A dusack (also ''dusägge'' and variants, from Czech ''tesák'' "

cleaver A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slashing through ...

;

hunting sword A hunting sword is a type of single-handed short sword that dates to the 12th Century but was used during hunting parties among Europeans from the 17th to the 19th centuries. A hunting sword usually has a straight, single-edged, pointed blade typi ...

", lit. "fang") is a single-edged sword of the

cutlass A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the early Age of ...

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

type, in use as a

side arm Sidearm, side-arm or Side Arm(s) may refer to: *Sidearm (weapon), a backup weapon *Sidearm (baseball), a baseball throwing technique *Sidearm, a flying disc (Frisbee) throw *'' Side Arms Hyper Dyne'', a 1986 arcade game *AGM-122 Sidearm The ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

during the 16th to 17th centuries, as well as a practice weapon based on this weapon used in early modern German fencing.

Military sidearm

The Czech term entered German usage in the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

, after the sidearm used by the

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

. In the late 16th century, ''Dusägge'' could refer to a type of weapon combining a

blade with the hilt of a sidesword (the German ''Degen''), also known as ''Säbel auf Teutsch gefasst'' ("sabre fitted in the German manner"). The ''Dusägge'' in this sense was used as a military sidearm; e.g. in 1579,

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

records delivery of some 700 ''Dusäggen'' by local bladesmiths, besides payment of 40 ''Dusäggen'' delivered from

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

, as part of the preparation for the war against the Turks under Archduke Charles II. The German sabre together with the name ''tessak'' was adopted in Norway. A closely related weapon is the ''schnepf'' or Swiss sabre used in

Early Modern Switzerland The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy (''Eidgenossenschaft'', also known as the "Swiss Republic" or ''Republica Helvetiorum'') and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648 ...

Practice weapon

Joachim Meyer Joachim Meyer (ca. 1537–1571) was a self described Freifechter (literally, Free Fencer) living in the then Free Imperial City of Strasbourg in the 16th century and the author of a fechtbuch '' Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechten ...

in 1570 depicts the ''Dusäck'' as the practice weapon with broad, curving blade and a simple oval grip. The dussack represented a short, single-edged weapon in a training environment. As usage of the dussack became more widespread, various schools turned use of the dussack into a sport as opposed to training for a real weapon. Practice dussacks had a short, thick, single-edged blade measuring between 25 and 38 inches (65 and 95 cm) long. A dussack was usually made of wood. Additionally there is a single reference to dussacks also being made from leather, and there are a small number of simple metal dussacken known to survive. The dussack was gently curved and brought to a point at the tip. The dussack often lacked a hilt. Instead, the handgrip was merely a hole cut inside of the blade; without a pommel or upper

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, it looked something like a large hole for gripping scissors. Egerton Castle claimed that dussacks were used by the French Navy up through the 19th century.Castle (1885), p.247. No wooden (or leather) practice dussacks are known to have survived; unsurprising given the perishable nature of these dussacks, and only woodcuts and training manuals from the period document their existence.

References

{{reflist

External links

"tessak" (digitalmuseum.no)Tessak – The Farmer's Sword (norskevaapen.no)
Renaissance-era weapons Single-edged swords

Military sidearm

Practice weapon

See also

References

External links