Jineta/nimcha/kattara

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... Ahhhh! The typical colonial discourse…the civilizing role of Europe into the rest of the (colonized) worl...And today, even the colonial notions about an Indo-Aryan “conquest” are deeply questioned, the idea of the “heroic white people” taking control of Europe in a great epic saga, ahhhh, a beautiful story...

Sostenga sus caballos, Gonzalo
The issue here is not such passionate angle of political influences, even if ancestral ones but, instead, questioning the plausibility of authors (and collectors and others) statements on determined swords provenances and their influence in shape throughout ages and peoples.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... We have seen that the quillons turned toward the blade is a centuries old use among the Oriental peoples, and that the strongly downcurved quillons were used first (before the Portuguese or the Spanish peoples) by the Berbers, at least from the 13th Century, if not before...

So true ... this not meaning that another people other than the one who first put up an implement, may adopt it, strictly or modified, and take it somewhere else, causing a new wave of influence. There even are records of such happenings, namely the case of ship cannon port holes, breech loading 'berços' cast system and other stuff ... what do i know?.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

And why the falcata is a Lusitania sword?...

And why need to ask ? We all know that such attribution is not correct; only in strict terms, that not in the ample reach of geographich context.
I just wonder how the author of such statement isn't also aware of that. But if he was, we wouldn't be here analizing such implausibilty ... although not one of the more screaming.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... As far I know, it is a Celtic-Iberian weapon ...

Although not at all a scholar, i have had my dosis of search on the so called Falcata Iberica, called Machaera Hispania by the Romans (as cited by Homero), and potentially descendent of the Helenic Kopis.
By the away, you are surely aware that the name Falcata was ony attributed in the XIX century. What it is not known, according to experts, is how Lusitanians called this sword... but this doesn't mean that they didn't used it. On the contrary, if Celtiberians made them (or copied them), we may realize that they passed on to their following breeds. It is not because early examples were recently found that original models didn't have their inheritance and evolution throughout time.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... and the notion of “Portugal” or “Spain” did not exist in that time...

But 'soon' came the concept of Roman "Hispania", as they called the whole Peninsula; Portugal came much later indeed.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... Numerous findings of falcatas with horse-head hilts were also made in the actual territory of Spain...

Horse head, bird head, undetermined grip, 'rectangular' grip without head ... Not only in Spain but in the whole Peninsula; there are currently dozens of sites with an excavated panoplia of these weapons and their paralel tipologies; i have seen (and saved) papers with enlightening charts.
... And i happen to have been offered a catalogue of a collection auctioned in 2003 with an outstanding set of these swords in exceptional conditions.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

...In the 16th Century those swords were buried for more than 1,300 years, and the Portuguese even didn´t know them, maybe until the 19th or 20th Century, when archaeological discoveries bring them to the modern knowledge.

The mentioned term was Lusitanian, not Portuguese... which makes a difference .

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

...This quote seems Portuguese-biased, who is the author? I have seem similar statements in Portuguese web sites. Very nationalistic...

There you go again. The author is not even Portuguese ...although he belongs in a family that has been in Portugal for almost three centuries. He certainly exacerbates on the Portuguese theme; but let it be his problem; we don't have to buy it, though.
Nevertheless this Gentleman holds in fact one of the largest collections of early weapons and tons of documentation mainly directed to the Indian route and discoveries period.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... And why the knuckleguard would be influence of the Portuguese? Contrary to the Spanish, they didn’t have presence in North Africa. In the 16th Century the Portuguese invasions to Morocco were defeated repeatedly by the Saadis, which also defeated the Ottoman intents.

A fair point of view but, still only in the coast, as anyway Portuguese never had enough military contingents to impose presence in the interior, either in Africa or elsewhere, they built and inhabited fortifications in over half dozen spots in the Moroccan coast during some three centuries, which in any case is also a presence; enough for both cultures ending up 'contaminating' eachother ... at least potentially; one has to go out to the village for groceries and bring with him some local gadgets ... or eventually engage in battle and capture or let capture one or two weapons. Isn't that also how these things happen ? .

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... At the end of the 16th Century, Portugal became a Spanish dominion.

... Which ended mid XVII century. But that was more of a monarchic issue; i don't think the Spaniards came over en masse. Notwithstanding cultural exhange already existed ... except for navigation and discoveries classified information, as often mentioned in chronicles .

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

...I lack of bibliography on Portuguese swords. I would like to see those with knuckleguards from the first half of the 16th Century, could you provide some examples?

Apart from the book i have been quoting, HOMENS ESPADAS E TOMATES, which is not only about such swords, and with all possible tagging implausibilities, i only know of another one called AS ARMAS E OS BARÕES by Eduardo Nobre, where also attributions may be discussable, on what touches the origin of swords being either Portuguese or Spanish; a common imprecision due to both countries interculture, namely or specially on what touches these weapons. That's why some authors prefer to attribute these swords the title of Iberian.
If you browse the search button of the forum under AS ARMAS E OS BARÕES it could be that you find a few pictures i posted of Eduardo Nobre's collection with contextual detail references.
... Plus the details i have already passed you on my half dozen examples. Did i also pass you their pictures ?


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