Wallachian Swords of the 15th Century: What Types?

[Evgeny_K]

Originally Posted by Teisani

You're welcome. By the way, do you have any additional info for this sabre? Maybe some additional photos to share? It's a really nice specimen.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...2&postcount=15

I can make some shots in a couple of days.
And if you're inetested here are some additional pics of the previous sword (after it was cleaned):
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25450

[Teisani]

Originally Posted by Evgeny_K

...here are some additional pics of the previous sword (after it was cleaned)...

Thank you Evgeny, it's an interesting specimen, to say the least. I don't know much about these two-handed sabres, but I do have a couple of observations:

- the square-ish pommel and cross-guard are fairly similar to ones found on swords uncovered in the Carpatian basin and to the East of it (Moldova). As you mentioned this sabre was found near Moldova (see here http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...7&postcount=70).
- The sabres in the Chronicon Pictum are mostly depicted in the hands of magyars (conquest period) and cumans, so mostly E-Europe steppe nomads.
Remember that Moldova (pre-Mongol) invasion was politically part of Cumania. And the medieval state of Moldova started out in 1343 as a defence borderland (Marcă de graniţă/Grenzemark /Határőrgrófság) for the Kingdom of Hungary against the Tatars. The same Kingdom of Hungary depicted in the Chronicon Pictum, probaly done in the ~1370s (see Ariel's explanation here http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...6&postcount=94).
- The blade shape is interesting, the single fuller, the yelman, it could be considered just a variation on 15th century S-guard two-handed, Hungarian sabres. But I would argue that this could be a transitional form from the steppe sabre to the 14th century sabre. The single fuller isn't unheard of by that time, see the example here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...16-12-29_p.jpg)

So one hypothesis is that it could be a 1300s-1400s sabre from Hungary/Transylvania/Moldova asociated with the Cumans in these regions.

[Teisani]

Originally Posted by Teisani

- The blade shape is interesting, the single fuller, the yelman, it could be considered just a variation on 15th century S-guard two-handed, Hungarian sabres. But I would argue that this could be a transitional form from the steppe sabre to the 14th century sabre. The single fuller isn't unheard of by that time, see the example here:

Ah yes, and here's a steppe nomad sabre with a single wide fuller and a yelman. So we can say that these features existed by that time.

[Evgeny_K]

Dear Teisani, thank you for very interesting hypothesis. So you think this sword is earlier than 15th century S-guard Hungarian sabres?

[Teisani]

Originally Posted by Evgeny_K

Dear Teisani, thank you for very interesting hypothesis. So you think this sword is earlier than 15th century S-guard Hungarian sabres?

My guess is that it could be from the mid 1300s to the mid 1400s, an archaic form of the more familiar S-quillon sabres. But this is just a guess based solely on my above stated arguments. Do you have any idea if it was found north or south of Moldova?

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By the way, do you know where this one was found? http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...2&postcount=15

[Teisani]

Oh, and a possible period depiction of a S-quilloned sabre can be found here:
https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File...Capistrano.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...t%C3%A1ban.jpg

L'Aquila, Museo Nationale, Maestro di San Giovanni da Capistrano (Giovanni di Bartolomeo dell’Aquila), cc.1480-1485.
The four side panels represent scenes of the saint's life [counter-clockwise]: in the upper left panel, Holy Mass celebrated on the battle field in the presence of the Crusaders below it, the Battle of Belgrade, where the Crusaders fought against the Turks in the top right panel, a sermon given by St. John in L'Aquila, during which some possessed people were healed. in the background is the Cathedral of St. Maximus, as it would appear before the catastrophic earthquake of 1703 that destroyed it almost completely. in the lower right panel, the death of the saint. The panel, dated between 1480 and 1485 (and then just thirty years after the death of the saint) was first attributed to Sebastiano di Cola from Casentino; later on, to a "Maestro delle Storie di S. Giovanni da Capestrano", who also authored "St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata", stored in the same room of the museum. According to the latest studies, this Maestro should be identified with Giovanni di Bartolomeo from Aquila, as recorded in Naples by a notary deed of June 1448: this painter shows a Gothic formation in his meticulous attention to detail, and a Renaissance influence in the use of perspective and volumes.

Siege of Belgrade 1456, depiction from 1480-85. The Ottomans are depicted as having S-quilloned sabres, though single-handed and without pommels.

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Teisani

Oh, and a possible period depiction of a S-quilloned sabre can be found here:

Very interesting and not one I have seen before. Thanks for sharing so much in this excellent thread!

