A mysterious Transylvanian sword : a Sino-Japanese influence possible ?

Radu Transylvanicus · 30th April 2005, 07:59 PM

I know as I initiated this quest for the origins of this sword that many options are available so I gave the title a very vague origin area: Sino (pan far Eastearn Asian, from China to Indochina) and Japanese and I just wanna say out of pure feeling of guess but pretty strong, however not too founded yet that my take is that the blade is of Japanese origins while the rest was styled by the Transylvanian armorer.
Perhaps the sword, rather a blade, found its way to Transylvania from Japan while fittings were in bad shape or maybe were not acceptable or "opulently rich" enough to please the ownership; obviously judging by the decoration the owner was beyond wealthy... How I wish we had a blade close-up photo !
One thing I do refuse to think, it is that the sword is of completely European facture 100%, without any direct influence, that I would not accept until someone bring some really solid argument or similar examples !
Quick note: the name inscribed Thomas Kapustran or Thomas Kapusi (as the exact Latin inscription mentions) is most likely a Sachsen (Saxon) minority (athe comunity was much larger then in the 17th century, not so much of a minority like nowadays) of Transylvania. So he probably spoke and think in German mostly ... In Transylvania, alongside Romanians (the ruling majority now demographically and politically) there were two Hungarian speaking nations (Hungarians and Szekely (or Secui in Roomanian language)) and two German(ic) speaking nations (Sachsen (or Sashi in Romanian or Saxons in English) and the Schwaben in southwest Transylvania).
The first German nation of Transylvania, Saxons, migrated from western Europe in the XIII and XIV century. The second nation, the Schwaben, they were more rurally agricultural folkspeople, started arriving in the 18th century so less relevant for our purposes regards the mysteryous sword from Siebenburgen (the German name of Transylvania, meaning :Seven Fortresses)...

30th April 2005, 07:59 PM	#9
Radu Transylvanicus Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: 2008-2010 Bali, 1998-2008 USA Posts: 271	I know as I initiated this quest for the origins of this sword that many options are available so I gave the title a very vague origin area: Sino (pan far Eastearn Asian, from China to Indochina) and Japanese and I just wanna say out of pure feeling of guess but pretty strong, however not too founded yet that my take is that the blade is of Japanese origins while the rest was styled by the Transylvanian armorer. Perhaps the sword, rather a blade, found its way to Transylvania from Japan while fittings were in bad shape or maybe were not acceptable or "opulently rich" enough to please the ownership; obviously judging by the decoration the owner was beyond wealthy... How I wish we had a blade close-up photo ! One thing I do refuse to think, it is that the sword is of completely European facture 100%, without any direct influence, that I would not accept until someone bring some really solid argument or similar examples ! Quick note: the name inscribed Thomas Kapustran or Thomas Kapusi (as the exact Latin inscription mentions) is most likely a Sachsen (Saxon) minority (athe comunity was much larger then in the 17th century, not so much of a minority like nowadays) of Transylvania. So he probably spoke and think in German mostly ... In Transylvania, alongside Romanians (the ruling majority now demographically and politically) there were two Hungarian speaking nations (Hungarians and Szekely (or Secui in Roomanian language)) and two German(ic) speaking nations (Sachsen (or Sashi in Romanian or Saxons in English) and the Schwaben in southwest Transylvania). The first German nation of Transylvania, Saxons, migrated from western Europe in the XIII and XIV century. The second nation, the Schwaben, they were more rurally agricultural folkspeople, started arriving in the 18th century so less relevant for our purposes regards the mysteryous sword from Siebenburgen (the German name of Transylvania, meaning :Seven Fortresses)... Last edited by Radu Transylvanicus; 30th April 2005 at 08:20 PM.