SWORD OF BOABDIL EL CHICO
(Museum of Artillery, Madrid)
Another interesting crossbow in this armoury belonged to Charles the Fifth, who used it for the chase. It has a verja or yard of steel engraved with the letter C four times repeated and surmounted by a crown, and bears the inscription, PRO · IMPERATORE · SEMPER · AVGVSTO · PLVS · VLTRA ·, together with ·
·, for Juan de la Fuente, the name of a celebrated maker of these parts of a crossbow. The shaft (tablero), ornamented in bone and iron, is from the hand of another master, Juan Hernandez, whose signature is IO: HRZ. The Count of Valencia de Don Juan supposed that this was the one crossbow which Charles took with him to the rustic solitude of Yuste, and which is mentioned in a document at Simancas as “a crossbow with its gear and gaffles (it is in His Majesty's possession, but he has not paid for it).”
Hitherto I have traced the war-equipment of the Spanish Christians only. In the early period of Mohammedan rule, the conquerors used a simple dress for war, consisting of the capacete or almofar for the head, secured by a chain beneath the chin and covered by a piece of cloth called schasch, hanging to just below the shoulders; a wide sleeveless tunic; a shirt of mail; tight breeches, and leather shoes. Their weapons were the lance and sword. The foot-soldiery wore the djobba, a tight-sleeved tunic of white wool, bound to the body by a scarf, and leather shoes, and carried as their arms a capacete of beaten iron, without a crest or cheek-pieces; a large round shield with its projecting umbo; and either a lance, or a double-edged and double-handed sword. Such are the details represented in the Codex of the Apocalypse, preserved in the cathedral of Gerona. As time progressed, the weapons and defensive armour of these Spanish Moors grew more luxurious and ornate, being often decorated with enamels, precious stones, or inlaid metals such as silver, gold, and bronze. Prominent centres of this industry were Murcia, Zaragoza, and Toledo, which are even said to have surpassed Damascus. Andalusia, too, was celebrated for her gold-inlaid cuirasses and coats of mail; while, according to El Idrisi, the town of Jativa enjoyed a widespread fame for every kind of decorative armour.[117]
The military outfit of the Spanish Moors was, therefore, much the same as that of Christian Spain. Toledo under Muslim rule continued to be famous for her swords. Moorish Seville, Ronda, and Valencia were also favourably known for weapons, household knives, and scissors. Cutlery in the Moorish style is still produced in certain parts of eastern Spain, and in his History of the Mohammedan Dynasties of this country, Gayangos tells us of a knife which bore upon one side of the blade the inscription in Arabic characters, “With the help of God I will inflict death upon thy adversary,” and upon the other side, in Castilian, the words, “Knife-factory of Antonio Gonzalez. Albacete, 1705.”
The primitive Spanish-Moorish sword was an arm of moderate breadth used both for cutting and for thrusting. As time went on, this people gradually adopted swords of Spanish make or pattern, such as the ponderous brandimartes and montantes made for wielding with both hands. The Granadino writer Aben Said complains that the adoption of the arms, and even of the costume of the Spanish Christians, was prevalent at Granada in the thirteenth century. “Sultans and soldiers alike,” he said, “dress in the manner of the Christians, even to their arms and armour, crimson cloaks, standards, and saddlery. They wield in battle a shield and a long lance,[118] which serves them to attack with; nor do they seem to care for Arab bows or maces, but prefer to use the Frankish ones.”
Nevertheless, the warriors of Granada carried several weapons which were not of Christian origin. The tribe of the Beni-Merines brought across from Africa a kind of sword called often in the Christian chronicles the espada gineta, used principally, as we gather from its name, by those addicted to the Moorish mode of horsemanship, or riding with short stirrups. The use of it extended later to the Christian Spaniards, and it is said to have contributed in later times to the victory of the Spanish army at Pavia. Other swords in use among the Granadinos were the alfange, the chifarra, the chifarote, and the nammexi. The last of these is described in an old dictionary of the Valencian and Castilian languages as a kind of scimitar, although Quatremère and Fleischer believe it to have been a dagger.
