Boabdil swords and Jineta

Jim McDougall · 26th October 2018, 06:47 PM

That thread from 2008 was a remarkable exercise, and had a great deal of information about the Hispano-Moresque swords (Boabdil was only one user of them rather than a descriptive term). The term 'jineta' refers to light horseman and may derive from the Berber 'zanete' with similar meaning for the light cavalry used in Spain responding to Umayyad invaders in the 8th century.

It does not seem that the stylistic form regarded as 'jineta' (but also Nasrid) became known until 13th century during the 'Reconquista' ending the Muslim rule in Andalusia in 1491.....that was where Boabdil the Nasrid ruler was defeated.

While this synopsis is perhaps not as accurate as more thorough research might reveal, it gives an idea of the time frame.

Swords of the Nasrid/Hispano-Moresque styles are pretty rare, and I know only of examples in museums in Spain. They are best described in Calvert (1907), "Spanish Arms & Armour", although Nicolle's works have great coverage as noted in the discussions in the linked thread. Bibliographies there as well as even in the Osprey monographs are very thorough.

In the original thread there was some great discussion which I enjoyed very much and Marc (who left shortly later) and Gonzalo added outstanding and detailed research.

It was the brilliant input by Ibrahiim several years later that brought in a good deal of outstanding and pertinent data and insight showing comparisons and plausible connections and differences between these and more recent Arab swords. That input actually brought back Gonzalo from hiatus and rekindled more valuable discussion.

Hopefully this gives a bit of overview that might be helpful. I think the discussions in the link attached here are more on the overall style of the Nasrid swords in which the 'drooping quillons' were a distictive feature.

26th October 2018, 06:47 PM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,371	That thread from 2008 was a remarkable exercise, and had a great deal of information about the Hispano-Moresque swords (Boabdil was only one user of them rather than a descriptive term). The term 'jineta' refers to light horseman and may derive from the Berber 'zanete' with similar meaning for the light cavalry used in Spain responding to Umayyad invaders in the 8th century. It does not seem that the stylistic form regarded as 'jineta' (but also Nasrid) became known until 13th century during the 'Reconquista' ending the Muslim rule in Andalusia in 1491.....that was where Boabdil the Nasrid ruler was defeated. While this synopsis is perhaps not as accurate as more thorough research might reveal, it gives an idea of the time frame. Swords of the Nasrid/Hispano-Moresque styles are pretty rare, and I know only of examples in museums in Spain. They are best described in Calvert (1907), "Spanish Arms & Armour", although Nicolle's works have great coverage as noted in the discussions in the linked thread. Bibliographies there as well as even in the Osprey monographs are very thorough. In the original thread there was some great discussion which I enjoyed very much and Marc (who left shortly later) and Gonzalo added outstanding and detailed research. It was the brilliant input by Ibrahiim several years later that brought in a good deal of outstanding and pertinent data and insight showing comparisons and plausible connections and differences between these and more recent Arab swords. That input actually brought back Gonzalo from hiatus and rekindled more valuable discussion. Hopefully this gives a bit of overview that might be helpful. I think the discussions in the link attached here are more on the overall style of the Nasrid swords in which the 'drooping quillons' were a distictive feature.