Katzbalgers and Related Landsknecht Swords

[Lee]

Here for your holiday enjoyment is this interesting little katzbalger from Bavaria. Armed with this I would be more than a match for the claws and fangs of an angry house-cat. The blade is 48.5 cm in length. Do not despair the electrical tape on the grip; it lies over gauze protecting the original worm-eaten wooden grip. I am told the inscription is some awful romantic drivel in vogue in the 16th century and not worthy of the effort of translation.

[Matchlock]

And Fröhliche Weihnachten to you, Lee,

From a rainy and windy Bavaria!

The blade to me seems to be a later addition, the script is, as you surmised, not worth translating and might have been added in the 18th c.

Best,
Michael

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by Lee

Here for your holiday enjoyment is this interesting little katzbalger from Bavaria. Armed with this I would be more than a match for the claws and fangs of an angry house-cat. The blade is 48.5 cm in length. Do not despair the electrical tape on the grip; it lies over gauze protecting the original worm-eaten wooden grip. I am told the inscription is some awful romantic drivel in vogue in the 16th century and not worthy of the effort of translation.

Hi,

beautiful hilt design of an atypical/hybrid katzbalger with an unual ring-guard inside the s guard and with a finger-guard, a transitional sword.

I have a 1582 dated katzbalger with a similar blade in my collection and
I'm pretty sure that this katzbalger is homogen and that the blade is the original, however about 30cm shortened, the blade length should be around 80cm. (it could have been reshaped during it's working life.)

This katzbalger has a similar finger guard as most of the dussages from the late 16th century and can be dated in this period around 1575-1585.

The inscription, btw I have never seen anything like this, seems to me like Michael suggested later,on the other side it would not surprise me if this also has been done in the 16th century.(The manuscript is truthful)

perhaps it will give some outcome after translation.



best,

[Zwielicht]

Never seen anything like this, but, not to say anything about the probable purpose of such a short blade, it looks definitely interesting and functional to me - just remember, what length was the average Roman gladius of, and remember, in which kind of combat it was used.

[Matchlock]

Hi Jasper,

Could you please present any dated or closely datable kind of period artwork showing a Katzbalger from the 1570's/80's?

Best,
m

[cornelistromp]

Hi Michael,

Of course, a good example of the Landsknecht+arms are the illustrations made by Wolfgang Strauch.
these are dated 1568 (Claus Wintergruen and son Heintz + the landsknecht and the death, note the model katzbalger at the landsknecht belt, it is the same as Lee's katzbalger however longer).

Jost Amman also produced illustrations of landsknechts with katzbalgers in this period.
(see pictures)

In the 2 half of the 16th century the typical katzbalger transformed into other type of swords. The katzbalgersword with s-guard and atypical pommel , dated 1582, is a good example of such a transition.

The reason for my late dating of Lee's katzbalger is due to the inner guard with finger protection (norman type 17), it only came in after 1570 more frequent.
The earliest known inner guard of this type 17 is on a painting in Munich, a portrait of a member of the house of Baden, 1549. Inv no 740, Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlung.

best,

[Matchlock]

[QUOTE=cornelistromp]Hi Michael, In the 2 half of the 16th century the typical katzbalger transformed into other type of swords. The katzbalgersword with s-guard and atypical pommel, dated 1582, is a good example of such a transition.

Right, Jasper,

But I would not really call these late specimens Katzbalgers anymore. They are followers retaining an older feature, the pretzel or figure eight quillons but noticeably smaller by the 1560's-80's, whlie the swords themselves, just like the period guns, had grown in length in comparison since the first half of the 16th c.

Please cf. the famous GIECH estoc, Souhern Germany/Bavaria, ca. 1570, last sold at Sotheby's, The Visser Collection part I, 1990.

Best,
Michael

[cornelistromp]

I think we have to define katzbalger.

first the word katzbalger;
Schnieder1957, according to Seitz, the mercenaries used instead of a scabbard a cat's skin sheath, they had the ability to stab the sword quickly without pulling the sword from its sheath.
This seems unlikely since there are many 16thC images where a scabbard can be seen.

