Data on the warfare and bladed weapons on the balkans from the 7th – 11th century in artistic sources

Abstract

In the present study was analyzed the data related to the development of a cold weapons in the Balkans within 7th – 11th century, according to artistic monuments. Particular attention to some miniatures within manuscripts is paid. That provides direct or indirect information about the development of early medieval warfare and armaments of Byzantium and the First Bulgarian Kingdom, that arosed on ancestral Byzantium territories. In the pictorial medieval monuments from South-Eastern Europe considered in the present study, it is noteworthy that the warriors are mostly armed with spears, while with sabers and swords are mostly rulers and high-ranking military figures depict. This presupposes the existence of a certain symbolism towards this type of cold weapon and its definition as an insignia of power and prestige. However, if we go beyond information from Byzantine artistic monuments and turn our attention to narratives, we will find that swords and sabers are not just elite weapons. The lack of a large number of early medieval finds of bladed weapons in the territory of the Lower Danube is probably due to their expensive and complex manufacture, as well as the symbolism that they ‘carry’, which in turn implies a long period of use and transmission from generation to generation.

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