Wallachian Swords of the 15th Century: What Types?

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Two more swords from the "Muzeul Militar Naţional - Regele Ferdinand I" Bucharest.

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Ștefan (born 1584 - died 1602), Petru Șchiopul/Peter the Lame's son, mother Irina Botezata. He became Voivode/Prince of Moldova in february 1590 at the age of 5! Since he was so young, he ruled together with his father. He and his father stepped down from the throne in 1591. He then followed his parents into exile (Bozen, Tyrol), and after their deaths (Irina in 1592 and Peter the Lame in 1594) the Archduke of Tyrol appointed Ferdinand von Kuhbach as their guardian. Although his relatives tried to bring him back to Moldova, Emperor Rudolf II did not agree. Stefan was enrolled at the Jesuit College in Innsbruck, adopting the Catholic religion. Proclaimed of age in September 1600, he died two years later, most likely of tuberculosis. The portret resided at Ambras castle, Tyrol, Austria. It was lost however. http://galeriaportretelor.ro/item/st...etru-schiopul/

Note: Kid's got a nice sabre, typical Ottoman hilt.

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Two more portraits of Vasile Lupu of Moldova. One, posted previously, but managed to find a better one.

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Depictions of Wallachian Voivodes in church frescos often lack weapons. These of Mircea I "the Elder" and his son Mihail are exceptions to the rule. We see them wearing daggers, not to their sides, but more like a bollock dagger.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mircea_cel_Bătrân

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Zotu Tzigara / Ζώτος Τζιγαράς (died in 1599, Venice)
A greek from Ioannina, became spatar of Moldova, and son-in-law to Moldovan prince, Peter the Lame. Picture is an engraving from 1637 by. And a 1630 engraving by Antonio Bosio in a universal history written by Dorotei de Monembasia (manuscript kept by Zotu) and published by Apostol Tzigara (his brother).

Secolul al XVI-lea.
Cele mai vechi date despre strămoşii pe linie paternă, Tz.-S. le-a găsit în „sipetul cel îmblănit în piele de căprioară şi frumos ferecat”, păstrat cu sfinţenie de tatăl său, alături de portretul şi sigiliul lui Zotu şi Cronica editată de Apostol.
Spătarul Zotu (Zota),de origine albaneză, avea porecla
Tzigara. La 37 de ani era mare spătar în Moldova, căsătorit
cu fiica voievodului Petru Schiopul. Avea doi fraţi: Apostol
şi Panoson. Spre sfârşitul vieţii este silit să emigreze şi
moare la Veneţia, la 12 aprilie 1599.
„Din mândrul portret al Spătarului Zotu - scrie Tz.-S. -
ţinând în dreapta spada rangului său, iar în stânga
pumnalul prins în cingătoare, am împrumutat stema lui, o
mână ţinând o spadă, - pe care am adaos-o în inima
armoariilor Samurcăşeşti, cu sprânceana şi samurul, de la
care se trage numele. Această stemă combinată alcătuieşte
ex-libris-ul meu şi e gravată pe placa de marmură de pe
locul veşnicei noastre odihne”. (Memorii, 1, p.21)
Apostol Tzigara tipăreşte pe la 1630 o istorie universală în
limba greacă, scrisă de mitropolitul Dorotei de Monembasia
şi al cărei manuscris fusese păstrat de Zotu. Apostol publică
în lucrare şi portretul lui Zotu, în jurul căruia apare scris în
limba greacă: „Icoana luminatului domn Zota Tzigara, din
Ianina, marele spătar şi ginerele serenisimului principe a
toată Moldovlachia, domnului Petru-Voievod”. Gravura îi
aparţine lui Antonio Bosio.

Typical looking boot-hilt sabre at his side. A better version can be found in the last link.
https://el.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ζώτο...s_Tzigaras.JPG
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...svEq9XQPccq17S
https://sites.google.com/a/bcub.ro/b...iobibliografie

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As can be seen from the "Eques walachus" by Abraham de Bruyn 1576, and from the Wallachians in "Vera designatio Urbis in Littavia Grodnae" from Nuremberg 1568, the coat of arms associated with Wallachians (in the German lands at least) is the "lion rampant". See here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpo...1&postcount=65

This is odd since Wallachia's coat of arms was the bird/eagle with a cross and usually flanked by the sun and crescent moon. You can see here the wax sigil by Voivode Mircea the Elder from 1390 (left) and the Wallachian coat of arms on a bronze cannon made locally during Voivode Petru Cercel reign 1583-85 (right).

This CoA was used right until Wallachia's unification with Moldova in 1859.

So why are these mid 16th century German depictions using the "lion rampant" CoA?

Well the answer may be in Ulrich von Richental's "Concilium zu Konstanz" Augsburg 1483. In it, we see 3 Wallachian cases as having a "lion rampant" CoA. It says "Der durchluchtig fürst hertzog dispott inder meren walachy des bottschafft kam mitt dem thobermur" (Ulrich Richental fol 135b)



Actually, we see this association a few more times: Conrad Grüneberg 1483; Virgil Solis 1555; Martin Schrot 1581.


There is also this seal atributed to Petru Cercel (that's news to me, gotta look more into that).



Coat of Arms of "Der Dobermur her[zog] in der Hinder Walachye", Chonick, cca. 1475 from Vienna, Austria.



Another Coat of Arms of "Thebemur aus der walachei" from Ulrich von Richental's Chronicle of the Council of Constance

Sources:
https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpres...nstanz-sec-xv/
http://www.hubert-herald.nl/HellasGreatValachia.htm
https://ro.pinterest.com/alin_alexan...nian-heraldry/

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So where does this "lion rampant" come from? Well according to "Basarabii Valahiei, studiu heraldic si genealogic" 2016 by Tiberiu Frăţilă-Felmer pages 47-48, a personal seal of Mircea the Elder had a lion rampant. It was used on an alliance treaty with Polish-Lithuanian king Władysław II Jagiełło from 1411. The theory is that this seal was given to Mircea by his suzeran, king of Hungary, Sigismund of Luxembourg, possibly before the Nicopolis Campaign. This is quite likely considering that the House of Luxembourg includes the red lion rampant.

Mircea the Elder's personal seal, unfortunately very faint



Portret of Sigismund (almost 100 years after his death) by Albrecht Dürer in 1512. You can see the lion rampant CoA.