Late medieval swords from Southeastern Europe

[Reventlov]

The sword of Stephen the Great is preserved in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, along with two others of exactly the same type that surely come from the same workshop. On one of these the pommel medallions are intact and show the coat of arms of Moldavia and a partitioned device showing a barry field and a cross above a crescent (when viewed with the sword point up). This combination is very similar to coins issued in the earlier part of Stephen's reign, which differ only in having a rose in place of the crescent. This might suggest that the sword can be dated to this period specifically. The barry field, double-cross, and roses all appear in Stephen's personal arms as later recorded.

I don't know if the cross-and-crescent variant was used by Stephen at some point in time, or perhaps by a close family member. Interestingly, a similar combination of a barry field with a crescent and star does appear in the arms of the Wallachian Drăculești, including Vlad the Impaler (see coin) and his father, Vlad II. The crescent takes the higher position, probably signifying their subservience to the Ottomans.

- Mark

[Reventlov]

The Topkapi holds one other Moldavian sword, with a very similar hilt but different blade. The pommel medallions show the Moldavian aurochs, but without the accompanying star, crescent, and rose, and on the other side the arms of the house of Dragoș (Hungarian: Drágffy), descended from the first voivode of Moldavia in the 14th century. Stephen the Great's son Alexander was married to the daughter of Bartholomew Drágffy, who was count of the Székelys (1479-88) and voivode of Transylvania (1493-98).

The simplified Moldavian arms might refer to Stephen's predecessor as ruler of Moldavia, and the blade also appears to be older and simpler, with a single fuller. According to David Alexander, it carries marks in the shape of a unicorn and another quadruped, presumably a wolf. This combination occurs on many German swords of the 14th and 15th centuries.

- Mark

[Teisani]

Mark, thank you for this very detailed anwer. I have a few observations/addendums to make, but that may take a bit. Let me just start with these:

1 - Stephen the Great's request for a sword to the Genoese.
Please find attached (the parper you mentione above): "Armamentul din dotarea oastei Moldovei in timpul domniei lui Stefan cel Mare (1457 - 1504) by Carol W. König". In it we learn of a book by Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga (Acte și fragmente cu privire la istoria românilor adunate din depozitele de manuscrise ale Apusului, Volum 3, 1897), where we find the text regarding Stephen's request towards Gregorio de Reza (Genoese consul at Caffa, Crimea) about comissioning sword from Genoese makers. I chose to look at Iorga's text, because König's version is slightly modified.
Acte și fragmente cu privire la istoria românilor adunate din depozitele de manuscrise ale Apusului - Neculai Iorga
König's version is "una spada a la facione valachesca"
Iorga's version is "una spada ala facione velachesca"

The text from Iorga at pages 42-43 is:

"Genoa 18th of January 1468, Gregorio de Reza's request for reprisals,
Ihesus MCCCCLXVIII, die XV{I}II Ianuarii
Suplicatur coram magnifficensiis vestris, parte devoti vestri civis servitoris Gregorii de Reza. Le vostre magnificencie den saver como fomo electi in lo consulato de Caffa, meser Zoane de la Cabella, meser Calocio de Guizolfo e mi, e in l'ano de MCCCCLXIIII partimo de qui per andar in [Caffa] en andamo a ferir in Ihuihavia, dove [ci ri]trovamo cum Steffano Vaivoda, segnior de [la] Velachia-Bassa, alo quale prezentamo [molte] belle cosse, in le qualle era um bello {missing text, tear} baselardo dorato. El dicto Vaivoda ne p[rego] che volesemo cometer qui a Zenoa una spada ala facione velachesca; li respozemo, volentera la cometeremo, ma, perche Zenoa era monto lonzi da quelie parte, se si tosto non ne fose mandata, la soa segnoria dovesse aver paciencia. Subito scripsi mi a Christoforo campanario, lo qualle..."

Iorga's book can be found here: http://dspace.bcu-iasi.ro/handle/123456789/15468

Note: the text also says "um bello {missing text} baselardo dorato". Baselardo, as in baserald dagger? In "Princeps omni laude maior. O istorie a lui Ștefan cel Mare by Maria Magdalena Székely & Ștefan S. Gorovei" it is taken as mace/buzdugan, but that should be "mazza".

========================================

How did the swords end-up in Ottoman hands.

Well, the only info that I found was in "Cronici turceşti privind Ţările Române : Extrase. Volumul 1: Sec. XV – mijlocul sec. XVII" by Guboglu, Mihail & Mehmet, Mustafa 1966, page 270 (https://www.scribd.com/document/1224...e-Romane-Vol-1), the period source is Celālzāde Mustafa Çelebi’s chronicle "Tabakātu’ l-Memālik ve Derecātu’ l-Mesālik".

