The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-19
HISTORY OF THE SWORD.
Varied Uses to Which Has Been Put 1
this Earliest Known Weapon OF
Mankind.
From the washington Post

From the Washington Post
Col. Paul Beckwith's history of the,
sword, which was read before the An
thropological Society at one of it's re-
cent meetings, has struck a popular
chord in the minds of fencers in the.
city, and while strictly technical in,
treatment, has yet been a theme of
conversation among the young
swordsmen. 1t has lent that now fash
ionable weapon a new meaning. for
with the drier history of this, the earl
lest weapon of mankind, Col Beck
with has deity interviewer a lot of
romance. gathered from history.
In his talk Col Beckwith said that
to learn the history of the sword one
must study the history of the man,
for it is the oldest, has been the most
universal, and the only weapon that
has lived from the earliest period of
man to the present time, and is as
popular now in the day Of many
weapons as in the past when it stood
alone as mans only artificial means.
of defense.
I'VE read of the sword of God, or
holy sword, the sword of the Lord of
Gideon said Col Beckwith. 1T was
the favorite weapon of gods and -demi-
gods. By the ancients the sword was
consecrated to the deities, and stood in
the temples and church To it were
attributed superhuman powers; it was
an object of affection, and its loss
mourned as the passing of near kim
dred. In ancient times, as in the bat
ties OF to-day, to surrender the sword
meant submission; to break it, dis
grace. 1t was the symbol of justice,
as well as martyrdom, and alike ac-
companied its owner to the feast and
to the grave. The sword raised the
Northern races upon the ruins of i'm
potent savagery, and has carried in
her wake the progress of arts and
sciences.
"Oaths were taken upon the sword
the point being thrust into the ground;
the hilt was cruciform. and therefore
sacred. The oath was always taken
with the hand resting upon the hilt.
Among the pagan Germans the blade
OF the sword was considered sacred.
According to Ammianus Marcellinus,
the QUAD, like the pagan Saxons took
oath upon drawn sword. Even in
the Middle Ages, the sword. instead Of
the cross. was used in administering
the oath. while the free jurors in the
secret tribunals of Westphalia took
their oaths with their hands resting
upon the broad sword. In Holstein this
AiOOC VI - col WIS pIdCIlCGQ 10 d
later period than in any other coun-
try.
In olden times the presentation of
a sword to a slave was to give him free
dom. Until late In the seventeenth cen
tury members of Parliament wore the
sword at their sittings as a sign of
their political and judicial authority.
When Goth wished to adopt a son he
handed a sword to the object of his de-
sire. and it was in this manner that
Theodore adopted the King of Heruli
as his son.
with the English in the first days
of their monarchy the sword was used
as the symbol of dominion. The Kings
who preceded Henry III are represent
ed on their great seals bearing the
sword in the right hand instead of the
scepter. Lands and dominions were
transferred by means of the sword in
Germany under the reign of Frederick
I. 1t was also the custom in Germany
for the ancient counts never to attend
court without this weapon. When a
free count was to be invested with au-
thority over life and death he was
given a sword and a rope. Until a
quite recent date the Hidalgos de Es-
pada Horca, or the mobiles of the
sword and gibbet in Spain, superin-
tended their penal Jurisdiction over
their estates.
Even in the nuptials of past genera
lions the sword was employed symbol
ically. In a Tristan bridal party one
young man led the procession, carry
ing in his hand a drawn sword, which
was supposed to be emblematic of the
authority the husband had over the
life of his wife. BY some ancient peo-
pies the drawn sword was used at mar
riage by proxy. 1t was placed in the
thalamus between the bride and the
representative of the bridegroom. This
custom was still in vogue In the fif-
tenth century, when the Duke and
subsequently Emperor Macmillan was
married by proxy to Mary of Burgundy.
when a sword and pair of scis-
sors, according to Gregory of Tours,
were sent to the Queen by the Kings
Childebert and Lothaire. it was meant
for her to choose the fate of her sons,
whether they should be put to death,
be deprived of their hair, or enter a
convent.
"It was always the custom to pre-
serve the swords of famous combat
ants, and they We're not infrequently
carried into war. The Maid of Orleans
used a battlesword which she secured
from the burial vaults of an ancient
church. Charlemagne's sword, which
he called JoyeuSe, is still preserved IN
the Church of St. Denis, and was car
ried in front of the professions at the
coronation of the Kings of France.
Nearly all heroic legends of that age
make mention of swords which bore
special names. The Cid, for example,
had his Tizona. When a hero died,
his sword was carried at the funeral
and deposited in the church. The
sword of Godfrey of Bouillon was kept
at his burial chapel in the Church Of
the Holy Sepulchre, where it remain
ed as the only local relics of the Cru
sades.
1.-THE Egyptians were probably the
first to conceive the sword and its use,
one of the Oldest specimens known be-
ing a stone sword found in the ruins
of Abydos. Egypt. Their swords were
short. generally not more than 10 or
10 inches long. About the longest
Egyptian sword ever found was %
inches, dug up during the excavation
for the Suez canal, and was leaf-shap-
ed. There was a period when the
Romans made their swords OF copper,
tempered by a process supposed to
have been great pressure, while the
Greeks preferred hardened bronze.
THESE swords resembled the knife Of
the present day. The Norsemen also
made their swords of bronze, and
some have been found in their graves
of intermediate period MADE with