the president of Turkey. Hence, international negotiations began imediatelly but even so, the only one most notable result by far was the temporary loan of Stephen the Great`s sword from Topkapyi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul to the National Art Museum of Romania in Bucharest. That happened in July 2004, exactly 500 years after the death of Stephen the Great, so after half a millenium the extremelly disputed weapon revisited homeland, alongside other two Moldavian nobiliary swords from the same period . With this bycentenial ocassion from his death other exhibitions in Paris, Vatican and other important cities were hosted. No sign however yet from the Turkish government to announce intentions of return of this national treasures, still the festivities underwent peacefully in a happy celebration of both rich national heritages, leaving behind any historical rivalry as the president of Romania stated : "The presence in Bucharest of Stephen the Great's battle sword represents an important moment in the bilateral relations between the two countries, confirming over the centuries the ruler's vision about the need for tight relations between the two nations" ... "Stephen the Great's deeds are a model and a yardstick for his successors. He was a man of his times"...""At the moment, the sword is playing a different role. It is a link between two countries and peoples in one of the most difficult battles, that for building a world of reason, security, peace and wisdom" while the head curator of the National Art Museum Mrs. Roxana Theodorescu affirmed: ""I believe that this is the most important event of the year 2004, the year devoted to Stephen the Great" ... And commentaries went on and on from TV, journals and countless VIP`s : ministers, diplomats, historians and artists each one with its own opinion and speech... Still I wasnt there to take a picture of the sword and could not find one anywhere ... BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Romanian Academy Encyclopedia, Bucharest, 1977 The Romanian Minerva Encyclopedia, Bucharest, 1936 The Wikipedia Encyclopedia on-line edition David Nicole - Armies of the Otoman Turks 1300-1774 by Osprey Publications, Oxford - 1983 Corina Firuta - Romania, Editura ZoomSoft Nicolae Iorga - History of Romania, Iasi 1938 Grigore Jitaru - Blazoane domnesti in Tara Romaneasca si Moldova in sec XII - XV