In those ancient times, when edged weapons reigned supreme on the battlefields, human thought, in search of new ways to destroy its own kind, created a broadsword - a cross between a sword and a saber. His straight, sometimes double-edged blade struck the enemy so effectively that for many centuries it was in the arsenals of most European and Asian states.
Artifacts from ancient graves
The earliest examples of broadswords were found in the burials of the Proto-Bulgarians, a people of Turkic origin who inhabited the steppes of South-Eastern Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries. Despite such a distant era, it had all the same characteristic features that it has retained up to the present day.
It was a cutting and piercing weapon with a straight double-edged blade that reached a meter in length, a hilt designed to protect the hand, and a slightly curved handle. It is known that the Khazars, Avars, Alans and a number of other representatives of ancient peoples used the same or very similar broadswords at that time.
Broadswords in the hands of Asian warriors
Blade weapons similar in design and appearance were widespread in the countries of East and Central Asia. ATIn the XIII-XIV century, they were armed with the Tatar-Mongolian hordes, who made their bloody raids and held in obedience a significant part of ancient Russia. Their broadswords had a one-sided sharpening, which created a certain advantage for the warrior in equestrian combat due to the lower weight of the weapon. In addition, they were easier to manufacture, and therefore cheaper.
Weapons of the peoples of the Caucasus
They were also widely used in the Caucasus and the countries of the Middle East. A common feature of broadswords made by oriental gunsmiths was weak hand protection. The hilt did not yet have a complex design, which would be typical for Western European samples of a later period, and consisted, as a rule, only of a cross with an arc.
Among the broadswords used by the peoples of the Caucasus, the so-called franguli are known. They were common among the Khevsurs, an ethnic group that inhabited the Khevsur Aragvi river basin and the upper reaches of the Argun. Their hilts and scabbards were bound with brass or iron plates and richly decorated with patterns in the national style. Broadswords were also widely used in Georgia. Their peculiarity was the handles, similar in appearance to those that at a later time could be seen on cavalry checkers.
Broadswords made by Indian masters
The broadsword was also a very popular weapon in India. Here, its design had its own characteristic features, the main of which was the shape of the blade. With a length of about eighty centimeters and one-sided sharpening, it was forged with some expansion towards the end, which had an ovalshape. In addition, its peculiar difference was a powerful and reliably protecting hand hilt, which consisted of two bowls connected by a steel strip. This design was called kunda.
In the period related to the late Middle Ages, another type of broadswords called firangi appeared in India. Its originality consisted in the blade, which had a one-and-a-half sharpening, that is, half sharpened from the back, and a basket hilt, which had a sharp spike, which also served to defeat the enemy.
The first samples of Western European broadswords
In Western Europe, this type of weapon appeared relatively late - in the 16th century, but was immediately appreciated and widely used. In the forties, the Hungarian hussars began to use a broadsword as an addition to the traditional saber in those days.
The weapon was mounted near the saddle and was used mainly for stabbing, which was very convenient due to the long blade. At the same time, the design of the handle, somewhat curved and resembling a saber, made it possible to deliver powerful chopping blows.
At the end of the 16th century, a tangible impetus for the further spread of broadswords was the appearance in Western Europe of regular units of heavy cavalry - cuirassiers. An indispensable element of their protective weapons was a metal breastplate - a cuirass, which reliably protected from saber strikes, but was vulnerable to a heavy and long blade, which was equipped with a specially designed type of weapon that went down in history as a broadsword.cuirassier.
New Scottish gunsmiths
About the same period, Scotland made its contribution to the creation of melee weapons. It was created, and subsequently became popular throughout the UK, the so-called Scottish broadsword. If its wide, double-edged blade was generally similar to those that were equipped with swords, then the guard - the part of the hilt that protects the warrior's hand, was something new.
