looking for these 500 years old swords

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by bvieira

And tell me Fernando do they know where they were made ? they are signed ?

Both swords in Madrid are signed: the one attributed to Fernando el Católico carries the name "Antonius", and the one in the Instituto Valencia de Don Juan is signed "Chataldo" (a.k.a. Cataldo). This name also appears on the sword of Francis I in the Musée de l'Armée, in Paris.

Jehan L'Hermite, who attended the Spanish court between 1587-1602, writes in his Passetemps of three master sword-smiths known as the "Buena Junta" who worked in Cuéllar, in Castile, "one hundred years ago" (so contemporary with Fernando and Francis). He records their names as Antonius, Kataldo, and Piero.

The old smiths of Cuéllar are mentioned in the famous novel Lazarillo de Tormes, published in 1554. Another passage mentions a priceless sword made by Antonio - admittedly a common name.

In a manuscript formerly owned by Íñigo López de Mendoza, 4th Duke of the Infantado (d. 1566), appears an illustration of the markings on "buenas espadas antiguas" which includes those of the "principal masters", Piero, Antonius, and Cataldo, and of their disciples. The illustrated markings attributed to Antonius and Cataldo correspond to those on the surviving swords. The mark of Piero matches that on the papal sword given to Juan II in 1446, which is signed "Pierus me fece". This sword certainly came to Spain from Italy, and predates the supposed Buena Junta... I wonder if the duke's illustration was based on the swords we know today, then in the royal collection, and confuses the work of different Pieros.