Seven swords of the Renaissance from an analytical point of view

Abstract

IN an earlier paper in Gladius, I discussed methods of producing hardened steel sword blades in the Middle Ages; most of the specimens illustrated came from the period 1000-1500 A. D. Comparatively little has been written about Greek and Roman sword blades but a good deal about the pattern-welding of those blades which succeeded them in Western Europe. This was a method (practised between the 3rd and 10th centuries A. D.) of making large sword blades out of numerous small pieces of iron, producing, in addition, a decorative effect which was much prized, at least as much as any improvement in hardness. With the revival of the employment of large shaft furnaces, larger pieces of iron could be made, and pattern-welded blades went out of use around the l0th/11th century. Many blades of the Middle Ages were simply made by forging out a single bar of iron, edge-carburising it and then hardening the steeled edge by some form of heat-treatment, of which an example is specimen. No. 1. Other blades were made by forging together layers of steel and iron to give a steel cutting-edge (on a softer core) which could then be hardened.