Item
Physical Object
Misericorde Spanish Dagger
- Object Name/Title
- Misericorde Spanish Dagger
- Catalog Number
- 111-0054
- Physical Description
- A long, narrow dagger with a 11 3/4 inch needle-point blade featuring a hollow ground cross-section. The blade is designed with a thin sharp point specifically engineered for thrusting, piercing, and stabbing, capable of penetrating gaps in armor and heavy fabrics. The crossguard features triangular-shaped quillons decorated with deep accent grooves. The pommel is also decorated with similar grooves. The grip is currently missing. This functional design exemplifies the dagger's primary purpose as a mercy-giving weapon for delivering final blows to seriously wounded adversaries.
- Dagger Type
- Quillon Dagger, Misericorde style
- Maker/Workshop
- Unknown craftsperson, Spanish
- Date of Creation
- Circa 1520
- Component Materials
-
Blade: Steel
Guard: Steel with decorative grooves
Pommel: Steel with decorative grooves
Grip: Missing - Measurements
-
Overall length: 16 3/8 inches (41.59 cm)
Overall width: 2 3/8 inches (6.03 cm)
Blade length: 11 3/4 inches (29.85 cm)
Hilt length: 4 5/8 inches (11.75 cm)
Weight: 8 1/8 ounces (230.1 g) - Edge Configuration
- Needle-point blade with hollow ground cross-section
- Guard Type
- Triangular-shaped quillons with deep accent grooves
- Pommel Details
- Decorated with deep accent grooves
- Object History
- This dagger was unearthed near Tampa Bay in the early 1960s. The term "misericordia" comes from the Latin word for "mercy," reflecting its historical use as a mercy weapon. These daggers were specifically designed to deliver coup de grâce to seriously wounded adversaries on the battlefield, demonstrating the complex relationship between mercy and warfare in medieval combat.
- Subject Terms
- Spanish weapons; Misericorde daggers; Archaeological finds; 16th century arms; Mercy weapons; Battlefield weapons
- Temporal and Spatial Coverage
-
Temporal: Early 16th Century (Circa 1520)
Spatial: Spain (attributed); Found near Tampa Bay, Florida
- Related Collections
- The F.E. Williams III Collection of Antique Weapons and Artifacts
- Collection Attribution
- Frederick Eugene Williams III (known as Jack Williams), Collector
- References and Citations
- Blades of the Conquistadors, The Jack Williams Collection, American Digger Magazine, Nov-Dec 2006
- Rights Statement
- © weaponscollector.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Attribution required: "From the F.E. Williams III Collection at weaponscollector.com
