Smallsword Info (named Sebastian Ernandes)

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

... Is this related to the cedilla (ceda) and zeda Çç? I see the cedilla in older Spanish texts, probably into the late 17th maybe early 18th centuries?

To put it simple, without digging into academic origins of the alphabet, like the letter Z being rebaptized Zeta by the old Greeks and all, the letter designed by Palomares in his chart, which looks like it doesn't betray the one in the punzones of Sebastian Hernandez, is a minuscle manuscript Z. Perhaps we ought to consider how writing styles were 'flexible' during early periods, specially if sword smiths were not so literate. I understand that, looking at that mark with our modern eyes, we are driven to see a 3 instead of a Z ... which is wrong.
Mind you, if iam talking nonsense don't tie me to whiping post .

Originally Posted by Interested Party

...Second question: Which of these two diagrams regarding pas d'ane is correct, or is it relative to which language you are discussing sword anatomy in?...

Based on the article provided above by Radboud, which perfectly sounds like a reliable source, the legitimate pas d'ane is depicted in post #13 and the misinterpreted one shown inpost #15. Whether its wrong assumption was due to a language miscarriage i wouldn't know, but (free) translating the first paragraphs from the said source we have that:

To avoid further derailing the discussion on the 1788 sword, here is another subject relating to the donkey step.

The donkey step (pas d'ane) is often understood to be the rings present on the hilt of court swords and rapiers.
This is an error which seems to have crept into the vocabulary of collectors in the 19th century. Indeed, if there are very few clear definitions of the term, the most precise is given to us by Sr. Phillibert de la Touche in his famous treatise "The true principles of the sword alone, published in 1670".
De La Touche therefore explains to us here that the guard plate is made up of two pas d'ane, which are its two bivalve parts. The big one and the little one ...
(The whole article is to long to transcribe here).



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