Infantry Officer's Mdo Arta Faba DE TOLEDO 1870 Spanish Sword.

Infantry Officer's Mdo ARTa FABa DE TOLEDO 1870 Sword, No Scabbard, The Hilt Solid Cast Brass, Slightly Curved Elongated Tapered Blade.

Marked On The Blade, Mdo ARTa FABa DE TOLEDO 1870 SPAIN.

By The Mid-Victorian Period Of The 1870s, Spain Did Not Have Much Of an Empire Left To Speak Of. Their South American Colonies were all Independent and Only Some S.E. Asian Holdings, Mainly The Philippines, and Cuba In The Caribbean Remained.

For centuries, when the issue of a fight depended not only on the personal ability of the fighter but also on another decisive factor, the perfection of his weapon, Toledos' exceptional steel forged the most terrible arms in the world. Their extraordinary hardness made each of these swords an invincible force in the hands of an expert swordsman. All European armies knew the superior quality of Toledo steel and many great warriors relied only on sabers of Toledo provenance.

Their origin comes from the most ancient Spanish customs. More than 2,000 years ago, in the 5th century B.C., Iberian blacksmiths already forged swords known as Falcata which had an iron blade inside and a special design made to increase the bluntness of the slash.
Due to their fame, these swords were chosen by Hannibal for his army, and the Roman legions, defeated by those weapons, adopted them later and supplied their centurions with the dread Toledo blades.

The times of the Excalibur kind of sword passed by. The Middle Ages blacksmiths exalted the office, as they relied more and more on technological progress and not only on the good quality of their steel. The Muslim armies feared the sword that had defeated them. They didn't revere only the hand of a Master, the Cid Campeador, but also the excellence of his weapon, a Toledan sword, of course! The Muslims adopted such a technics to produce their slender two-edged Scimitars, transmitting their secret from one generation to the other.
Then, the Toledan manufacturers would yield the famous Rapiers so well popularized through D'Artagnan and his fellow Musketeers.

Also, today's Toledo is a quiet city with about 50,000 inhabitants, it has been for a time the capital city of the widest empire in the world, an empire where the sun never set. Kings from all parts of the world have had swords and sabers forged in Toledo. Even Japanese Samurai were aware of the existence of Toledos steel as it had been introduced by the Spanish merchants that followed the steps of the Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits. As Japan lived in a state of continuous civil war, it is not surprising that some of their Daimyos even came to Toledo to have their Katana and Wakizashi forged there. They knew how important was a perfect design and finish for the effectiveness of a sword.

One example of what was once the noblest art in the world is no doubt the gold inlaid hunting dagger of King Charles the Fourth, with the mark and the name of the smith who did it engraved on it. Toledo craftsmen can be rightfully proud of such a fine blade and splendid finish. This art is actually disappearing because swords have been replaced by other types of weapons, like pistols, guns, and rifles.

Item Code - MIL8A706PHA

Width: 4 1/2"  Height: 32 1/2"  Depth: 1"  Weight: 1.036 kg