The basic idea is this:
In 1538 Suleiman I the Magnificent entered the city of Suceava, Moldova with his army. Voivode Petru Rares, to protect his wealth, buried it somewhere in Suceava, then fled. Suleiman finds out about this and orders Husein-aga to look for it. Husein-aga starts digging and eventually finds it. Among the treasures were "...swords encrusted with precious stones, German swords, very narrow swords with sharp points...". I have attached the excerpt below.

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Teisani

"Armamentul din dotarea oastei Moldovei in timpul domniei lui Stefan cel Mare (1457 - 1504) by Carol W. König". In it we learn of a book by Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga (Acte și fragmente cu privire la istoria românilor adunate din depozitele de manuscrise ale Apusului, Volum 3, 1897), where we find the text regarding Stephen's request towards Gregorio de Reza (Genoese consul at Caffa, Crimea) about comissioning sword from Genoese makers.

Brilliant! I had König's paper on hand, but could not trace the references any further. It's great to have the full text available.

Here is another example of what might have been called a sword a la facione Velachesca - from the history museum in Brașov, one of the Saxon towns of Transylvania. It dates probably to the late 15th or early 16th century. It is a classic example of Aleksic's subtype XXb: two-handed swords with broad, spatulate blades, having many fullers at the base. Blades of this kind can be found further west in Germany and Italy, but very many have hilts with squarish pommels and S-shaped quillons, which are particularly associated with the kingdom of Hungary. An example of this blade type can be seen in a Tyrolean painting, c. 1480.

https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/e...ork/jpxegN3GJ7

The square boss on an oblong pommel is another feature that seems to be almost exclusively Eastern European - I'll write about this separately. A maker's mark can be seen on the pommel of the Brașov sword, which is also quite unusual.

- Mark

[Teisani]

And people keep finding them...

http://strefahistorii.pl/article/496...wisku-w-polsce
http://ezamosc.pl/region/item/505-sr...eziony-w-ziemi

[Teisani]

Also these two: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=118

[Teisani]

Regarding the second sword, with Stephen's coat of arms, and your observations:
- the aurochs head coat of arms is pretty typical for Moldova of that period. Agreed, here are some other Moldovan coins from earlier periods.
- the shield with half stripes is also common. Agreed.
- the crescent moon and star/sun... One probable reason would be Stephen's victory over Radu the Handsome of Wallachia (a Draculescu himself) in 1473, battle during which his daughters were taken prisoners. In 1480 Stephen actually marries the youngest of them, Maria Voichiţa, which becomes his third wife.

The problem is regarding the dates He marries her in 1480, yet the coins change the coat of arms from 1480 to something else. I base this on the coins you posted. So, this is puzzling.

A few thoughts on the Basarab dinasty coat of arms (of which the Draculesti and Danesti where branches). According to "Basarabii Valahiei, studiu heraldic si genealogic" 2017 by Tiberiu Frăţilă-Felmer, the shield coat of arms with the sun and crescent moon start with Vladislav II of Wallachia and linked with his raids of Transylvania in 1456. The position of these two elements change according with his political needs. See bellow the papers hypotesized cronology of Basarab heraldry. Coincidentaly, the last time it was used was in 1480 by Basarab IV.

Paper in english here:
https://www.academia.edu/30095489/Ba..._and_genealogy

Oh, and a few fun facts.
- this guy, Balassa Menyhért (Hungarian) also has an aurochs on his coat of arms. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...5&postcount=27
- I wonder if Poland-Lithuania might also be a source for that shield coat of arms. I don't think it's likely but look here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C...arnenczyka.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C...int_768761.jpg

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Teisani

Also these two: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=118

Yes, these are good examples of this distinctive style of disc pommel with a square boss. The museum in Bucharest has at least five of them, judging from the photos I have seen.

The one I have picked out shares many features with the sword from Brașov, as does another exhibited in Ukraine: the blade is type XXb and the quillons taper towards a distinctive central block. The combination is quite distinctive, and probably these swords were made by Transylvanian Saxons. A loose pommel of this type comes from Haragîș, Moldova.

One sword of this type was recently acquired by a fellow forum member, and is discussed here: http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22279. The hilt is very similar, but the blade has a single fuller, as do several of the swords in Bucharest. Its provenance is not known, but I think it can be safely grouped with the others.

Another unique example of a square pommel boss is the sword of King Sigismund the Old of Poland, dated c. 1520.