Szczerbiec (la espada mellada) – la espada de coronación de los reyes de Polonia

Abstract

The paper presents the results of newest research on the Szczerbiec – the Polish coronation sword. Technological examinations revealed that the blade was manufactured of bloomery steel, with C contents of c. 0.3-0.6 %. The blade was thermally treated (quenched and tempered) in its part below the hilt. The X-ray revealed no pattern welding or composite structures. All this testifies to the authenticity of the sword as a genuine medieval weapon and not (as sometimes suggested in scholarship) a 19th c. replica. The pommel and the crosspiece were made of silver and then coveted with nielloed gold plates. A combination of typological, stylistic and epigraphic data suggests a date of c. 1250 for the sword. As suggested by the lavishness of ornament and inscriptions of the all-metal hilt, as well as by the rectangular cross-section of the grip, the Szczerbiec may have been influenced by swords of the Mediterranean (especially Iberian) cultural sphere. The swords of Sancho IV of Castille and Leon, of Santa Casilda, of Friedrich II von Hohenstaufen, of the Comtes de Dreux and a sword from the Museo Arqueologico Nacional in Madrid seem to be especially relevant analogies. Of particular significance is a Hebrew or Hebrew-Latin inscription on the crosspiece, which fits into a tradition of Hebrew-inspired voces magicae. The first owner of the sword was in all probability Boles?aw Pobo?ny (the Pious), Duke of Great Poland (died 1279). For Duke Boles?aw the sword was his gladius iustitiae and a protective talisman. The weapon was then inherited (probably through marriage to his daughter Jadwiga c. 1293) by Duke Boleslaw Pobozny (the Short or the Ell-high) (the future King of Poland). It was in all probability Duke Vladislao Łokietek who first used the sword as a coronation insignia.