Hi everybody,

I'm Mattia from Noale near Venice (Veneto) and I my new project is to reproduce an early ancestor of the Schiavona that could be used during the War of Chioggia (1378-1381).
In details i need some reference for a "S" shape crossguard and a shield shape pommel during this period. I find that this shape could be originated from Serbia and Hungary, but I'm not able to find any museum/effigy source.
Could you be so kind to help me please?

PS: sorry if my english is not good.

Have a nice day,

Mattia

never mind :confused:

I don't think you will find any such sword earlier than 15th century...

quoted from "The Schiavona and its Influences" article from Nathan Robinson:
"The "cat's head" pommel, called katzenkopfknauf in German, can be found on surviving examples of cross-hilted swords of the 14th century. Many of said examples can be traced into the hands of Slavonic soldiers stationed in southern Europe and in the employ of the armies of Spain and Venice.

These swords have hilts with a square or rectangular pommel and feature a raised circular boss within its center and a horizontally recurved cross-guard, often so curved as to form circles. Guards of this same type can be traced to 14th and 15th century Hungarian swords, having similar pommels with less squared and more shield-like shapes."

I'ts been a month that I'm searcing for these swords, but I don't find anything yet.

Here is one, I found it on Viktor Berbekucz's site, he says it is from a museum in Berlin...

Thanks for the reply! Any other info about it?

Oakeshott says in Records it was probably a type XII sword, 1200-1250, it was found in Rhine and is now supposedly in Museum für Deutsche Geschichte, Berlin. I can't find it in their database.

Here is one possible proto schiavona from around 1400:
http://dhm.de/datenbank/dhm.php?seite=5&fld_0=AK004334

I just found an Elgur sword inspired by it: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=294730377346204&set=a.294730204012888.1073741836.100004277317910&type=1&theater