History of the sword

The different types of swords have been of great importance throughout history. In addition to its use as a weapon, the sword has been the object of special considerations forming part of funerary rituals, mythology and other ancient traditions.

## Chronology details

The present chronology includes diverse and relatively uneven documents. The need to group them into a single list responds to the desire of simplicity.

### Bronze Swords

The manufacturing process was that the bronze swords were cast into moulds, heated to a certain temperature and allowed to cool slowly. Finally they were cold hammered (hitting them with a hammer on an anvil) to increase hardness.
- c.1275 BC. Assyrian sword, with inscriptions.
- c.650 BC. According to  Pausanias, Theodore of Samos invented the casting of bronze objects.
- c.450 BC. Herodotus mentioned iron swords (as a representation of the god Ares/Mars) in tombs of Scythian peoples.
- c.401 BC. Indian steel (steel wootz) and two swords made with that material.
- 326 BC. Battle of the Hidaspes River. Alexander defeated King Porus. This gave him about 10 kg of "Indian steel" (wootz steel).
- c.230 BC.Philo of Byzantium in his treatise Belopoeica (artillery) describes the flexibility of the swords of the Celts and Iberians in Hispania. An elastic behavior, such as a spring, would imply tempered steel content in the mentioned swords.
- 216 BC. Battle of Cannae Polybius described the swords of the Iberians (cutting and thrusting) and those of the Gauls (cutting).
- 197 BC. The Greeks were defeated by the Romans, led by Gay Cornelius Cetego near the River Clusius (perhaps  the current Brembo River). In spite of the numerical superiority of the Gauls, their swords were bent at the first blow and had to be straightened. The Romans took advantage of this weakness to win the battle.
- c.20 BC. Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian of Sicily a contemporary of Julius Caesar and Augustus. His comments on the celtiber swords indicate the cut quality and an aspect of their manufacture.
- c.5 BC. Gratio Falisco, in his poem Cynegeticon, mentions the knives of Toledo: "...Ima toledano praecingunt ilia cultro ..."

## Christian Era

- c.50. Pliny the Elder talks about the types of iron, and the importance of water in the temper of steel.
- c.90 AD The poet Martial, born in Bilbilis (near Calatayud), prided himself on the steel of his country, better than the Gallic and the  Noricum.

### Middle Ages

- c.500. Ship wrecked near Nydam (Denmark) with a cargo of swords of the type "pattern-welded".
- 796. The emperor Charlemagne rendered the king Offa of Mercia with a sword made by Huns, obtained like war loot.
- c.850. Abu Yusuf well Ishaq al-Kindi describes the swords of Damascus.
- c.900. First documentaries of the katana. Master Yasu-tsuna (from Hoki)
- 966. Embassy of Borrell II to  the Hàkam II. giving a present of 100 frank "swords", very famous and feared.
- 1233. Jaume I mentions the sword called "Tiso" (forged in Monzón) in the siege of Burriana.
- 1248. Sword Lobera  of the king  Ferdinand III of Castile.
- 1392. Ibn Hud Ibn Hudhayl, in his work "_ Gala de caballeros y blasón de paladines _", mentions two types of quality swords: those of Indian steel and those of the francs (Catalan) . The latter with exceptional qualities and supposedly forged by genius.
- 1425. The sword makers of Valencia asked for confirmation of their ordinations, copied from those of the sword makers of Barcelona.
- 1474. The fencing  teacher of Majorca Jaime Pons was author of a fencing treaty published in Perpinyan.

### 1500-1950

- 1509. Marriage of  Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England. Swords of the armory of  Zaragoza presented to the English king
- 1517. Superiority of the sword over other weapons in the war of the conquistadores against the Native Americans in Florida.
- 1522. Sword of Ignacio de Loyola offered to the Virgin of Montserrat.
- 1525. Battle of Pavia.  Francis I of France fought his sword to Joan Aldana, native of Tortosa.
- 1540. "Pirotechnia", work of Vannoccio Biringuccio, (Siena). Among other topics it deals with some iron mines and the reduction of the metal in a forge with bellows.
- c.1541. Sword of Francisco Pizarro, made in Valencia by the armorer Mateo Duarte.
- 1544. Hunting sabre of Henry VIII of England, decorated by Diego Çaias.
- <nowiki/>1761. " White Weapons Factory of Toledo", created by decree of Carlos III of Spain. It was organized and directed by the Valencian sword's  master Lluis Calisto.
- 1772. Henry Nock was the founder of a gun-making company. He bequeathed to his manager James Wilkinson, maker of the famous swords and sabres.
- 1782. William Bowles, "Introduction to Natural History and the Physical Geography of Spain." With information on the making of swords in Spain.
- 1793-1795. Great War. They are again opened the weapon workshops in Catalonia.
- 1798. History of the political economy of Aragon. Ignacio Jordán. talks about the sword makers of Zaragoza .
- 1804. James Wilkinson.
- 1844. Henry Wilkinson
- 1943. Sword of Stalingrad

## Other websites

- Chronology of the swords. Information on the different types.