Thanks Glen!
The issue with English armor and weapons and poor quality was a problem well beyond this period, in fact through the 17th century into the 18th. Henry VIII who took reign in 1509 was the first to establish the Greenwich armories . He brought in German, Italian and Flemish artisans from 1515 until death in 1547.
the 2nd period 1547-1605 maintained the armories, with the Stuarts continuing through the English Civil Wars.
As the armouries/primary focus from beginning had been on armor, the sword element was pretty much incidental, and when Charles I brought in German swordsmiths to Hounslow, it was very much in line with a long established tradition of bringing in foreign workers to avoid having to import arms.
It was not as far as I know an issue with steel, as there were resources for steel in England, it is the matter of the acquiring of raw material, smelting and processing, then properly forging it. It had long been a practice in centers in Europe of acquiring steel ingots, typically from Sweden, that provided for production.
Most of the blades brought into Hounslow as well as Shotley, were raw forged blades, which were then ground and finished, though there were numbers of fully completed blades and often swords.
It has been suggested that there is the possibility of Solingen even adding the Hounslow name, etc. on blades in the manner of their convention of 'branding' such as with the ANDREA FERARA; SAHAGUM; Spanish motto; and others TOMAS AILA etc .
With Shotley, not as much so, where it is believed the running FOX was likely contrived as a parody of the famed running wolf of Passau/Solingen. In the York castle references it is even described as a running horse!
With the manifests etc. it seems there was a great deal of smuggling which went on through the 17th into 18th c. which was again a considerable issue.
Even when blade makers began to flourish in the mid 18th c. (there had been only 3 or 4 recognized in the UK) the 'importing' and smuggling continued.
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