Its metallic parts were smaller in order to cut through the enemy’s armour.īut the weapon of choice of the Romanian soldiers was the longbow.Ĭarol Konig: “ Another weapon you could find in paintings or frescoes is the longbow. The javelin was shorter, had a hardened tip and was particularly in use with the cavalry. The spear was an infantry weapon it was longer and its tip came in various forms - triangle, leaf etc. Medieval soldiers used to fight with spears and javelins.

Another weapon that appears in the fresco is the spear. I was particularly impressed by its hilt, typical for that time, proving that type of saber was a replica of a real one, in use when the fresco was painted. Sabers were double edged, with a straight blade, and that’s the difference between a saber and a sword, the latter had a single-edged curved or straight blade. Carol Konig has described the characteristics of this weapon as they appear in the picture of a soldier saint on the walls of the Curtea de Arges monastery, in southern Romania.Ĭarol Konig: “The most representative weapon in use at that time was the saber, a sharp implement very reliable in any battle, as it could be used for both cutting and thrusting. The blade’s flexibility mainly stood for the human soul in an all-out struggle against temptation. And as sabers were made out of steel and had flexible blades, they were standing for another two powerful symbols of Christianity the toughness of this faith and the believers’ unflinching stand against unbelief. That weapon had a mystical form its long blade and horizontal guard suggested a cross. The main prototype is that of Archangel Michael - commander of the heavenly armies against the fallen angels - who is carrying a saber. The military saints painted on church walls appear with their sabers, as the main element of their mission, of the battle they were waging against unbelief.

Of all the medieval weapons, the saber was conveying the strongest religious symbolism. So our conclusion is that the painter depicted exactly the weapons used by the armies of his time.”

However, we have plans and documents about those weapons and today we know exactly what they looked like. There was no representation of that weapon in the Romanian principalities, as none of them was preserved to present times. It was on a matchlock, a mechanism widely used in the Western world. It was a major discovery for us, as nothing had been known about this very interesting weapon until 1978, but we know that it was exactly the type of weapon in use at that time in Europe. Here is curator and medieval weapons expert Carol Konig.Ĭarol Konig: “We have spotted a harquebus in a fresco at the Voronet monastery. Experts in mural painting have made amazing discoveries. Images of soldier saints, defenders of the Christian faith, painted on church walls in the 16th century, document the presence of various types of weapons used by the Romanian armies of the Middle Ages. Proof of their belief is the great number of icons and frescoes representing weapons as a major social reality.

Picture of medieval weapons