Schiavona - The one that got away

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Victrix

As schiavona means Slav then presumably these swords were predominantly from the Slavs living around the Adriatic in Venice, Dalmatia, and Montenegro. There were some Slav stradioti but I understand most were Greek and Albanian. At some times Venice controlled much of Dalmatia and also employed Dalmatian mercenaries. It seems schiavonas were typically Dalmatian (and Istrian?) and not used much in the hinterlands of Bosnia and Croatia/Hungary. If not donned and used on ships, the schiavonas must have been used at least to defend the many walled cities on the coast like Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Split (Spalato), Zadar (Zara), etc.

It would be logical to assume that the style of weaponry followed the custom of the mercenaries using it. Yes, the Stradioti were mostly Greek and Albanian, and with these troops one would expect the "eared" hilted swords with sharply tapering blades to be the norm (three examples in the Bargello shown as fig. 33 in Ada Brunn Hoffmeyer's article "From Medieval Sword to Renaissance Rapier".

And it's true that not all Venetian military action was naval, since the Republic occupied and ruled fortified towns and harbors throughout the eastern Mediterranean as well, both on mainland and island territory. A sword like the schiavona would have been quite appropriate in defense of these positions. The extent of their use, or that of any other type of sword, was probably dictated by the ethnic or geographic origin of the troops involved in the area in question.

The question of the schiavona's use throughout the inland part of Croatia or Hungary is an interesting one. Hungary had great influence and control over parts of Croatia during the late Middle Ages. It's interesting to look at the schiavona's predecessor, the open-hilted broadsword with horizontal S guard and squarish pommel (sometimes with "proto-ears" on the upper corners), called in Italian arms literature la spada alla schiavonesca. This "sword in Slavonic style" exists in great numbers in the Armory of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, and has strong affinities in form to the typical medieval Hungarian sword. The square pommels, many with central bosses and some with "earlets" , were also carried over into the numerous variations of hilts on the Venetian spade da fante or foot-soldiers' swords, of which numerous examples, dating from the late 15th- beginning 16th cent., are also to be found in the Doge's Armory.

The scabbard of the typical schiavona also has a rather Hungarian flavor, with the reinforcing straps on each side on its lower third, secured with numerous bands along their length. You also find this treatment on Polish hussar saber scabbards, the weapon having a point of common origin in Hungary.

Whether these influences flowed the other way, such as the basket hilted schiavona achieving any degree of popularity in Hungary, is something that can be looked into. All I can say at this point is that having visited a number of arms collections in Hungarian museums, schiavone were not in evidence.
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