It was quite large and looked like a basket with a significant number of branches. Its inner surface was trimmed with leather or red velvet. In addition, the hilt was decorated with horsehair tassels. The Scottish broadsword was usually used in conjunction with a small round shield. This combination made it possible to conduct both defensive and offensive battles.
Walloon swords
Researchers believe that the Western European broadsword is a weapon resulting from the transformation of a pre-existing heavy cavalry sword, which was called a saddle sword, since it was usually attached to the saddle. In this regard, broadswords were first called Walloon swords, after the name of the region of Belgium where this type of weapon was produced. Their characteristic feature was somewhat asymmetric hilts, which reliably protected the warrior's hand thanks to a bowl equipped with numerous arches and a transverse cross.
New times - new trends
In the XVII century in the armies of most European countries there was a process of unification of weapons. First to onesingle regiments and squadrons, and then entire types of cavalry, were brought to the standard. Since that time, the broadsword, a weapon that was previously used by all cavalry without exception, became part of the arsenal of only dragoon and cuirassier units.
By the middle of the 18th century, the design of the blade had changed. The double-edged blade was replaced by a blade, sharpened only on one side and having a blunt butt. Only its shape and dimensions remained the same, in which it remained a fairly powerful and heavy weapon.
Boarding Team Weapons
For three centuries, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, the broadsword was used not only on land, but also at sea. It was an integral part of the armament of the boarding teams - those dashing cutthroats who, having dragged the side of the enemy ship with steel hooks, rushed into hand-to-hand combat. The boarding broadsword differed from its land counterpart, first of all, in that its guard was made in the form of a shell.
There were other differences as well. Its one-sided blade, which was up to eighty centimeters long and about four centimeters wide, was devoid of fullers - longitudinal channels designed to reduce weight and give additional strength. In this respect, the marine broadsword was akin to the infantry, which had the same blade design feature.
Broadswords in the Russian army
In Russia, the broadsword appeared at the end of the 17th century. This was due to the large influx of foreign officers into military service, who, as a rule, brought firearms and edged weapons with them. The photo that ends the articlepresents several broadswords of that period, made in Moscow, but made according to foreign models. As you can see, they are characterized by a beveled handle, convenient for delivering chopping blows from a horse, as well as a cross, straight or with ends lowered to the blade.
In the first quarter of the 18th century, under Peter I, dragoon regiments were created everywhere in the Russian army as one of the most effective types of heavy cavalry. The main component of their weapons was a broadsword - a weapon most suitable for this type of troops. The demand for it has increased dramatically, since, in addition to the dragoon units, they were armed with cavalry grenadier and carabinieri regiments.
Production and import of broadswords
From that time on, they began to produce it by the factory method, introducing a certain unification, but, in addition, a significant number of broadswords were delivered from abroad. In Western Europe, the main center of their production was the German city of Solingen, where by that time there were a number of enterprises specializing in the production of edged weapons.
Broadswords produced in Russia had a number of distinctive features. For example, products produced during the reign of Empress Catherine II were decorated with an engraving depicting a crown and its monogram - “E II”. The scabbard was leather or made of wood and covered with leather. This tradition continued until 1810, when, by order of Alexander I, they began to be made of metal. The only exception was the boarding broadsword, whose scabbard still remainedleather.
The broadsword as an independent type of blade weapon was most widely used in the first half of the 19th century. At that time, several of its varieties were in service with the Russian and most European armies. Among them, researchers stand out: guards cuirassier broadsword, army cuirassier, dragoon and, finally, infantry broadsword. Each of these species has its own characteristic features. Their common feature was the design of the blade, which has become single-edged since the beginning of the 19th century.
The weapon that became a museum piece
Today, broadswords can only be seen in the hands of soldiers carrying an honor guard at the banner of the Russian Navy. Scientific and technological progress has forced them out of modern arsenals. The same fate befell almost all edged weapons. The photos presented in this article are a kind of retrospective to a bygone world, where cavalry lava attacked, raising dust, and formidable blades shot up to the sky glittered in the sun.
