Scenario: I'm seeing this girl who would like to purchase a quality sword of sorts at some point in the future. She totally loves anything Spanish/Spain (except for me of course) so she desires 'Spanish steel'* in a romantic sense of the past as those might have back in the day desired steel from Toledo or what have you.

Problem: She thinks I know more about swords than her. I agree so she comes to me with questions. The weird thing is that I don't know any quality sword makes out of Spain beyond pretty wall hangers. Come to think of it, I don't know that many sword-smithies in Europe outside of Del Tin in Italy, Armor Class in Scotland, and the plethora in the Czech Republic (Lutel, Arms and Armor (CZ), Arma Bohemia, Armart, TEMPL Historical Arms...an impressive list of makers). But really, why don't I know any kick-arse sword makers from Toledo or out of the Rhine-land like in the 12th C? I need to be educated in the department of European sword makers if people know of any or at least why I cannot seem to find them when internet searching.

*Nota bene: I have told my girl that she may wish to curve the cultural romanticism and go with existing sword makers I know of which focus on quality issues such as performance ability, steel types, construction methods, historical accuracy, et cetera but she's incessant on this more illogical desire. I think it's puerile but that's ok.

There may be someone somewhere in Spain that makes real swords, but I only know of the ones that make wallhangers. An internet search might bring one to light.

As an alternative, perhaps a Spanish design might do, a replica of a sword wielded by Spanish soldiers. For instance, the Serenissima rapier made by Arms & Armor - http://www.arms-n-armor.com/rapier212.html - I hope she won't mind that it is made of Minnesota steel.

You may need to inform her that the majority of steel in Spain probably isn't from Spain... it's probably Chinese steel. :)

Perhaps your girlfriend might be persuaded to remember that all steel comes from the same Mother Earth, despite its national origin, and that even if a Spanish-style sword made in America is not Spanish made, Spain WAS the first European country to establish a permanent colony on North American soil (St. Augustine, Florida, est. 1565 by Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés). :cool:

PS: My wife and I vacation there every year. It's a very cool historical city to visit!

Since we are off-topic now anyway: the steel giant Rio Tinto is originally the english comoany founded to exploit the iron ore in the Rio Tinto area in sw andalucia, spain. The Rio Tinto is indeed a red river, coloured deep red by the iron oxide seeping from the country side.

Currently spain has no producers of decent swords nor iron.

There are however quite a few spanish originals around for decent money, not more than a quality repro would cost.
The cheaper value for money alternative is to buy a cup hilt rapier from HanWei.

An interesting option is to buy a 'muslim' type sword as those were valued highly by the christian knights during the reconquista. Those swords are spanish because they were used by spanish muslims and reused by spanish christians :lol:
Quite a few were made from spanish ore in Toledo but also from the same ore in Alexandria.

Present day ' Toledo' is wallhanger stuff although they make some for government issue too. If she would like something late 19th century she can get the 'real' thing modern made from Toledo albeit indeed most likely from chinese or indian steel.

peter

Try:swordsfromtoledo.com-they are located in Toledo Spain & have a line of battle ready swords as well as wall hangers.Their contact info.is there as well.Good luck.

If I were in your shoes I'd just say, "Spain does not produce any good quality reproduction swords." I have seen no evidence to the contrary, with apologies to any serious individual Spanish smiths or small manufacturers.


That doesn't solve your problem though, so maybe do this:

Look at some medieval Spanish artwork, especially scenes of battles. Compare the swords you find depicted there with reproductions available from Windlass Steelcrafts (MRL, Kult of Athena, Reliks, etc.), A&A or Albion, depending on her budget. Eventually you'll find a match and buy a sword that is both of better quality and more authentically associated with Spanish history than any mass-produced (i.e., affordable) sword originating in Spain itself.

You should send her a link to this thread, which concerns a man's desire for a sword representative of his family's Spanish conquistador heritage.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...erenissima

And she could do much, much worse than the A&A Serenissima:

http://www.arms-n-armor.com/rapier212.html

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There are a few custom swordsmiths in Spain. Germán Azote is one of them. He is in Valencia and can be contacted in the forum of the AEEA www.esgrimaantigua.com
He has a website but I couldn´t find it.

The Serenissima would be perfect, but if she's not willing to sell a kidney to finance this purchase (go figure), she might be interested in this recent offering from Windlass Steelcrafts--the misnamed "Early Spanish Sword". Chad Arnow tracked down what seems to be the original inspiration and observed thusly:

Interestingly enough, I found a similar sword to MRL's in the same [Italian] book as the possible inspiration for their "Late Spanish Sword." It shares a diamond section blade, though with a much stouter mid-rib, a guard with three trios of incised lines on the ecusson like the MRL piece, and a pommel whose raised rim is not raised very far and is oddly flat. It's housed in Madrid and dated to 1490-1500. It looks kind of similar and may be MRL's inspiration, though the dating is way off. Since it resides in the Real Armeria in Madrid you can probably call it Spanish though it's published in a book about Italian edged weapons.

Kult of Athena has this piece for $189:

http://kultofathena.com/product~item~501020.htm

It's probably a good buy.

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This thread might be of some use

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...highlight=

I'm really very surprised nobody has yet mentioned this exquisite sword. I handled this one in Albion's showroom during my road trip to Wisconsin.

You want this sword. Trust me on this. :cool:

There is a sword making outfit in Zaragossa (spelling?) which apparently makes their own swords I believe I've even seen a website although apparently I did not save a link. I do not remember anything about their prices and since I didn't bother to save the link I don't know that I was particularly impressed, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose...

Suggestion: if Spanish authenticity is the most important aspect of this endeavor, might an actual antique military sword be an option, rather then a reproduction?

I'm not sure how easy they are to get a hold of or how pricey they are, but she definitely won't be able to argue that it isn't a Spanish blade. ;)

Hi Brandon, I've wielded that sword you have pictured, it's actually a pretty nice sword for the price but it will need to be sharpened. I live less than 25 minutes from Kult of Athena, in fact I am planning on going there tomorrow to show Ryan the Del Tin sword I've wrote about in here under "Putting Life into a Sword Blade". Because that's where I bought it from and Ryan is real interested in seeing my work, so I will take another look at that sword for you tomorrow if that helps?

Sincerely!

Bob

Were it me, I'd go for that A&A Serenissima Rapier and then send it to Triton Works (Russ Ellis) for an appropriate scabbard and suspension. Take a look at his Maelstrom Line, his least expensive one. He has a scabbard with a metal chape and throat and a four-buckle belt frog for an A&A Bavarian Rapier that would suit perfectly, or you might want to order a baldric with a four buckle system. Russ will customize it for you or for your lady. The scabbard of which I speak is the fourth down on the right hand side at this page:
http://www.tritonworks.com/maelstrom

What probably once made Spanish steel sought after was the Catalan forges. Today, modern mass produced steels for blanks all have this degree of quality if not better. Other than the sword being of a style traditionally found in Spain, I see no reason not to include reproductions made elsewhere.

I remember reading a long time ago about a thrusting sword valued by the English during Elizabethan times. It was called the "bilbo" or "bilboa" after the Basque town on the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao, that was famous for its steel. Here are a couple of references to it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbo_%28sword%29
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bilbo
http://www.factmonster.com/dictionary/brewers/bilbo.html