Szabla

Szabla (Polish pronunciation: [ˈʂabla]; plural: szable) is the Polish word for sabre. The sabre was in widespread use in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Early Modern period, especially by light cavalry during 17th century. The sabre became widespread in Europe following the Thirty Years' War and was also adopted by infantry. In in particular, it served as one of the symbols of the nobility and aristocracy (szlachta), who considered it to be one of the most important pieces of men's traditional attire.

The first type of szabla, the Hungarian-Polish (węgiersko-polska), was popularized among the szlachta during the reign of the Transylvanian-Hungarian King of Poland Stefan Batory in the late 16th century. It featured a large, open hilt with a cross-shaped cross-guard and a heavy blade, either uncurved at all or curved only slightly. Since the saber provided little to no hand protection, a chain was attached to the cross-guard and the pommel. Since a number of such weapons were made by order of the king himself during his reform of the army and were engraved with his portrait, this kind of sabre is also referred to as batorówka - after Batory's name.

In the late 17th century the first notable modification of the sabre appeared. Unlike the early "Hungarian-Polish" type, it featured a protected hilt and resembled the curved sabres of the East. It was hence called the Armenian sabre, possibly after Armenian merchants and master swordsmiths who formed a large part of arms makers of the Commonwealth at those times. In fact the Armenian sabre developed into three almost completely distinct types of swords, each used for a different purpose. Their popularity and efficiency made the Polish nobles abandon the broadswords used in Western Europe.

The hussar sabre was perhaps the best-known type of szabla of its times and became a precursor to many other such European weapons. Introduced around 1630, it served as a Polish cavalry mêlée weapon, mostly used by heavy cavalry, or Polish Hussars. Much less curved than its Armenian predecessors, it was ideal for horseback fighting and allowed for much faster and stronger strikes. The heavier, almost fully closed hilt offered both good protection of the hand and much better control over the sabre during a skirmish. Two feather-shaped pieces of metal on both sides of the blade called moustache (wąsy) offered greater durability of the weapon by strengthening its weakest point: the joint between the blade and the hilt. The soldier fighting with such sabre could use it with his thumb extended along the back-strap of the grip for even greater control when 'fencing' either on foot or with other experienced horsemen, or by using the thumb-ring, a small ring of steel or brass at the junction of the grip and the cross-guard through which the thumb is placed, could give forceful downward swinging cuts from the shoulder and elbow with a 'locked' wrist against infantry and less experienced horsemen. This thumb ring also facilitated faster 'recovery' of the weapon for the next cut. A typical hussar szabla was relatively long, with the average blade of 85 centimetres (33 in) in total. The tip of the blade, usually some 15 to 18 centimetres long, was in most cases double-edged. Such sabres were extremely durable yet stable, and were used in combat well into the 19th century.

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