Schiavonesca (inItalian: spada schiavonesca, "Slavic sword") was a type of sword characterized by an S-shaped crossguard and a square pommel[1] whose earliest specimens were found in late 14th-century Serbia. It was used by knights in the Kingdom of Hungary and Republic of Venice during the 15th and 16th centuries.[2]
The oldest specimens are estimated to date to the last decades of the 14th century, a period when Serbia was in constant conflict.[3] The Ottoman expansion and conquests saw north- and westward migrations of Serbs, initially within the Serbian state (the Serbian Despotate) and then to the neighbouring Hungary and Venetian Dalmatia.[3] In Hungary, the Serbian population was very active in defending the southern border against the Ottomans.[3] It is for this reason, as well as other historical connections, that it has been assumed that the sword originated in the territory of Serbia.[4] Later production of this type of sword in Hungary and Venice saw it become more typologically uniform.[3]
The oldest mention of the sword is found in the will of Blacksmith Dobrič Bunisalić dating to 1391, held at the Ragusan Archives: "...doe spade schiavonesche..."[5]
Traditionally, it is thought to have originally been named after the Balkan Slavs, who used such swords in Venetian service.[5] In opposition to that, Aleksić, a medieval archaeologist, believes the term was inherited, as Sclavonia was the common Ragusan name for Serbia, its then-neighbouring state.[5] He contrasts this to the Hungary-ruled Slavic regions (modern-day Croatia), which carried the names of Slovignia and Slavonia respectively in Ragusan sources.[6] However, he agrees it is unclear whether Venetian use of the name made the distinction, and points to the likelihood that it signified the general Slavic populace of Dalmatia and the Balkans by the time production began in Venice.[4]
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