The sword blades of Damascus, India, and Persia were equal, if not superior, in temper, finish, and decoration to any made by the sword-smiths of Europe, but the Eastern smiths devoted much more care to the edge than to the point. In the main, they were curved blades. There is a good deal of romance in old Japan about the sword, and some very remarkable weapons have been turned out by their craftsmen. There were numerous distinct varieties of Asiatic swords and daggers; but to give even the merest outline of these would make the present notes far too long. Single-handed swords of Europe consisted of curved weapons like the scimitar or falchion, the dusack, cutlass and sabre, and those with a straight, double-edged blade.
The scimitar is of Persian origin, and was introduced into Europe during the first crusade; it did not, however, come very much into vogue before the middle of the fifteenth century. Like most swords of Asiatic origin, it is specially devised for cutting; and its curved blade, and the setting of the hilt, in relation to it, is well adapted for the delivery of a highly penetrating stroke. This weapon, the blade of which is short and single-edged, has probably its prototype in the “Acinace” of the Romans, a representation of which may be seen on that instructive monument of contemporary history, the column of Trajan. Possibly the Romans themselves derived it, like so much besides, from an Eastern source. The falchion, or fauchon, which is a smaller type of scimitar, appears in England early in the thirteenth century, and is mentioned in the fourteenth century romance of Richard Cœur de Lion, “broad fawchons and fawchons kene.” It is in two varieties—a broad blade widening towards the point, with a concave back and sharp edge; and the other with a straight back. The curious tenure falchion of the Conyers is an example of the latter kind. This weapon is figured in Archæologia Æliana, vol. xv.; and is also referred to in Blount’s Antient Tenures. Sir Edward W. Blackett, Bart., in a communication to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,[36] says that this weapon measures two feet eleven inches in length; on one side of the pommel are three lions, the arms of England, with remains of red enamel in the ground; and on the other an eagle with outspread wings, which Mr. Longstaffe considered to relate to Richard, King of the Romans, brother of Henry III. This statement would point to its being a weapon of the thirteenth century, which it undoubtedly is. The tenure is given in the inquest of Sir John Conyers in 1396. The Baron de Cosson mentions two examples somewhat similar, one in the Musée de Cluny, Paris; the other in the Brera at Milan. He compares the Conyers falchion with one given on the drawing from the Painted Chamber, Westminster, attributed by Mr. John Hewitt to the second half of the thirteenth century. The forms are certainly almost identical. The Conyers weapon has a nearly round pommel, with the quillons slightly curved towards the point at the extremities. The Paris falchion has a very large circular pommel, with the quillons on a sharp curve in the same direction. The guard of the Milan specimen is straight and the pommel a large oval, with small square side projections. The blades of all three falchions are similar in form, the Milan example being the largest. Drawings of the three falchions may be seen in the Proceedings (vol. v., p. 42) of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The True Tragedy of Richard of Yorke (1595) says: “With purple fawchon painted to the hilts.” Another local tenure sword, mentioned in Blount’s Antient Tenures, is that under which the Umfravilles held their lordship of Redesdale in Northumberland. An instance of the application of the “tenure” principle in a humbler form and modern date, occurs in an agreement with the sword-smiths of Shotley Bridge, County of Durham, concerning rent for houses occupied by them. The rent is supplemented by an annual sword of their own make.
The sabre, which is a near relative of the scimitar, is of two kinds, both straight and curved; the latter form was in vogue as early as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and of course later.
An interesting example of the curved form, which is attributed to Charlemagne (771–814), is preserved in the Treasury at Vienna. The form betrays its direct Eastern origin, and the tradition is too vague to base any inferences on it. The sword is about thirty inches long, by over three-quarters of an inch broad, and would appear to date about the fourteenth century.
The sword of the fourteenth century continues cruciform, with the quillons either straight or curving towards the blade. The shape of the pommel varies greatly, being trefoiled, conical, circular, etc., and sometimes it is also charged with a cross. It was not uncommon for a ring to be fixed to the pommel for attachment to a chain connecting it with a mamillière. Examples of this kind may be seen on an effigy in the church at Ebersberg, temp. 1371; another at Borfe, in the Tyrol; and one is given by Hewitt in his Ancient Armour, vol. ii., Plate XV. The sword is fastened at the left side by a broad straight belt, called a “bawdric.”
Blades of this century, though far from uniform, become generally more ornate and longer than in the century preceding, sometimes attaining the length of four feet, and there are even longer examples.
Sword sheaths were usually of leather. The knight’s sword-belt was greatly embellished in this century by quatrefoils, jewels, and enriched pendants.
The grip of the sword proper rather lengthens in the fifteenth century, and the tendency of the pommel is to become lighter, and is oftenest round or pear-shaped; there is still the plain cross-guard. The straight double-edged blade is long, and sometimes grooved. The pas d’ane guard is found in this century, though rarely. This guard projects over the base of the blade, its object being to protect the back of the hand, which it did but inadequately. It has often been assumed to have made its appearance first in the sixteenth century, but this is not the case, as a picture of the early part of the fifteenth century in a church at Mondoneda shows swords with this guard.[37] It forms, however, as a rule, an excellent guide as to date, and its presence would, under ordinary circumstances, indicate a weapon of the sixteenth century. There are some fine swords of this century (the fifteenth) in the Munich Museum, in excellent preservation, some with the original sheaths.
The knuckle-bow, called the finger-guard by some writers, is comparatively rare towards the end of the fifteenth century, but becomes common in the following. Mr. John Hewitt, in one of his contributions towards the History of Mediæval Weapons, mentions an instance as early as the reign of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. It was long before this guard became united to the pommel. It clearly developed from the counter-curved quillons, one of which seems to have reached the pommel by stages. In Holbein’s “Costumes Suisses” is a figure of a Swiss halbardier of the first half of the sixteenth century with a sword, the knuckle-bow of which unites the quillons and pommel.
The executioner’s sword is broad in the blade. A German example in the author’s collection is 39 inches in length. The pommel is circular, very heavy and flat, and engraved with an eagle; the quillons solid and plain, curving slightly towards the blade, which has a groove running up the centre. The blade is two and a half inches broad, and is inscribed with a cross, cross-bones, and a crown. Quillons are, of course, unnecessary on these weapons, and are unusual except in the case of German examples.