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Misericorde Spanish Dagger, Circa 1520
This dagger was unearthed near Tampa Bay in the early 1960s. The 11 3/4 inch needle-point blade has a hollow ground cross-section. The crossguard with its triangular-shaped quillons and the pommel are both decorated with deep accent grooves. Long narrow daggers like this one are designed for thrusting, piercing, and stabbing. The thin sharp point can fit through gaps in armor and penetrate leather or heavy fabric. This style of dagger was often used to deliver the death blow to a seriously wounded adversary, hence the name misericordia which is Latin for 'mercy'. -
Two French Military Officer Daggers, Circa 1560
The bronze hilts of two daggers are shown at the right. They are almost identical, but it's likely that the one on the left side of the photo spent most of the last 450 years buried in South Carolina near Port Royal Sound. It was unearthed by Jack Williams in the early 1960s. The other he purchased from a private collection over a decade later. This second dagger still has its original scabbard. Williams believed that the excavated dagger came from the French settlement of Charlesfort, or from the Spanish occupation that followed called Santa Elena.
Both daggers have cast bronze hilts with steel blades. The period clothing and armor of the French officer that forms each hilt indicates their origin. The officer is leaning on matchlock, his left hand wrapped around its muzzle. His right hand rests on a dagger in a leather carry which was called a frog. Below the frog hangs a pouch to hold balls and cloth patches, a large flask to hold priming powder, and several small flasks to hold premesured single charges. The scabbard is also of cast bronze with classical motifs in high relief. Ornate designs like these would have been expensive, so the daggers must have belonged to men who were well off. -
English Rondel Dagger, Circa 1350
Rondel daggers take their name from the two round disks (rondels) that form their guard (1). This one was found in London`s Thames River, and purchased by Frederick Eugene Williams III (known as Jack Williams) while he was visiting England in 1995.. It dates from the mid-14th century. The overall length of the dagger is 12 1/2 inches. The 8 1/4-inch needle-point blade is diamond-shaped with hollow grounds. The guard and pommel are made of brass. An engraving of what looks like a nine-point star can just be made out on the blade side of the guard. The pommel has four petal-shaped segments engraved with lines. Long narrow daggers like this one are designed for thrusting, piercing, and stabbing. The thin, sharp point can fit through gaps in armor, and penetrate leather or heavy fabric.
Rondel daggers were worn suspended on the right side of the belt or slung from the front of it. There is some evidence to suggest that rondel daggers were popular with the emerging middle class in the mid-15th century. Merchants and tradesmen can be seen wearing them in a painting by Girat de Roussillon circa 1448 (2).