A Spanish Carlos III M1771 Cavalry Sword or Bilbo.
Jul 20, 2019 13:56:59 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Jul 20, 2019 13:56:59 GMT
This good natured gentleman is Carlos III.
As far as rulers go, he wasn't the worst by a mile.
A Carlos III 1771 Cavalry sword.
This is the third installment of the ,, Spanish Timeline'' story.
I wanted to write an exhausting piece on the Carlos III Bilbo but than I found this excellent thread on Viking Swords: www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23509
Everything one ever would like to know about the type is in there, coupled with a list of stamps and many more goodies.
Fans of Spanish swords and sword lovers in general should bookmark the link.
Couple this link with the excellent article by Dave Kelly and his statistics and I have nothing more to add,
apart from some, more general, notes.
So it's down to some pictures of my Carlos III and some other models of the line.
One thing though:
Handling: The sword handles very well in spite of its perceived size. It looks heavy and cumbersome, with a very small grip to booth, but appearances deceive. The Toledo blade is very thin. Mine is just under 6 mm thick.
Toledo blades well into the 19th century had a construction of a soft body surrounded by a strong hard steel mantle.
This construction gave the blade flex and a very tough cutting edge.
It also provided a way to make very thin and light blades compared to the more traditionally constructed blades from Solingen and other foreign sources, where a serious Cavalry blade was 10 mm thick at least.
For the blade alone that is almost double the weight.
So, while the Bilbo looks like a heavy Klotz, in fact what you get is a very agile and fast double edged sword with much better handling and cutting capabilities than many a foreign made Cavalry sword, I am thinking the French pallasch here, could ever hope to achieve.
At least, that's my opinion.( Shall I go Anne Elk now?)
The numbers on this Bilbo:
Length OA : 108.5 cm.
Blade length : 92 cm.
Blade width : 37 mm.
Blade thickness under the guard: slightly under 6 mm.
Weight : 1075 grams.
POB : 11.5 cm from the guard.
Some other interesting configurations.
And Dave's numbers.
Cheers.
Notes.
Vincente Toledo :: vicentetoledo.es/es/espadas/espadas-militares
SFI thread :: www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?88406-Spanish-cavalry-swords-(18th-century)
Dave Kelly :: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/34963/spanish-carlos-iii-hvy-sword
The Spanish M1795 Cavalry sword :: translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhoploteca.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F02%2Fespada-de-caballeria-modelo-1796.html&edit-text=
Spanish history :: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Spanish_history
Carlos III :: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_III_of_Spain
Spanish Cavalry regiments :: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Regimientos_de_Caballer%C3%ADa_de_Espa%C3%B1a
Spanish Timeline part 1 :: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/57155/spanish-toledo-silver-presentation-sword
Spanish Timeline part 2 :: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/57406/presentation-sword-spanish-officer
Carlos's wife Isabelle de Parma.