Most of the larger navajas of this period were clearly intended as fighting knives, and were popularly referred to as santólios, a contraction of the Spanish term for "holy oil". Its association with barateros, pícaros, jácaros and rufos (gamblers, rogues, ruffians, and thugs) comes from its frequent use as a weapon of the underworld, where it was often used to enforce the collection of gambling debts or to rob innocent victims.
Aside from the early navaja cortaplumas, the design is thought to have been first adopted by the working classes - mule drivers, teamsters, artisans, and sailors as well as by the majos, the "gentlemen of the lower class" of Andalusia. In Spain the navaja epitomized the concept of a defensive knife to be carried at all times on the person. The pull ring was eventually discarded in favor of a low-profile metal lever. Pulling the metal ring cammed the backspring upward, freeing the blade from its lock and allowing the blade to fold back into the handle. Around 1850, a metal pull ring was incorporated into the lock to facilitate blade closure. ĭespite official disapproval, the navaja de muelles became popular throughout Spain as a fighting and general utility knife, and was the primary personal arm of the Spanish guerrilleros who opposed Napoleon during his invasion and subsequent occupation of Spain in the Peninsular War of 1808–1814. The navaja de muelles proved sufficiently formidable as an offensive arm that it was specifically named by the Marqués de la Mina, the Spanish military governor of Catalonia, in his edict of prohibiting the carrying of armas blancas, or edged weapons. With its locking blade, the navaja de muelles was now a versatile fighting knife, able to safely deliver thrusts as well as slashes (cuts). The metal-to-metal contact produces a distinctive clicking or ratcheting sound when the blade is opened, and the navaja de muelles was popularly termed the carraca in consequence. The ratcheting-tooth lock-blade navaja was commonly referred to as a navaja de muelles or navaja de siete muelles. The last pinion tooth serves to keep the blade locked in its fully opened position. The locking mechanism itself consisted of pinion teeth ( piñones or dientes) cut into the blade heel ( talón de la hoja) that are engaged by a lug attached to either the backspring or a separate spring-loaded metal latch as the knife is opened. Pulling open the blade from the handle, the lock allowed the blade to rotate into the fully open position, where it locked into position. Ī priest executed by garotte by French forces under Napoleon for carrying a navajaĭuring the first part of the 18th century, the blade heel and backspring of the navaja were cleverly altered to provide a locking device for the blade. The new spring-back navaja proved very popular throughout Spain and was later exported to or manufactured in other countries as well, particularly France and the island of Corsica. With the development of reliable spring steel in Spain, the navaja could be fitted with a tempered steel, externally mounted backspring, making the design much more useful. One of the more common early varieties of this type of knife was the navaja cortaplumas, used by clerical workers, draftsmen, and notaries to sharpen ink quill tips. These early navajas were primarily designed as utility or work knives, and could easily be carried either openly or concealed on one's person. Like the navaja de afeitar, the earliest navajas worked on the principle of the simple peasant's knife, with no backspring to hold the blade in place once opened. The rise in popularity of the navaja occurred at a time of increased restrictions upon the wearing of swords and other bladed weapons by persons outside the Spanish nobility. While folding-blade knives existed in Spain even in pre- Roman times, the earliest Spanish knives recognizable as navajas date from around the late 1600s. A popular slang term for the navaja in the 19th century was herramienta, which translates as "(iron) tool". Like the straight razor, the navaja's blade folds into the handle when not in use. The etymology of the word navaja is derived from the Latin novacula, meaning razor, and the Andalusian knife known as the navaja is thought to have derived from the navaja de afeitar, or straight razor used for shaving. In Spain, the term navaja is often used to generally describe all folding-blade knives. One of the oldest folding knife patterns still in production, the first true navajas originated in the Andalusian region of southern Spain. The navaja is a traditional Spanish folding-blade fighting and utility knife. A contemporary navaja of traditional design, with a 12-inch (300 mm) blade
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