Leppa (weapon)

Perhaps the leppa comes from hunting knives of the late Middle Ages and the New Age, known under the German name hirschfenger, or from Venetian and Genoese storts , or from large Catalan knives, or from samples of oriental weapons (Moorish, Turkish, Berber), but it is possible that it arose completely independently ^[6] .

For the first time Leppa is mentioned in documents describing the struggle of the Arborean Judicature against the Aragonese forces in the XIV century. One of the two components of the Arborean army was a militia light infantry using a blade weapon called a sard. busachesa , which had all the morphological features inherent in lepps ^[7] .

Later, nineteenth-century sources such as the English traveler, lawyer John Tyndale, historian and anthropologist George Bettany, or Bedecker's travel guide, described long curved knives as an indispensable attribute of Sardinian men, especially highlanders. Probably, in the XIX century there was an increase in the prevalence of lepps, which can be attributed to the so-called "Sardinian banditry" - armed resistance of the lower classes of Sardinia, primarily shepherds and highlanders, to the central (Piedmontese) authorities, which in 1823 passed a law on the enclosure of community pastures , and in 1827 they abolished the action of the "Local Charter" ( sard. Carta de Logu ) - a set of traditional Sardinian laws that existed from the end of the XIV century ^[8] .

Other lepp names could be sard. paloscio or sard. spada da caccia - hunting sword or broadsword (outdated terms). Regional names - sard. brozzu , sard. bruccitu , sard. broccedu , in the dialect of Nuoro - de lesorya ^[9] , the lepps made in the town of Dorgali near Nuoro were called the place where the sardis were made . dorgali ^[10] .

Currently, samples of lepps dating from the fourteenth century can be seen in the collections of some Sardinian museums, such as the Knife Museum of Sardinia in Arbus (Campidano), or the Museum of Life and Traditions of the Sardinian People in Nuoro ^[9] .

Leppa is a melee weapon with a slightly curved single-blade blade, an average length of about 60–90 cm and one or more lobes ^[2] . Blades were mainly made directly in Sardinia, but sometimes, on the best and richest specimens, imported Spanish ones were used. In particular, the blades marked with the stigma depicting the sun ( sard. De marca e sole ) were highly valued - such a stigma was used by two masters from Toledo bearing the name de Almau: Juan de Almau (mid XVI century) and Guy de Almau ^[12] , probably the same two masters who are listed in the Encyclopedia of Weapons by V. Behaim as the brothers Juan (c. 1550) and Gil (c. 1560) de Almana, or de Alemania ^{[comm. 1]} , their brand was interpreted by Beheim as stars (two were depicted) ^[11] . Various inscriptions and mottos could also be engraved on the blades, one of the most popular was the motto “Victory or Death” ( sard. Vincere o morire ), and the leppa of the famous robber of the 19th century Giovanni Corbeddu Salis bore the inscription “Long live the King of Sardinia” ( sard . Viva il Re de Sardegna ) ^[13] . Sometimes for blades, the blades of sabers, broadswords and other types of blade weapons were redone ^[14] .

Ephesus consists of one handle without a guard, with an emphasis for fingers, the top is bent, and to a greater or lesser extent resembles the head of a bird of prey ^[2] . Below the pommel, a subdigital notch was often performed, which could be separated by a sharp protrusion ^[15] . The shape of the handle of Leppa is similar to the shape of the handle of Caucasian checkers . The lining of the handle was made of wood, horn or brass, in particular, the decorated carved brass hilt had lapps originating from Dorgali ^[16] . Wooden scabbard covered with leather. Leppa was worn diagonally tucked into the belt, with the handle to the right, with the blade down or up. When used, it could cause very serious injuries - in the description of one of the victims, the severed spine, ribs, skull, lower jaw, cut hands and ears were indicated ^[17]

• Gaucho knife
• Leucu
• Kukri
• Panga
• Machete
• Kukri
• Cleaver
• Mowing (knife)

Comments

Sources and links

• Cherevichnik D. L. Lepp - saber of Sardinia // History of weapons: almanac. - 2013. - No. 8-9. - S. 112-130.