There are a number of artworks from around 1470-1510, from Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia, that show very well this distinctive Southeastern-European style of hilt, mostly on straight-bladed swords. The Austrian image database is a good resource for this:

https://www.imareal.sbg.ac.at/en/realonline/

[Teisani]

Originally Posted by Evgeny_K

...So you think this sword is earlier than 15th century S-guard Hungarian sabres?

I just noticed that almost all the swords and sabres depicted in the Chronicon Pictum have long handles, which makes me wonder just how accurate are these representations. Surely not all swords of that period where two-handed.

[Teisani]

Swords of Stephen III the Great/Ştefan al III-lea cel Mare of Moldova (born 1438-39, ruled 1457–1504).

A nice article by Radu Oltean can be found here: http://art-historia.blogspot.com/202...-istanbul.html

About the sword of Stephen in Istanbul

Some thoughts about the swords of "Stephen the Great" from Istanbul, after browsing the book by Mr. Andrei Adrian Rusu, "Stephan the Great and the Moldavians of his time". But also some personal opinions, settled over time.
The weapons used by Moldovans in the 15th century were overwhelmingly imported. The vast majority from the Saxon cities, Brașov, Sibiu, Bistrița. For these cities, the export of weapons to Moldova was one of the main sources of income. However, certain more special weapons were brought even further, from Germany or Italy. And not just weapons. The study of archaeological findings suggests that all the knives or razors discovered in archaeological excavations in Moldova are imported. It is estimated that over 50% of weaponry of any kind was imported, especially high-performance weapons involving special technology or steels. Also, much of the bows and arrows were imported from the Saxon cities. The few craftsmen from Moldova that we know about were all foreigners, such as the bow maker from Suceava, a Saxon (his tombstone was preserved).

But not only the weapons but also most of the tools were all brought from Transylvania: awls, saws, axes, beards, then locks, keys, hinges, etc. Moldova had no iron. Who would have made high-performance weapons in Moldova? Crossbows, swords of good steel...Not to mention chain mail. Moldova did not have cities like those in Transylvania or Poland where there were guilds producing metal objects, a metallurgical industry that required high technological knowledge. And guilds to qualify craftsmen to high standards.

Another important source of weapons was wars. Many other weapons were obtained as spoils from battles, kept in the lord's arsenal and later given to the "braves". However, it is very likely that there were numerous repair workshops in Moldova.

Swords were weapons that not everyone had access to. They were expensive weapons and (although apparently simple) difficult to produce. The steel had to be of good quality. The rarity of swords and swords from medieval Moldova is supported by both sources and archaeological discoveries. And all the few discovered are from before the era of Ștefan, these are swords from the end of the 14th century, the beginning of the 15th.

The swords of Istanbul are of German origin. There is an Ottoman inventory of the swords looted from Suceava by Suleiman the Magnificent which names them very clearly: "German swords, narrow swords, with a sharp point" (approximate translation from Turkish). Western specialists, emotionally and patriotically uninvolved (such as the British military historian David Nicolle) have opined that all the Istanbul swords come from the same source (as production) and are of a characteristic German type and only the knobs of two of them, one being the one with inscription, are local products, added in Moldova. David Nicolle is the first to suggest that the guns could have been imported in pieces (separate blade, separate guard, etc.) and assembled in a local workshop. The silver thread on the sword hilt with the inscribed button was also added locally.

All the Istanbul swords (there are 3) are the same length, suggesting that they belonged to the same person. A prince did not have "one sword" but most likely a group of identical weapons. When you ordered, you didn't order one, but 10. The three swords were, as a model, an outdated one for Stephen's era. It is true that on the button with Slavonic inscription a Ștefan, the "gospodar" (ruler) of Moldova is mentioned". But before Stephen the Great, there were two "masters" with the name Stephen, who could rather be the ones referred to by the inscription on the button.
Stephen I (1394-1399) and Stephen II (1433-1435/1442-1447). Stephen the Great is Stephen III. The swords were looted together with the entire royal treasury from Suceava Citadel by Suleiman the Magnificent during the campaign to punish Petru Rareș (1538).

Adrian Andrei Rusu suggests that the sources that mention "Moldovan" or "Wallachian" weapons refer to the hand of the one who used the weapon, not to the craftsman who made it.

In short. Swords were not made in Moldova. There could be workshops to adapt, complete, repair them. Specialized craftsmen who came to Moldova to "sharpen" weapons are attested from Brașov. So even the blade sharpeners were "imported". The swords in Istambul are produced in a German workshop sometime in the early 15th century. They most likely belonged to one of the two Ștefan lords who preceded "the Great".

[Teisani]

And few more photos:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...4&postcount=16
http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.30137.html
https://sword-site.com/thread/769/sw...t-iii-moldavia