Dodgy characters from the area of Seville, armed with knives, appear both in literature and in memories of the period. The very word “Baratero” comes from a 19th century anonymous Gypsy knife-fighting manual titled Manual del Baratero.

The way Catalina carries her halberd, that is on her shoulder with the iron head pointing down, is known from several drawings. Some examples can be found in “Omnium pene Europae […] gentium habitus” of 1580 by de Bruyn.

Blowguns were a popular hunting weapon among the Aztecs. Montezuma II used them and he sent 12 blowguns to King Charles V. It is not as strange as it may seem as blowguns were already known in Europe. Hunting for birds with such weapon is presented in the “Liber Ruralium Commodorum” manuscript of 1475, that is 18 years before the first voyage of Columbus.

Sancho’s blunderbuss is based on a weapon from the collection of the Armemuseum in Stockholm (30865). The weapon’s caliber is 53mm and is fitted with a wheellock.