Schiavona broadsword

Schiavona, or a basket-hilted sword, was a type of broadsword with an elaborate basket hilt to protect the hand and a broad blade used to thrust cuts. This type of weapon was derived from the sword, but the extended protection made it possible to fight with a leather glove instead of the tin one which was part of the armour. This type of weapon was carried by mercenary Slavic soldiers in Venice, who were the court guards of the Doge of Venice, and the light cavalry units. Mercenary soldiers from the Balkans, more specifically from Dalmatia on the eastern Adriatic coast, were referred to as schiavoni, and this is where the name of the broadsword comes from. They were produced in Venice and the Balkans, and became popular in countries maintaining trade contacts with Venice. It was used from the second half of the 16th century until the end of the 18th century, especially by heavy cavalry units, and ornamented variants, sometimes even decorated with precious stones, adorned the belts of the nobility. The characteristic schiavona baskets, such as the one in the example from the Szczecin collection, belong to the earliest type of so-called skeleton baskets from the late 16th and 17th centuries, where the handle includes a tang and three angular side bars that run to the fist guard. The structure has been stabilised by braces running from the lower side bracket to the cross-guard. Justyna Bądkowska