Toledo Rapier Info

[Philip]

Hi, Fernando
Are you familiar with the writings of the late Ada Bruhn Hoffmeyer? The other day I was revisiting her article "From Medieval Sword to Renaissance Rapier" in ART, ARMS, AND ARMOUR: AN INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY Vol. 1 (ed. Robt Held, 1979), p 60 contains the following quote which is germane to the current discussion:
"In the succeeding centuries [after 1500] Solingen turned out blades that satisfied the requirements of both Latin and Germanic buyers, and in time became the leading manufacturing center for sheer quantity -- but the Spanish manufacturies in Toledo and Valencia were superior for quality... Probably no centre surpassed Toledo for quality. Both Toledo and Milanese products were extensively imitated by Solingen."

Interesting to note also that the gun barrel makers of Spain, especially those in Eibar and its vicinity, set the standard for quality in Europe during the 16th-17th cent., and their products as well as the best English barrels of the following century were often imitated by German makers (see James D. Lavin, A HISTORY OF SPANISH FIREARMS), though not necessarily with success (see Robt. Held, THE AGE OF FIREARMS, for a charming early-19th cent. American editorial on the subject).