Help pls. on 15th-17th C. cutlass & scimitar

[fernando]

Hi Gonzalo

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

... In the article about the tipologic study of spanish weapons, German Dueñaz Beraiz denies that alfanje and scimitar are the same thing, but he does not explains what a scimitar is ... According with Beraiz, the description of a scimitar in the way Covarrubias explains, corresponds with a shamshir, and this is the reason he does not accept Covarrubias description, because the scimitars were "more short" than a shamshir from his point of view ...

I browsed on this article. Do i see it differently, or have i read a different passage ?

"Relacionada con esta tenemos otra arma de origen árabe, como es la cimitarra. A pesar de que Covarrubias diga que es igual que el alfange, eso si remarcando la curva de su hoja, al decir que es una espada vuelta a manera de hoz (Covarrubias, op. Cit. 283 r). Esta tipología se corresponde a los shamsires turcos, que resultaban algo más largos que los alfanjes, con hojas más estrechas y curvadas."

Isn't it Beraiz, opposing Covarrubias, who defines that a scimitar, like a samshir, is larger than an alfanje, with narrower and more curved blades?
Or am i confusing things?
Fernando