Dating the Schiavons sword

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by Cathey

Hi Victrix

I have tried to find a copy of The Collection of Arms of the Split City Museum (Split City Museum, 2012) by Goran Borčić , but it does not appear to be available anywhere. Would you be able to scan the pages relating to Schiavona’s for me?

I have also found some additional material by searching for the word Schiavona sword in Italian and French, and I am now able to start pulling my source material together.

I agree with your observations the more complex the hilt the newer the sword.

Attached is my oldest Schiavona which is has no lattice work and limited bars. I refer to this one as the second pattern and it dates from 1580 to around 1600.

Cheers Cathey

That’s a fabulous sword, Cathey! I think the plain iron pommels are also an indication of age. It seems the bronze ones with relief patterns and “cat’s ears” came later.

As I mentioned earlier, I obtained my copy of “The Collection of Arms of the Split City Museum” (Split City Museum, 2012) by Goran Borčić by chance when visiting the City of Split Museum on vacation (highly recommended!). Roman Emperor Diocletian retired to Split where he built a walled palace for himself. The old town of Split is built into the ruins of this palace and you can stay in hotels within the ancient palace walls. You could try to contact the museum to see if they still have copies of this publication for sale: https://www.mgs.hr/ and email muzej.grada.splita@mgst.net. Bear in mind that this is a substantial coffee table book and postage fees will likely be substantial. See some photos enclosed on the section covering schiavonas.