Late medieval swords from Southeastern Europe

[Teisani]

More info on Moldovan swords at Topkapı Sarayı, Istambul. Looking through Carol König's paper I noticed that thee were 3 swords with multi-fullered blades. The sword with a single fuller and Dragos's coat of arms is missing. Which meant that there were 4 Moldovan swordst the palace. So I remembered that there is an older source in regarding these swords. "Buletinul Comisiunii Monumentelor Istorice 1935 anul XXVIII" contains the article "Odoare romăneşti la Stambul" by Emil Vârtosu. I posted it here for convenience (in Romanian), but the short version is this:

There are 3 Moldovan swords, in Fig.17, from left to right:

- 2635, the one with Dragos's coat of arms. No crosses, but a finely engraved sigil on the blade. Total length 126cm. It also mentions of a similar coat of arms of Bogdan I copied during the 15th century, residing at the Romanian Academi, ms. 5219. I have to look into that.

- 2636, Stephen's sword, with 4 crosses engraved on both sides of the blade the blade. Total length 125cm.

- 2637, the one with the aurochs & striped-shield coat of arms, 4 crosses engraved on both sides of the blade. Total length 126-127cm.

Other candidates:

- 2638, identical guard, and general shape to 2636 and 2367, same 4 crosses engraved. Pommel deteriorated, coat of arms discs on the pommel - missing. Total length 128-129cm.

- 2639, pommel deteriorated, no coat of arms, bent guard, 3 cosses instead of 4 but of similar placements. Total length 151cm.

- 2633 and 2343, similar guards as 2635's, finely engraved sigil on the blade. Coat of arms discs on the pommel - missing.

Note:
- the author likens the crosses to Maltese ones. Don't remember seeing goob photos of them on the originals, but on this gift replica given by the Turkish state to the Muzeul Manastirii Putna Romania (last photo).
- Konig's picture seems to be of 2638, 2636 & 2637 (left to right).

Of course, this article is old, and we would need some quality pictures of these additional swords to decide, although I think 2638 is probably from the same workshop as 2636 and 2637.

Source: https://patrimoniu.ro/images/BCMI/Bu...nul-XXVIII.pdf

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Teisani

So I remembered that there is an older source in regarding these swords. "Buletinul Comisiunii Monumentelor Istorice 1935 anul XXVIII" contains the article "Odoare romăneşti la Stambul" by Emil Vârtosu.

Great! Helpful photos for comparison. So much information to find in old articles - thanks for sharing. Probably the most comprehensive piece in English is David Alexander's two-part "European swords in the collections of Istanbul", in Waffen- und Kostümkunde (1985 and 1987). I do not think it is available online. I can share some images but the quality is not good.

Here are photos of the four-crosses mark on three of the four Moldavian swords. I think a common origin can be safely assumed.

No. 2639 has a type XXb blade, while the hilt has stereotypical Hungarian features: recurved quillons and squarish pommel. The marks on it are a little different: two thick crosses, and between them what seems to be an Italianate "twig" or knot mark. This thread is useful for comparison. Later I will share some examples that have more clearly Italian markings.

No. 2643 has the same type of hilt and is of more typical proportions. I will add also no. 2634, which appears to be another XXb, but the style of hilt is one very common in Germany at this time. The guards of both of these are covered in silver foil, which seems to be a Hungarian/Transylvanian trend. These and a number of other similar and contemporary swords are generally assumed to have been taken from Hungary by the Ottomans after the Battle of Mohacs (1526).

- Mark

[Reventlov]

I was already intending to post about no. 2633 next, as it has some other different but distinct features. The pommel is generally similar to previous examples, but octagonal instead of square. The guard is also silvered, and includes a tubular "rainguard" around the base of the blade. This can also be seen on the Dragoș sword. Alexander suggests this is another typical feature of Southeastern European swords (though it is not exclusively so). There is a coat-of-arms on the blade, half of bars (difficult to make out in photo) and half of teeth(?), which might refer to the house of Báthory.

[Teisani]

One more sword with typical East European features. Not sure where I got this pic from. Multiple fullers (very similar to those on Stephen's, although a bit wavy). S-guard associated with the Kingdom of Hungary. Square-ish pommel.

[Teisani]

More frescos from Dobromir the painter (before 1526) - church of the Argeș monastery, Wallachia. Triple fullers. http://clasate.cimec.ro/detaliu.asp?...08BEAC98E52292
http://clasate.cimec.ro/detaliu.asp?...1226B3B7C78102
http://clasate.cimec.ro/Detaliu_en.a...35AEC4ECF786F3
http://clasate.cimec.ro/Detaliu_en.a...E7A44BF19C41C7
http://clasate.cimec.ro/detaliu.asp?...60C3C0518072E4
http://clasate.cimec.ro/detaliu.asp?...65AFDBAC6AAD6C
http://clasate.cimec.ro/detaliu.asp?...9EA588D0529B3A
http://clasate.cimec.ro/Detaliu.asp?...78465BEFE65A33

The church of the Argeș monastery, founded by ruler Neagoe Basarab and Despina, was consecrated with great pomp on August 15, 1517. On this date, the monastic buildings were not finished either, the church being unpainted. The painting of the monument will be done during the reign of Radu de la Afumați (1522/1523 – 1524/1529) married to Neagoe's daughter, Roxanda, finishing in 1526, as the painted picture in the porch informs us. The text of the writing also tells us that the delay in the execution of the painting was due to the wars with the Turks, and it was completed on September 10. 1526 by Dobromir, at the urging of Mrs. Despina.

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Teisani

One more sword with typical East European features. Not sure where I got this pic from. Multiple fullers (very similar to those on Stephen's, although a bit wavy). S-guard associated with the Kingdom of Hungary. Square-ish pommel.

I found it! Source is here, the sword is in the Jósa András Museum, in Hungary. Very typical features overall, though the fuller arrangement (like the Moldavian swords) is not quite the norm - this is nitpicking though. This kind of roughly octagonal pommel, often very irregular in shape, is a common alternative/variant of the more strictly square and "cat's head" pommels. Aleksic classifies them as subtype Z2, and dates them to approximately the late 14th to mid 15th century. They also appear quite often on Hungarian sabers of this period, like these two examples from the National Museum in Budapest.

[Teisani]

One more example with S-quillons. https://mandadb.hu/tetel/577309/Kardtoredek

[Reventlov]

Here is another distinctive sword in the Hungarian National Museum. The oblong octagonal pommel is similar to previous examples, but of higher quality with an inset emblem (possibly a coin?). The blade is again type XXb. The quillons have extended from an S-shape to a closed figure-8. Probably this coincides with the development of the famous German katzbalgers in the 16th century. The hilt has another cuff-like metal "rainguard" as seen on other presumably Hungarian swords posted above.





The museum has another very similar but much plainer example.


An overall very similar sword comes from the Dresden Armoury. The multi-fullered blade is stamped with distinctive knot-like marks that suggest an Italian origin, perhaps Belluno specifically. The marks on the first sword are likewise Italian in style.




A painting of c. 1505-15 in the Museum of Lower Austria shows a very similar sword (only a different pommel), and of course figure-8 guards are well-documented in Germany in this period. The painting and the Dresden sword have quillons which end in distinct knobs, which is seen in many other German artworks. These are absent in the two Hungarian swords, so perhaps this is a regional peculiarity within the international trend.