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Originally Posted by Gonzalo G
... Which is your source? I don´t have much confidence in literary sources. They must be revised carefully ... But you are not speaking of Cervantes, so, which is your source? ...
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Well Gonzalo, what can i say ? The guy is certainly more an intelectual than an arms technician; but he appears to have some lights in arms evolution.
His name is Alfredo Guimarães (1882-1958); Museum Director, member of the Academy of Fine Arts.
In the first part of the book prologue, he says:
The peninsular subsoil, rich in mineral species like silver, copper, tin and iron, was celebrated by the antiquity geologists and, upon it, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians , Romans, Visigoths, Persians and Arabs developed their industrial activity, until the politic religious unification which crystallized, in the occident, the triumphs of the reconquest.
Giving the Phoenicians a notable activity in the works of argent and copper matters, exercised above all in the peninsular coast, and to the Visigoths a certain personality in the works of goldsmithery and numismatic, in reality, on what concerns the construction of defence weapons conceived in terms of art, we only possess notice of Roman and Persian-Arabic production, occidental, being in this way able to establish, under influence of the two peoples, the path that drives us in this matter, until the beginning of our national life.
Roman and Arabic armoury are however two kinds of under the artistic point of view, determine, in the form as in the technique, the domain of two civilizations fundamentally heterogeneous. One being Latin and the other Oriental, marking therefore poles opposed in character and development of their respective workshops, Roman civilization left us a sword model of vertical disposition, short and solid, but absent of artistic attires, whereas, under designation of peoples to which decorative arts were always an indispensable attraction, Oriental civilization impregnated us with inflexed armoury, damascened and sometimes enamelled, under active effect of artistic faculties. Therefore, in the military combats that took place after the 711 Arabic invasion, Asturians and Leonese used their (straight) swords of Roman tradition, in contrast to Persians and Arabs that exhibited the re curved models of their country of origin. The Reconquest fights intensified and submitted to Christian power the Persians and Arabs of the center and north of the Iberian peninsula, there can be no doubt that Muslim arts soon exercised certain influence spirit is western armoury and is by influx of the same that, in Mozarab artistic activity, of vertical sword, which was supported, as said before, in the Roman model, suffering t5he effects – at least in the superior part of the pieces – of the aptitude and elegance of the artists of neo-christian workshops. From where logically, the specimens appeared by mid IX century, in Spain, Portugal and the French Midi, and which development in European territory can not be denied.
Then the author weaves considerations on the evolution of the sword, mainly on their artistic side, which i roughly sinthetize here:
Figure 1. The so called Frank sword, on which setup we can still see a a Roman architectural trace, but also exhibiting Mossarab innovations, in the pommel, grip and guard.
Figure 2. The shape of the XI, XII and XIII centuries, to which we owe a lot.
Figure 3. The so called Gineta.
Figure 4. The evolution of “Passot” and “Gavilanes” (quillons).
Figure 5. The so called fallen cross sword.
Figure 6. The Carlos V (Spain) “Espadão” (large sword), dedicated to chiefs of the Lansquenets.
Figure 7. Another Espadão, with various innovations like, for the hand protection, thick flocks of silk, which also served as decoration.
Figure 8. The Mandoble (two handed), of dimension prolongated to two and half meters, with a blade of Arab artistic expression (XV century).
Figure 9. A sword of highly decorative values, XVI century.
Figure 10 and 11. Lace swords, for Aristrocacy dressing, but ending up being used for combat in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania.
Figure 12. The Lighthouse or Eslavona sword, particularly esteemed in Italy and Spain, and here, in a special manner in Cataluñia and Valencia.
Figure 13,14 and 15. The Cazoleta, Concha (shell) and Taza (cup) swords; provenient from Spain, mainly after the usurpation period (Filipes), with the most perfect and complete influences of Oriental art.
Figure 16. The sword of King Dom joão I, Mestre de Aviz (XIV century).
Figure 17. The sword of Nuno Alvares Pereira (the hero of Aljubarrota – XIV century).
So sorry if i went much off topic; hoping some of this material has the minimum interest.
Fernando
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