on the concave side and equipped with a handle, mostly made of wood or in leather rings glued and threaded on the tang of the tool, which is folded into a hook to be able to hang it. While maintaining this basic form, the most diverse variants have developed over the centuries, depending on the region and type of use. Thoose "billhooks" have been known as tools and weapons in many European countries since Roman times and in many cases, for example in forestry and in traditional winemaking zones like Piemonte, they are still in use today.
The most common version to be found in almost every old estate is the Lombard or Po Valley-Alpine one called "fauscett" in old Piemontese language. It is 40cm long and weights about 500gr.:
Perfect designed to cut shrubs and small branches, to deforest, it is also used by masons to remove the undergrowth of the macchia, before building the famous, traditional drywalls of the region.
The Family Rinaldi in Brembilla (Bergamo) are forging Roncole since over 200 years(left one).
The use of the Roncola as a weapon has been taught "since ever" individually amoung farmers, shepards and workers in the zone of the Beblo Valley, Piemonte. Some say the developed techniques have been influenced by Gypsy harvesters(maybe due to the fact that deep fighting positions are preferred... similar to the main working position during grape harvest) ..and also by the art of using the "Beidana valdese" which is a machete-type weapon, very common in the Waldensian valleys of Piemonte between 1200 and 1500.
This short method has some basic tactics and includes some ideas to involve parts of the clothing or throwing dirt/stones to distract the opponents. It is focused on effective defense with only a few movements, which mainly mirror those of the work usually done with the Roncola... but the counterattacks end always with lethal techniques.
Note: IL FALCETTO, the PRUNING KNIFE - a widley spread (pocket) knife with a similar bladeshape, is mostly also simply called "Roncola" in Italy. Thoose tools are used since the 15th century to thin out the foliage of olive trees or prune branches, to cut canes, to sharpen poles, to remove the bark from the branches in the production of sticks or to clean the trunks from the branches. Smaller, lighter, only designed for precise pull-cutting and not to chop, also the use as a weapon is different. As you can see here it is more or less a specific knife fighting method.
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| On the market in Ceva (Prov.Cuneo) |