Dusack

{{Infobox weapon |name= Dusack, Tessak, Dussägge | image= Tessak_type_F_NF.2010-0624.jpg | image_size = 300 |caption= Tessak – Norway, 16th century |origin= German Lands |type= Sabre  |is_bladed=yes  |service= |used_by= |wars=  |designer= |design_date= |manufacturer= |production_date= 1560s |number= |variants= Hilt Typology A - H  |weight= |length= |part_length= {{convert|25-38|in|abbr=on}}  |blade_type= curved (occasionally straight) |hilt_type= thumb ring, half basket, "Sinclair hilt" }} [[File:Meyer 1570 155.jpg|thumb|300px|Figure illustrating the basic cuts with the ''Dusäck'' in Joachim Meyer's fencing manual; a pair of fencers using the ''Dusäck'' is shown in the background (illustration by Tobias Stimmer, 1570).]] A '''dusack''' or '''dussack''' (also ''dusägge'' and variants,<ref>in Early Modern High German variously spelled ''dusack, dusäck, dussack, dysack, tesak, tuseckn, thuseckn, disackn, dusägge, dusegge, dusegg''</ref> from Czech ''tesák'' "cleaver; hunting sword", lit. "fang") is a single-edged sword of the cutlass or sabre type, in use as a side arm in Germany and the Habsburg monarchy during the 16th to 17th centuries,<ref>Charles John Ffoulkes, ''The Armourer and His Craft from the XIth to the XVIth Century'', Courier Corporation, 1912, [https://books.google.com/books?id=F-CHHCk2ybsC&pg=PA159 p. 159].</ref> as well as a practice weapon based on this weapon used in early modern German fencing.<ref name=Amberger/>

==Military sidearm== [[File:Värja, "Ziscas svärd", möjligen Södra Tyskland, tidigt 1600-tal - Skoklosters slott - 42213.tif|thumb|upright|German sabre of the early 17th century, known as "Zisca's sword" (Skokloster Castle, SKO 7300)]] The Czech term entered German usage in the Hussite Wars, after the sidearm used by the Hussites. In the late 16th century, ''Dusägge'' could refer to a type of weapon combining a sabre 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 records delivery of some 700 ''Dusäggen'' by local bladesmiths, besides payment of 40 ''Dusäggen'' delivered from Passau, as part of the preparation for the war against the Turks under Archduke Charles II.<ref>[http://www.waffensammlung-beck.ch/waffe2.html "Säbel, 'Dusägge', Deutsch Ende 16. Jahrhundert"], Waffensammlung Beck, Inv-Nr.:Be 10.</ref>

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.<ref>Claude Blair, "The Early Basket Hilt in Britain" in: ''Scottish Weapons and Fortifications'' (ed. David H. Caldwell, 1981)</ref>

==Practice weapon== thumb|250px|Depiction of a German fencing school, with a pair of fencers using ''dussaken'' shown in the foreground right. Joachim Meyer 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.<ref name=Amberger>{{cite book|title=The secret history of the sword: adventures in ancient martial arts|last=Amberger|first=J. Christoph |pages=185–186|publisher = Multi-Media Book|year= 2000|isbn=978-1-892515-04-9 }}</ref>

Practice dussacks had a short, thick, single-edged blade measuring between {{convert|25-38|in|abbr=on}} 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 {{lang|de|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, it looked something like a large hole for gripping scissors.<ref>Amberger (2000), p. 222.</ref>

Egerton Castle claimed that dussacks were used by the French Navy up through the 19th century.<ref>Castle (1885), p.247.</ref>

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.

==See also== * Falchion * Sabre * Katzbalger * Messer (weapon) * Basket-hilted sword * Scythe sword

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://digitaltmuseum.no/search/?q=tessak "tessak" (digitalmuseum.no)] *[http://norskevaapen.no/?p=1776 Tessak – The Farmer's Sword (norskevaapen.no)]

Category:Early Modern European swords Category:European swords Category:Renaissance-era swords Category:Renaissance-era weapons Category:Single-edged swords