English blades

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

Oh yest ... it was, Jim.
We browse on the subject and we find, for one, a work by Basque historian José Antonio Azpiazu giving account that, in the XVII century, the steel of Mondragon, had conquered the Atlantic market, besides that of the Peninsula, and was exported to La Rochelle, but above all to Nantes. This city recieves important quantities of the precious product: 150 quintales (some 10 tons) in one ocasion, 1 500 quintales in another. In 1625 Antonio de Ibinarri and Arrasate Esteban de Larrinaga (both Basques) set up an enterprise to ship 1 000 quintales to France.They took a wise decision; to ship 100 quintales in separate ships, to prevent risks. Each quintal of steel costed 68 reales, a price slightly higher than that of iron.

Ahah! OK, I did not get the memo on that Fernando!
But it makes total sense that steel of that quality, and produced with such secret methods, would be exported, so thank you for that detail. Very much appreciated.