Late medieval swords from Southeastern Europe

[Reventlov]

Inspired by this thread on Wallachian swords, I'd like to expand the discussion to Southeastern Europe as a whole, and cover the interesting and distinctive features of 15th- and early 16th-century swords from this region. The most comprehensive resource for this topic is Marko Aleksic's excellent book, Mediaeval Swords from Southeastern Europe, which he has made available in full on Academia.edu.

At the time, the dominant Christian power in this region was the kingdom of Hungary, and the distribution of knightly swords with unusual "Eastern" features roughly corresponds with the Hungarian sphere of influence, particularly to the south and east. Some interesting examples can also be found from the kingdom's northern and western periphery, including Poland, Bohemia, Austria, and modern Ukraine. There are also important connections with Italy, stemming in particular from the colonial and mercantile activities of Venice, and exemplified by the well-known spada schiavonescas ("Slavic swords") associated with Balkan soldiers in Venetian service.

For reference are the approximate territorial divisions in 1444, on the eve of the Ottoman victory in the Battle of Varna.

- Mark

[Reventlov]

The interesting example of the sword of Stephen the Great of Moldavia (r. 1457-1504) has been raised here. The blade has four fullers at the hilt, decreasing to three, two, and one towards the tip. Many-fullered blades are unusually common in Southeastern Europe, and can be classified as Oakeshott's type XX, and further subtypes defined by Marko Aleksic.

As stated here, the blade was likely produced in one of the Saxon cities of Transylvania, though there are a few many-fullered blades with markings that indicate an Italian origin. The unique hilt, with a Slavic inscription identifying its owner, is likely of local Moldavian manufacture. The now-missing medallions on each side of the pommel probably displayed the Moldavian aurochs and Stephen's personal coat-of-arms. By comparison with other examples and artwork, I see no reason to doubt that the sword made for Stephen III (the Great), and not one of his earlier namesakes. Aleksic has suggested a date of c. 1480.

Some alternative theories of the sword's origin are discussed here and elsewhere. There is apparently a persistent story (rather myth, I suspect) that the sword was a gift from Pope Sixtus IV in 1475, after a victory for which Stephen was dubbed Athleta Christi. I have not seen any actual source cited for this claim. Another claim, which does rest on documentary evidence, is that Stephen once ordered a sword (or swords?) from the Genoese, who maintained trading posts in Moldavia. This is cited in a Romanian article by Carol König, "Armamentul din dotarea oastei Moldovei în timpul domniei lui Stefan Cel Mare (1457-1504)." There is apparently nothing to directly link the existing sword to this request, and I think the Transylvanian origin remains the most plausible explanation.

- Mark

[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