foreign influence in european arns production?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by pallas

during the carolingian period, where not the frankish swords considered superior to those of the maghrib/middle east/byzantium by the muslims themselves and did not a brisk trade in frankish blades to muslim spain/sicily/maghrib exist, so much so that several popes issued edicts banning the sale of such weapons to the "infidels" over a period of a couple centuries?

Very good point Pallas! The Frankish swords were indeed considered of the highest quality, and the export of these blades is remarkable in the geographic scope covered. It seems at some earlier point, some of the processes used by the Celtibereans, and later by smiths in Andalusian regions were in some way transmitted to and incorporated into forging by the Franks. It is unclear whether these workers actually went to the Frankish regions to work, or whether the processes were diffused through trade and contact.
It does seem almost ironic that the Frankish swords eventually became so much more in demand.

Much of this is of course , not only the forging techniques, but the quality of the steel as well, which in many cases was simply a raw product imported, not involving foreign workers. In India, the wootz steel was of course readily available, but without the Persian smiths, the end product was quite different.

Best regards,
Jim