In 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, Emperor Constantine XI may have been carrying a paramerion as depicted in this statue. In the 1830's, when an envoy came to the court of Nicholas of Russia, he bore with him a sword that he claimed belonged to Constantine XI, which he gave to the Tsar. The following link, on page 24, includes a picture of the blade of that sword as well as some interesting background.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9yGRZTZhlDQC...mp;f=false

Does anyone have a better picture of this sword?

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I don't think the emperor wore this armor.
It looks quiet anachronistic-like a 11th cent armor.

I think it would be more possible for him to wear an italian full plate.

I am not completely sure what armor he might have worn, but agree that this is a stylized statue. But my curiosity is with the sword that either he used, or later became associated with his legend when it was given to the Tsar. I would really like to see the entire blade if there are some pictures of it.

:cool:

'Then the prince, worthy of immortality, took off his imperial regalia and threw them away, and as if it were a private individual, with sword in hand, jumped into the fray. Not to die while fighting valiantly unavenged, was eventually killed and confused his body in the ruins of a royal city and the fall of his kingdom. "*

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Maurizio, have a look at page 24 of the linked text in my post. There is a piece of the blade that is attached to the legend of Constantine. It would be interesting if there is a full length shot of the weapon someplace. The etching on the blade is really incredible and I would like to see the whole piece.

Enclosed with the post is a shot of the sword attributed to Constantine's foe, Mehmet.

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Here is a picture of Mehmet's sword, again. Again, while my question is on a better picture of Constantine XI's sword, I thought this might be of interest here.

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Sword on the left belonged to Suleiman the Magnificent.
The sword on the right is mentioned by David Nicolle-Constantinople 1453 - pag. 24, probably of Constantine VI.

Comes from Istanbul, master greek. Name unknown.
Measurements of this sword are:
total length 966 mm.
Blade length 825 mm.
blade width 33 mm.
Weight 570 g.
Lett Ruffini - 1931


Blade very curved, black damask of Istanbul. Enlarged toward the tip. Only on the right, the blade is decorated in gold, precious stones, 6 red, a Madonna with child, two angels holding a crown with three red stones. A writing in greek all in gold.
On the left a little fuller, to the medium.
Was brought to Turin from Ronualdo Tecco in the service of Charles Albert.
It is certain that belonged to Constantin Brancoveanu, Prince of Valdacchia and Moldova. 1688-1714
This blade has been re-hilt and used later in turkish environment.
Lionello Boccia - Armeria Reale di Torino - P. 307-405
For this author that I respect very much, it is unlikely that belonged to Constantine XI.
I hope this helps.
Ciao
Maurizio

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pag. 307

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The sword...

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My translation is just a small summary. pag. 405

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The English translation is on page. 24 of the book by David Nicolle

So, is the story of the sword of Constantine XI being transmitted to Russian during the reign of Nicholas nothing more than legend? This is a gorgeous blade and the etchings are really incredible.

If anyone would mind, I will carry the topic a little bit off road.

Not so long ago, while searching for the ,materials on the byzantine weponry, I found in a tertiary source (about the turkish people) that the Byzantine warriors did use the Machaira sword. It interested me, but I wasn't able to find any trace of icons, or any information (except for wikipedia - which I don't consider much of a good source). Yet I would like to find some background of that, because books and ideas are not made out of thin air.

I am really keen on finding some trace of that weapon used amongst the byzantine Xth cetnury warriors.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find evidence for the use of curved swords by the Byzantines in the 10th century--by then, they would have hired Turks as allies or mercenaries already and these Turks would have brought the curved blades of their Central Asian homeland along. I'm not sure about whether the "native" Roman troops had adopted the weapon too, but I'd say it's not very unlikely for the groups that had particularly intense contact with the Turks whether of a benign or of a hostile nature. (Generals who had worked with Turkic allies/mercenaries in particular would have been good candidates as the recipient of presents from their "barbarian" associates.)

Can't remember where I found this one, but it is purportedly Byzantine.

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Here is an icon from the Church of St. Mercurius, Old Cairo showing Mercurius killing Julian the Apostate.

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To me the curved Byzantine swords might be the basis of the scimitars used in Turkey and Arab countries.