Novoselov V. R. (2021). Pohodnyj tesak Petra Velikogo [Peter the Great’s Travel Sword]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 10, pp. 4 — 30.

Novoselov V. R.

Abstract: The article offers the research, done on a unique artifact from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums. It is a broadsword with a wide blade of crucible steel, provided with short grooves, carved through for pieces, imitating pearls to roll in. The broadsword came from Peter I’s palace in the village of Preobrajenskoye, where a large group of edged and fire arms, partly belonged to the great monarch, was deposited. In the palace register of weapons, this broad sword was put down as “tesak” (fascine knife). An interesting detail of the object is an engraving, which was made on the silver plate, decorating its scabbard mouth. It represents an image of a warrior, dressed in European fashioned uniform and a Russian hat with a fur trimming. The author believes him to be an officer or a sergeant of the Peter the Great’s regiment of boy-soldiers in 1680-1690, which became the basis for the monarch’s future Semyonovsky and Preobrajensky Life Guard Regiments. The study of the papers from the Armoury Chamber archive permitted the author to state that mounting of this broadsword hilt and scabbard were made in the Armour Chamber and several times repaired there in 1692-1696. The documents present the weapon as the tsar’s travel sword. Its blade shows the traces of multiple affects and their further mending, which was also recorded in the archive papers. This broadsword was used as a travel sword during the Asov campaign and shipyards building in Voronej.  The author presumes it to have been used by Peter I even later, among the rest, in his European travelling.

Keywords:  Peter the Great, travel sword, fascine knife.

Category: Articles

Received: April 22, 2021 Accepted: June 3, 2021 Published: June 25, 2021

License: Copyright © 2021 The Author, The Center of Support and Development of Actual Research in the Field of Historical Weaponry (АНО «Центр поддержки и развития актуальных исследований в области Исторического оружиеведения»). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.