Scottish Swords

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Great illustrations Puffer.

For those who may not be up to speed, the SCHIAVONI are Slavs, from the region now known as Montenegro, who were employed as mercenaries by the Doge of Venice. By 1500 a sufficient number of them were living in Venice to warrant the building of an Orthodox Church, dedicated to St. Griorgio and St. Trifonio (now known as St. Giorgio dei Schiavoni). Arriving in Venice in the 1400s the Schiavoni brought with them their distinctive basket hilt broadswords, which quickly found favour through out much of Europe, including-- possibly-- the Scottish highlands.

Sword scholars have debated the evolution of the Scottish broadsword for more than a century, with as many declaring for the Schiavona as the precursor to the Scottish basket hilt as those who argue against it. It is my opinion that the Schiavona migrated north-westerly from Venice to Germany, beginning sometime in the 1400s, and from Germany the Schiavona made its way to Scotland. As the popularity of the broadsword increased, and the usefulness of the old, two handed, claymore waned, local artisans imported finished blades from Germany and made their own hilts which eventually evolved into the "classic" basket hilt of the 17th and 18th centuries.