The swords made at Toledo have a reputation which still endures; and the well-known name of Ferrara is derived from a Venetian family of the sixteenth century. The Ferrara blades are broad and of splendid temper, but the name was used by many smiths as a sort of “standard” mark. Andrea Ferrara or Ferara was established in business, in partnership with his brother Giovan Donato, at the town of Belluno, in the Venetian province of Friuli, in 1585. The Trattato Militare, published at Venice in 1583, mentions the brothers as the celebrated sword-makers of that day. Ferara blades, inscribed with the name, were, however, in existence much earlier than this; but whether all or part of these were made in Spain, where there are several towns of the name, is far from clear. The question, then, as to which city or country gave its name to the great master is not yet absolutely determined. Andrea was probably born between 1550 and 1560,[38] and his master, Giovanni Battista, some of whose blades were marked “Zandona,” was called the “Barcelonian,” which circumstance might suggest the possibility that the brothers were emigrants from Spain; but it is much more probable that they came of an Italian family which had been domiciled in Italy for generations, as there are blades of a considerably earlier date than the “Andrea” span, bearing the names of Cosmo and Piero Ferara, both of which Christian names are undoubtedly Italian. A tradition exists in Scotland that Andrea Ferara, or Ferrara, came there as a fugitive from justice, and made swords there in great numbers, but there is no evidence whatever of this being the case. There are swords bearing the brand “Andrewea Ferrara” with a St. Andrew’s Cross, which clearly discloses their Scottish origin, or at all events is suggestive of their having been made in or for Scotland. Indeed, almost all Scottish blades bearing the name of Ferara, with variations, are of seventeenth century make, some even later. We know that it was a common practice of many of the German smiths during the “renaissance” to inscribe their blades with the names of Italian makers; and while Ferara blades are to be met with all over Europe, strangely enough very few are to be found in Italy. The practice of using the marks of celebrated sword-smiths by others less renowned cannot be looked upon as a deliberate forgery, unless perhaps in the earlier instances, when marks were taken possession of by one town or country from another, proceeding, doubtless, from the importation of craftsmen; but even in such cases it was not uncommon for the maker to give his own name or mark in conjunction with such as those of Ferara, the running wolf, etc. Marks like the bishop’s head, moor’s head, Sahagun, Ayala, Piccinino,[39] were often used by others, though probably rarely in the sense of piracy. This is shown by the annexation of the Wolf of Passau by the Solingen makers, and that of Ferara by the Scotch. Mere legends, like the domicilisation of Andrea Ferara in Scotland, or that of Jakob Topf in London, require some more direct evidence for serious attention, which is certainly not forthcoming in these cases, though the probability is greater in the case of the latter than in the former. Excellent rapier blades were also made at Seville, Valladolid, and Solingen. The Solingen blades are stouter and more suitable for military purposes than those forged in Spain; they bore the stamp of the running wolf, but the mark came originally from Passau. A Passau sword of an early date, with the wolf-mark inscribed on the blade, is in the museum at Dresden. The general aspect would indicate a date in the second half of the fourteenth century. The wolf-mark of the Passau sword-smiths was borrowed from the city arms, which consist of “Or, a wolf-figure, statant gardant.” Later, and especially in the sixteenth century, this mark was adopted in other places, and especially by Solingen smiths. These blades were known as “foxes” in England, doubtless from the “wolf” inscription, which might well be taken as a representation of the fox. The term constantly crops up in Elizabethan literature. This mark, like that of “Ferrara,” was freely used by sword-makers up to the end of the last century; indeed, this was the case near Newcastle, where swords forged on the banks of the Derwent, in the county of Durham, bore the mark. The smiths came originally from Bavaria, and brought the brand with them. There are still descendants of these people living in the neighbourhood; and there is a specimen of their handiwork in the Black Gate Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The spadroon is adapted for cutting and thrusting, but is lighter than the sabre.
