Original 17th Century English Civil War Walloon Broadsword with Blade by Francisco Ruiz of Toledo – Distributed by “HARVEY” Original Items

Original Item: One of a Kind. This came to us from one of the most respected Ancient Arms Dealers in the United States, who happens to reside in New York State. What we have here is an absolutely wonderful 17th Century Broadsword known as a “Walloon Sword”, its original design maybe originating in the Walloon section of what we now know as Belgium. In those days it was part of France or part of the Spanish Netherlands. Their work was then considered to be the best available dating from as early as 1620, but still being made into the 1640’s and later, well in time for the English Civil War.

This is a double edged blade of 32” with one broad fuller running about 27 1/2” down the center on either side. There is a second deeper fuller 13″ long next to the spine of the blade. The markings on the ricasso are consistent with the early 1600s engraving identifying the maker by a Crown over a letter R, indicating the manufacturer of the blade being from Toledo, Spain, by Francisco Ruiz, who was part of a famous family of bladesmiths. It is also marked HARVEY, the distributor in England.

Iron hilt with two, big valves, pierced with stars and small circles, parry quillon curved toward the blade, a thumb-ring at the back, smooth guard, flattened, spherical pommel. The grip appears to be wooden and tightly wrapped with leather.

This Sword is 39″ in overall length and is truly magnificent and very early, being prior to the English Civil War. It might even have seen service in the first Colonies in the New World.

In excellent display condition.

Specifications:-
Blade Length: 32″
Blade Style: Broad Sword
Overall length: 39“
Basket dimensions: 6″ x 4″ with 5 1/2 ” length

Walloon Sword
The so-called walloon sword or haudegen (hewing sword) was common in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia in the Thirty Years’ War and Baroque era. The historian and sword typologist Ewart Oakeshott proposed an English origin for this type of sword, with subsequent development in the Netherlands and Germany. Basket-hilted rapiers and sword-rapiers, characterized by pierced shell-guards, made during the same period are known as Pappenheimer rapiers.

The Walloon sword was favored by both the military and civilian gentry. A distinctive feature of the Walloon sword is the presence of a thumb-ring, and it was therefore not ambidextrous. The most common hilt type featured a double shell guard and half-basket, though examples exist with hand protection ranging from a shell and single knuckle-bow to a full basket. The hilt may have influenced the design of 18th century continental hunting hangers.

Following their campaign in the Netherlands in 1672 (when many of these German-made swords were captured from the Dutch), the French began producing this weapon as their first regulation sword. Weapons of this design were also issued to the Swedish army from the time of Gustavus Adolphus until as late as the 1850s.

English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) and Royalists (“Cavaliers”), mainly over the manner of England’s governance and issues of religious freedom. It was part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The wars also involved the Scottish Covenanters and Irish Confederates. The war ended with Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

Unlike other civil wars in England, which were mainly fought over who should rule, these conflicts were also concerned with how the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland should be governed. The outcome was threefold: the trial and the execution of Charles I (1649); the exile of his son, Charles II (1651); and the replacement of English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England, which from 1653 (as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland) unified the British Isles under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658) and briefly his son Richard (1658–1659). In England, the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship was ended, and in Ireland, the victors consolidated the established Protestant Ascendancy. Constitutionally, the outcome of the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament’s consent, though the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty was legally established only as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688.