Another theory is that the word katzbalger comes from how cats fight, (wie katzen balgen) cats fight like mercenaries in close combat.

most likely is the theory of JP Puype in Arms and Armour of knights and landsknechts, page 152: The etymology of the german name katzbalger is unclear but there is consensus that balger comes from the middle high German verb balgen, meaning to brawl, whereas the word KATZ(cat) might be a corruption of KURZ(short). Nonetheless there are also katzbalgers with longer blades apparently worn by mounted landsknecht officers.



then the definition;
to my understanding, a katzbalger must meet all 3 of the following criteria;

1. Sword of the landsknecht(infantry) with a horizontal or S- or 8-curved guard. (cf. Seitz blankwaffen P173, puype p152)

2. a broad straight blade of type XIII, in the first place used for cutting and slashing blows and not for stabbing, in most cases with a rounded tip.

3.basic hilt form;The speading end of the grip is made ​​of metal and no true pommel exists, alternatively hilt subform; the grip ends with a pommel or in a cap, fitting down over it. (norman1980 hilt3 p66 )


A late 16thC estoc with an 8 shaped guard is not a Katzbalger because it does not meet 1 and 2 of the definition; not a landsknecht infantry weapon and the wrong type of blade not suitable for close combat.
and the sword in landsknecht-image of post #274 does meet 1,2 and 3 of the above mentioned definition.

best,

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Lee

... Armed with this I would be more than a match for the claws and fangs of an angry house-cat. ... I am told the inscription is some awful romantic drivel in vogue in the 16th century and not worthy of the effort of translation...

Correct assumption, Lee; sometimes i 'spank' my 8 kilos cat with objects of similar dimensions and he doesn't seem to bother .
If only this most interesting and misterious sword could speak, we would know its history ... maybe a surprising one or, in the least, unexpected ?. Could it have been shortened in the same ocasion of the inscription enngraving ... like being for presentation ? or retired from action, to be modified and kept or displayed in the sanctuary of some sect.
If it were mine, even though being told the inscription is not worth the translation, i would revolve the skies to have it done.
End of fantasy

[Matchlock]

Hi Jasper,

We should take into consideration that the high time of the Landsknechte is generally believed to have come to an end by the mid-16th c, and many of these contemporay illustrations of the 1560's-80's were romanticizing, and based on, earlier illustrative sources of the early 16th c. Consequently we often see much earlier and obsolete costumes and weapons which were characteristic of the 1520's-30's.

Also I would not call your broadsword dated 1582 a Katzbalger though the quillons suggest a late remembrance of an earlier style.

Best,
Michael

[cornelistromp]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Hi Jasper,

We should take into consideration that the high time of the Landsknechte is generally believed to have come to an end by the mid-16th c, and many of these contemporay illustrations of the 1560's-80's were romanticizing, and based on, earlier illustrative sources of the early 16th c. Consequently we often see much earlier and obsolete costumes and weapons which were characteristic of the 1520's-30's.

Also I would not call your broadsword dated 1582 a Katzbalger though the quillons suggest a late remembrance of an earlier style.

Best,
Michael

Hi michael,
yes, in the second half of the 16th century the heyday of the landsknecht was over and lost in importance, approximately after the battle of Dreux 1562 . On the other hand, Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, still hired these mercenaries in his spanish army and deployed them against the Dutch between 1567-1572.

just out of interest what do you call this sword of the landskecht image?

best,

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by fernando

If it were mine, even though being told the inscription is not worth the translation, i would revolve the skies to have it done.
End of fantasy

Hi 'Nando,

I might be able to help a lot but would need a high-rez close-up to do that.

Best,
Michl

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

Hi 'Nando,

I might be able to help a lot but would need a high-rez close-up to do that.

Best,
Michl

Maybe Lee decides to do so, one of these days ? .

[Matchlock]

Two finely withen and carved flower head pommels from Landsknecht swords, ca. 1530-40; photographed by the author in the reserve collection of the Historisches Museum Luzern, Switzerland. They were obviously used as sliding weights in later times, as was often the case.

Best,
Michael