Posts: 497 Location: Poland
Sun 16 Apr, 2023 7:13 am
As far as steeled arrowhead goes, I recall there's interesting, if bit cryptic Polish source from around 1575 :
Quote: |
Kto chce przebić rzecz niepodobną, jako się to trafiło na cesarskiem dworze dworze panu Stani[sławowi]
Łaskiemu, że moźderz przebił miąszy, ten ma umieć kunszty o rozmaitem hartowaniu żeliaza,
o czem się wtórych księgach, spominając
naukę kowalską, mówiło. |
It translates roughly to
"Who would like to strike trough impossible thing, as it had happened on Emperor's court to Stanisław Łaski, when he pierced thick mortar, he should know various arts of tempering iron, as it was mentioned in other books, those about blacksmith art"
So apparently Stanisław Łaski put the court of Emperor Charles V in awe, by piercing thick mortar (I imagine it has to be type of cannon, not any vessel for grinding stuff, though it's not explicitly mentioned) with an arrow.
And author describing it doesn't mention strength of the archer or bow, but mentions metallurgy of arrow as most important thing.
In previous part of his book, he writes
"If you want iron delicatus for sharpening, so you can drag it out, make it sharper, you quench it in oill, as they do it with razor. If you want it hard, so it wont' break, quench in water. And if you want it truly tempered, strong and too hard as they do with czekans, then quench it in goats blood."
Dunno if Sarnicki had any real knowledge about iron work, or if he was just repeating some tales as it often happened in Renaissance work, but I thought it's very interesting anyway.