A 16th Century "Styrian" Riding Sword in the Collections of the History Museum of Moldavia in Iasi

Abstract

One of the exhibits of Moldavia’s History Museum is an Early Modern/Late Medieval sword that has been until recently known and labeled as “Prince Vasile Lupu’s Sword”. Our investigation demonstrates, by means of typology analysis and analogy, that the item is an ordonance weapon in the category of “riding swords” dated at the end of 16th or the in the beginning of the 17th century, used to equipp the light cavalry or to be worn as side,weapon by travelers. The type of weapon is known as Styrian Sword, as the largest group of preserved items is located in the Styrian Arsenal Museum in Graz, Austria.

Keywords: riding sword, Graz Arsenal, Danner family, Nuremberg, the Thirteen Years War.