The Carracks black sword, sometimes called a crab sword, is a type of sword invented in Portugal, during the 15th century. It was used by Portuguese and Spanish soldiers and sailors in ships and caravels in the Age of Discovery. [1] [2] [3]
The Carracks black sword, sometimes called a crab sword, is a type of sword invented in Portugal, during the 15th century. It was used by Portuguese and Spanish soldiers and sailors in ships and caravels in the Age of Discovery. [1] [2] [3]
It is characterized by having a guard with two protective rings, with the guard terminals in the form of two flat drops pointing toward the tip of the blade, and forming large round plates sharpened sufficiently to be used as extra blades convenient in close combat. The protective rings, in addition to their function to guard the fingers, can also serve to trap an opponent's blade.
These swords were painted black to prevent reflected light from betraying their presence on ships, as well as to mitigate corrosion caused by salt water.
This type of sword would have appeared between 1460 and 1480 in Portugal, Spain and Italy, culturally related lands. It saw much of its use in Portuguese trading cities in Africa, coming to be used as a symbol of honor by the local chiefs.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)  | This article relating to swords is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This article about Portuguese history is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Daggers have been used throughout human history for close combat confrontations, and many cultures have used adorned daggers in ritual and ceremonial contexts. The distinctive shape and historic usage of the dagger have made it iconic and symbolic. A dagger in the modern sense is a weapon designed for close-proximity combat or self-defense; due to its use in historic weapon assemblages, it has associations with assassination and murders. Double-edged knives, however, play different sorts of roles in different social contexts.
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip. A slashing sword is more likely to be curved and to have a sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing. The precise definition of a sword varies by historical epoch and geographic region.
A rapier or espada ropera is a type of sword originally used in Spain The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It was widely popular in Western Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries as a symbol of nobility or gentleman status.
A halberd is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It can have a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants and protecting allied soldiers, typically musketeers. The halberd was usually 1.5 to 1.8 metres long.
A longsword is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for primarily two-handed use, a straight double-edged blade of around 80 to 110 cm, and weighing approximately 2 to 3 kg.
The spatha was a type of straight and long sword, measuring between 0.5 and 1 metre, with a handle length of between 18 and 20 centimetres, in use in the territory of the Roman Empire during the 1st to 6th centuries AD. Later swords, from the 7th to 10th centuries, like the Viking swords, are recognizable derivatives and sometimes subsumed under the term spatha.
The French estoc is a type of sword, also called a tuck in English, in use from the 14th to the 17th century. It is characterized by a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use and a straight, edgeless, but sharply pointed blade around 36 to 52 in in length. It is noted for its ability to pierce mail armor.
The English language terminology used in the classification of swords is imprecise and has varied widely over time. There is no historical dictionary for the universal names, classification, or terminology of swords; a sword was simply a single-edged or double-edged knife.
A Nimcha is a single-handed sword from north Africa, especially used in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is classified as a type of scimitar or saif. Becoming popular in north Africa during the 16th century, surviving nimcha are usually from the late 18th century onward and are notable for often using older blades. Stylistically they often bore Arabian type handles with tugrah inscribed on the blade.
A spadroon is a light sword with a straight-edged blade, enabling both cut and thrust attacks. This English term first came into use in the early 18th century, though the type of sword it referred to was in common usage during the late 17th century. They were primarily used as a military sidearm in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and for officers and NCOs in the latter part of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The type of sword also saw widespread use across Europe and America, though the term 'spadroon' is unique to the Anglophone world.
The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit, before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower and Sword, is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459. The order may be bestowed on people or on Portuguese municipalities.
A bollock dagger or ballock knife is a type of dagger with a distinctively shaped hilt, with two oval swellings at the guard resembling male testes ("bollocks"). The guard is often in one piece with the wooden grip, and reinforced on top with a shaped metal washer. The dagger was popular in Scandinavia, Flanders, Wales, Scotland and England between the 13th and 18th centuries, in particular the Tudor period. Within Britain the bollock dagger was commonly carried, including by Border Reivers, as a backup for the lance and the sword. Many such weapons were found aboard the wreck of the Mary Rose. The bollock dagger is the predecessor to the Scottish dirk.
A facón is a fighting and utility knife widely used in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as the principal tool and weapon of the gaucho of the South American pampas. Often fitted with an elaborately decorated metal hilt and sheath, the facón has a large, heavy blade measuring from 25 cm to 51 cm in length.
The parrying dagger is a category of small handheld weapons from the European late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. These weapons were used as off-hand weapons in conjunction with a single-handed sword such as a rapier. As the name implies they were designed to parry, or defend, more effectively than a simple dagger form, typically incorporating a wider guard, and often some other defensive features to better protect the hand as well. They may also be used for attack if an opportunity arises. The general category includes two more specific types, the swordbreaker and trident dagger.
A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants are armed with a knife. A knife fight is defined by the presence of a knife as a weapon and the violent intent of the combatants to kill or incapacitate each other; the participants may be completely untrained, self-taught, or trained in one or more formal or informal systems of knife fighting. Knife fights may involve the use of any type of knife, though certain knives, termed fighting knives, are purposely designed for such confrontations – the dagger being just one example.
The Flag of Lisbon, also known as the Flag of Saint Vincent, is the municipal flag of Lisbon, consisting of a gyronny alternating between black and white defaced with the coat of arms of Lisbon in the center. For civil use the flag is flown without the coat of arms.
The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. This variety of sword is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword, though this term may also be applied loosely and imprecisely to other swords.
In the European High Middle Ages, the typical sword was a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimetres. This type is frequently depicted in period artwork, and numerous examples have been preserved archaeologically.
The Portuguese inventions are the inventions created by the people born in Portugal, or whose nationality is Portuguese. These inventions were created mainly during the age of Portuguese discoveries, and during modernity.
Ratings of the Royal Navy have used cutlasses, short, wide bladed swords, since the early 18th century. These were originally of non-uniform design but the 1804 Pattern, the first Navy-issue standard cutlass, was introduced at the start of the 19th century. This was a bluntish weapon that was perhaps intended for cutting away canvas and ropes rather than as a thrusting combat weapon. The 1845 Pattern cutlass introduced a bowl-style hand guard which provided greater protection, with a longer and more curved blade. Its sharper point made it more useful for thrusting attacks, which were now emphasised in the drill manual. The 1845 Pattern was modified several times including shortening and straightening the blades, which weakened them. The 1889 Pattern had a straight, spear-pointed blade with a hilt that curved outwards to catch and redirect an opponent's sword point. The 1900 Pattern, the last navy-issue cutlass, was similar to its predecessor with the introduction of a fuller and a hilt insert that cushioned the user's little finger. The cutlass was withdrawn from service in 1936 but remains in use for ceremonial purposes. It is thought that it was last used in combat in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.