Spanish swords enjoyed a very early celebrity, the Romans having adopted them after the Carthagenian War, for they were never able to forge weapons of equal temper. The best early Spanish swords were made at Bilbilis on the Jalon, and the poet Martial writes of the excellence of the waters of that river for tempering them; indeed, it was universally believed that the fine temper depended on the virtues of a particular river. Probably the steel produced from fine Spanish ores, so free from deleterious ingredients like sulphur and phosphorus, had most to do with the super-excellence of the blades. These weapons are mentioned temp. Julius Cæsar, when the poet Gracio Falisco adds his testimony to their admirability.
Fig. 46.—Schiavona, in the Author’s Collection.
The schiavona is a Venetian sword of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a flattened elliptical form of basket-hilt forming a complete protection to the hand, which can still move freely. In this hilt the first finger was always passed over the quillon, and the superadded guard to protect it gives the hilt an elongated form. It derives its name from the “Schiavoni,” the Doge’s guards. The illustration of this weapon here given ([Fig. 46]) is of a sword in the author’s collection.
Scottish broadswords with practically this hilt, although there are intermediate stages, are often erroneously called “claymores,” while, as a matter of fact, the Scottish weapon so called was a long two-handed sword, with quillons usually tending diagonally upwards, that is towards the blade; and, indeed, it is considered questionable by some authorities whether any basket-hilted sword whatever was in general use in Scotland long before the eighteenth century began. Mr. Parker Brewis, in an able paper[40] on “Four Basket-hilted Swords in the collection at the Castle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,” writes as follows, viz.:—“This type of sword is commonly known as ‘Claymore,’ which is the English phonetic of two Celtic words, meaning ‘Great Sword.’ It was originally applied to the great two-handed swords of Scotland, but when the true claymore was gradually superseded by the basket-hilted weapon, the old name, as conveying the idea of a Highland sword, was retained, owing to long habit, notwithstanding that it was inappropriate.” The “mortuary” hilt, so named from a number of swords with this basket-hilt having been made in memory of King Charles I., was the broadsword of the Commonwealth, and the Scottish form is obviously an amalgamation of the schiavona with the mortuary. The basket-hilted sword was certainly common in England in the second quarter of the seventeenth century, and there is no reason why it should not have crossed the border long before the eighteenth century, and that it had done so is certain from the fact that mortuary hilts were largely made in the island of Islay. The ordinary Scottish basket-hilted broadsword blades bearing the name Andrea Ferara, with numerous variations, were certainly not made by the great master of Belluno, but most of these were forged in the seventeenth century. Of course, it is often the case that blade and hilt are not contemporaneous, and old Ferara and even claymore blades were frequently adapted to the newer fashion, and these cases give rise to some difficulty.
The colichemarde is a late seventeenth century fencing sword, with a blade very broad at the “fort,” and exceedingly narrow at the “foible”—the change from one to the other is very sudden. This sword was only in use for a brief period. Some of the swords of the seventeenth century were very long. The cutlass or hanger of this period is usually without quillons, but has a counter-guard.
After the commencement of the seventeenth century, it becomes more difficult to fix approximate dates for swords with any precision, and many weapons are freely attributed to that century which really belong to the eighteenth. It is the blade that bears the stamp, and many blades were transferred to other hilts; besides, the armourer was often permitted to give considerable rein to his fancy, and not unfrequently reverted to older forms. As in armour, it is an uncommon advantage to meet with weapons with the date inscribed, although, of course, many armourers’ marks serve this purpose, when they can still be deciphered; still, their presence is rarely conclusive without general characteristics being also taken into account.
The complete transformation of the sword may be said to have been effected during the eighteenth century, since which time it cannot be said to have advanced either in balance or general efficiency. Very little is known as to the early history of sword-making in England, but Sheffield was a very early centre for the industry. It was not until towards the end of the last century that English-made swords established their reputation as the best in Europe, when in an order for the East India Company, 2,650 English swords were tested in the machine already referred to in these pages, and only four failed to bear the test; while out of 1,428 German swords as many as twenty-eight were rejected.