Spanish Conquistador Falchion
Hi guys,
I've been poking around the internet for information about a Spanish Conquistador's Two-Handed sword, as quoted in this account describing the native weapons: "They had likewise long Swords, which they used with both Hands, as we do our Scimitars or Falchions, made of Wood, in which they fixed sharp Flints."

I have not found any other bits of information about this, nor a reproduction two-handed falchion that would fit this time. If anyone has any primary accounts of the period, written or drawn, that have two-handed falchions or scimitars, could you please help me out? Thanks.
As you mention, the accounts are of weapons not of the Spaniards but of the natives.

Check out some of these topics:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=13691

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4928

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=6275

And this:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7436
Nathan Robinson wrote:
As you mention, the accounts are of weapons not of the Spaniards but of the natives.


Nathan, the passage refers to a comparison of a native weapon versus a Spanish weapon. Specifically, a Spanish weapon
wielded with 2 hands, called a Scimitar or Falchion.

IIRC the Maciejowsk falchion is a 2 hander and vaguely similar in appearance/use to a Machahuitl.
Thank you JT; yes, this account is from a Conquistador, not a native. And the fact that it says Falchions AND Scimitars makes me wonder if they were referring to actual scimitars (that they may have gotten from the Granada War) as well as the more European Falchion. But like I said, it's hard to do more research when I can't find any more sources. I keep hoping to see a drawing of a scimitar-wielding Conquistador in one of the codexes, but so far no luck.
I really thought I was clear, but apparently not.

I was stating that the account was FROM a Spaniard REGARDING the natives.

Can you include the whole passage?

(Please note that I included links above for both native South American weaponry and a discussion of the Spanish two-handed weapons as well)
As far as I understand it, the point of confusion here is that Jerry is not inquiring about the direct object of the passage (the "long swords" of the natives) but rather to the weapons spoken of in a subordinate clause-- "as we do our Scimitars or Falchions."

What are these scimitars or falchions the speaker references as a comparison to the wooden weapons of the natives? I certainly don't have any information about two-handed falchions used by Spanish conquistadors, though the idea is intriguing.

As Nathan has said, it would be nice to know the whole passage and the explorer being cited in the original post to get a better sense of the situation.
Well... I have seen some photos of Italian storta of the period that could be of longsword or two-handed size, judging by their proportions. And then there are the long Schweizersäbel, of course. I would expect roughly analogous weapon forms existed in the Spanish-speaking regions, as well. Keeping in mind that weapon terminology was not historically the exact science we try to make it today, and that this is an English translation of a Spanish text, which introduces a further layer of semantic ambiguity, it doesn't seem too far-fetched that this would be the type of weapon referred to.
Just a thought, but MOST of the native weapons in question (can't remember how to spell it) were intended for one handed use, in conjunction with a shield. But its possible that these weapons were also used for two handed blows when more power was required, so maybe the same is true of their spanish counterparts i.e. single handed swords, used sometimes for two handed blows.
I'd love to see the whole original passage before it was translated into English. There might have been an odd translation at some point.

If the passage as the original poster provided was drawn from a secondary or tertiary source, it could have been abbreviated or snipped from its original state.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7M1o9g8MARgC...mp;f=false

Try that link to google books, otherwise, it is cited in the book Aztec Warfare by Hassig, quoting it from a conquistador named Antonio De Solis y Rivadeneyra. The whole quote is in the google book, so if the link doesn't work, try doing a Google Book search for it. The quote is in chapter one.

I'm trying to find the full account, but so far (after minimal searching) no luck.
Well, this is certainly disappointing. A simple Wikipedia account of the author shows that he wrote the book in1684, more than 100 years after the conquest. His account is not eyewitness, but a history; and so the scimitars and falchions he's talking about are the ones of 1684 Spain, not 1520's Spain... :(

Guess my search for a Conquistador Falchion continues without a lead.
Jerry Berg wrote:
Guess my search for a Conquistador Falchion continues without a lead.


I'd think for that period a falchion or cutlass of some sort is not unlikely... but a two-handed version of such? Not so sure about that.
Of the four quotes I found on Google, three had as source "Aztec Warfare", and the fourth, precisely "Aztec Warfare" itself, just had the name of Antonio de Solis. Supposing that the quote is from "Historia de la conquista, población y progresos de la América Septentrional, conocida por el nombre de Nueva España" that leaves us with two tomes, around 1000 pages to search :eek:

But Google Books is our friend ;) if we search a strange work like "pedernal" (flint in English). So the original text reads:

Quote:
Usaban [...] unas espadas largas que esgrimían a dos manos, al modo que se manejan nuestros montantes


So no scimitar, nor falchion: just a translator who didn't know what was a montante, which was a known weapon in Spain. Pacheco de Narvaéz, (+1640) in his posthumous work “Nueva Ciencia y Filosofía de la destreza de las armas” (1672) explains how to deal with it using a single sword and the "Verdadera Destreza" BTW: I recently made a PDF and uploaded it

Hint: Always go to the original quote, in the original language: "traduttore, traditore" ;)
Thanks a bunch, Iagoba. The Montante was, in fact, a two-handed Iberian spear-breaker that gained popularity in the 16th and 17th century. It resembles nothing like a scimitar or falchion, but it's still pretty sweet.
Iagoba Ferreira, you wrote that you' uploaded a file on how to deal with the montante from Pacheco de Narvaéz. I've tried to download it but my browser says the file is damaged. Could you please have a look, I'm very interested. Thank you.
Patrick De Block wrote:
Iagoba Ferreira, you wrote that you' uploaded a file on how to deal with the montante from Pacheco de Narvaéz. I've tried to download it but my browser says the file is damaged. Could you please have a look, I'm very interested. Thank you.


I just downloded it and it worked fine for me. But it's quite a large file, 82.7MB, so check your file size as it might have gotten cut off in the middle of the transfer.
Just right click the link and "save as..." it will take a time depending your band width, and its better this way than opening in a new window (as default links does).
One-handed scimitar
If anyone is curious, here is a picture that shows a one-handed scimitar. It is used in the book "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies" by Bartolome De Las Casas in 1542. Now the book is from 1542, but I can guarantee that the drawings weren't made later for a later print of the book. Still, a scimitar...
http://evresourcesite.wikispaces.com/file/vie...desoto.jpg
You are talking about a native weapon that is so-called «Macuahuitl». The Macuahuitl was discussed in this toread (as said Nathan Robinson):
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4928

"El macuáhuitl. Un arma del Posclásico Tardío en Mesoamérica", by Marco Cervera Obregón, in the journal Arqueología Mexicana, Special Issue: La guerra en Mesoamérica, Volume XIV, No. 84 (2007), Editorial Raíces, S. A. de C.V.

[ Linked Image ]
An epic picture from the film Apocalypto ©


[ Linked Image ]
No no, I'm talking about a Spanish falchion used by the Conquistadors, not any native weapon. It's a metal sword with a think and slightly curved blade.
The original reason for asking the question in the first place was because someone had a Deadliest Warrior fan-made matchup and they gave the conquistador a falchion. I wasn't sure they had them.
Since them, I've found a mention of the Falchion in the Conquistador handbook The Indian Militia and Description of the Indies by Bernardo de Vargas Machuca, and in the link posted above (though it turns out the print was made by the Dutch later on)

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