A rapier () is a type of

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

originally used in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(known as ', ) and Italy (known as ''

spada da lato The ''spada da lato'' (Italian) or ''side-sword'' is a type of sword popular in Italy during the Renaissance. It is a continuation of the medieval knightly sword, and the immediate predecessor, or early form, of the rapier of the early modern ...

a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It was widely popular in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

throughout the 16th and 17th centuries as a symbol of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...

status. It is called because it was carried as an accessory to clothing, generally used for fashion and as a weapon for

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

ing, self-defense and as a military side arm. Its name is of Spanish origin and appears recorded for the first time in the '' Coplas de la panadera'', by

Juan de Mena ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Phili ...

, written approximately between 1445 and 1450: As

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

spread throughout Western Europe, important sources for rapier fencing arose in Spain, known under the term ("dexterity"), in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The French

small sword __NoTOC__ The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: , lit. “Sword of the court”) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier (''espada ropera'') o ...

or court sword of the

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

was a direct continuation of this tradition of fencing. Rapier fencing forms part of

Historical European Martial Arts Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there is limited surviving documentation of the mar ...

. The rapier has also been widely used in theatrical productions and films. The Society of American Fight Directors recognizes rapier and dagger as one of the eight main weapon disciplines of

stage combat Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...

Terminology

The origin of the name 'rapier' is Spanish. Its name is a "derisive" description of the Spanish term . The Spanish term refers to a sword used with clothes (, ), due to it being used as an accessory for clothing, usually for fashion and as a self-defense weapon. The English term "rapier" comes from the French and appears both in English and German, near-simultaneously, in the mid-16th century, for a light, long, pointed two-edged sword. It is a loan from

Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...

, first recorded in 1474, a nickname meaning .TFLi
"1474 (Arch., JJ 195, pièce 1155 ds GDF.); 1485 rapiere (Archives du Nord, B 1703, f o 100 ds IGLF). Dér. de râpe*, la poignée trouée de cette épée ayant été comparée à une râpe (FEW t. 16, p. 672b, note 6)." The 16th-century German described what was considered a foreign weapon, imported from Spain, Italy, and France.

Du Cange Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange (; December 18, 1610 in Amiens – October 23, 1688 in Paris, aged 77), also known simply as Charles Dufresne, was a distinguished French philologist and historian of the Middle Ages and Byzantium. Life Educate ...

in his

Middle Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidia and Africa Proconsularis under the Vandals ...

dictionary cites a form from a Latin text of 1511. He envisages a derivation . Adelung in his 1798 dictionary records a double meaning for the German verb : on one hand, and on the other. The terms used by the Spanish, Italian and French masters during the heyday of this weapon were simply the equivalent of "sword", i.e. , spada and (). When it was necessary to specify the type of sword the Spanish used . The name was registered for the first time in las Coplas de la panadera, by Juan de Mena, written between 1445 and 1450 approximately. Clements (1997) categorizes thrusting swords with poor cutting abilities as rapiers, and swords with both good thrusting and cutting abilities as cut-and-thrust swords. The term "rapier" is also applied by archaeologists to an unrelated type of Bronze Age sword.

Description

The word "rapier" generally refers to a relatively long-bladed sword characterized by a protective

hilt The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) is the handle of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet, consisting of a guard, grip, and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pomme ...

which is constructed to provide protection for the hand wielding the sword. Some historical rapier samples also feature a broad blade mounted on a typical rapier hilt. The term ''rapier'' can be confusing because this hybrid weapon can be categorized as a type of broadsword. While the rapier blade might be broad enough to cut to some degree (but nowhere near that of the wider swords in use around the Middle Ages such as the

longsword A longsword (also spelled as long sword or long-sword) is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for primarily two-handed use (around ), a straight double-edged blade of around , and weighing approximatel ...

), it is designed to perform quick and nimble thrusting attacks. The blade might be sharpened along its entire length or sharpened only from the center to the tip (as described by Capoferro). Pallavicini, a rapier master in 1670, strongly advocated using a weapon with two cutting edges. A typical example would weigh and have a relatively long and slender blade of or less in width, or more in length and ending in a sharply pointed tip. The blade length of quite a few historical examples, particularly the Italian rapiers in the early 17th century, is well over and can even reach . The term ''rapier'' generally refers to a thrusting sword with a blade longer and thinner than that of the so-called side-sword but much heavier than the

, a lighter weapon that would follow in the 18th century and later, but the exact form of the blade and hilt often depends on who is writing and when. It can refer to earlier and the similar ''espada ropera'', through the high rapier period of the 17th century through the small sword and

ling swords; thus context is important in understanding what is meant by the word. (The term side-sword, used among some modern historical martial arts reconstructionists, is a translation from the Italian —a term coined long after the fact by Italian museum curators—and does not refer to the slender, long rapier, but only to the early 16th-century Italian sword with a broader and shorter blade that is considered both its ancestor and contemporary.)

Parts of the sword

Hilt

Rapiers often have complex, sweeping hilts designed to protect the hand wielding the sword. Rings extend forward from the crosspiece. In some later samples, rings are covered with metal plates, eventually evolving into the cup hilts of many later rapiers. There were hardly any samples that featured plates covering the rings prior to the 1600s. Many hilts include a knuckle bow extending down from the crosspiece protecting the grip, which was usually wood wrapped with cord, leather or wire. A large pommel (often decorated) secures the hilt to the weapon and provides some weight to balance the long blade. File:Rapiere-img 0100.jpg File:Rapiere-img 0099.jpg File:Rapiere-img 0096.jpg File:Rapiere-img 0095.jpg

Blade

Various rapier masters divided the blade into two, three, four, five or even nine parts. The

forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" * Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set * Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs * Forte (vocal ...

, strong, is that part of the blade closest to the hilt; in cases where a master divides the blade into an even number of parts, this is the first half of the blade. The debole, weak, is the part of the blade which includes the point and is the second half of the blade when the sword is divided into an even number of parts. However, some rapier masters divided the blade into three parts (or even a multiple of three), in which case the central third of the blade, between the forte and the debole, was often called the medio, mezzo or the terzo. Others used four divisions (Fabris) or even 12 (Thibault). The

ricasso A ricasso is an unsharpened length of blade just above the guard or handle on a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet. Blades designed this way appear at many periods in history in many parts of the world and date back to at least the Bronze Age—ess ...

is the rear portion of the blade, usually unsharpened. It extends forward from the crosspiece or quillion and then gradually integrates into the thinner and sharper portion of the blade.

Overall length

There was historical disagreement over how long the ideal rapier should be, with some masters, such as Thibault, denigrating those who recommended longer blades; Thibault's own recommended length was such that the cross of the sword be level with the navel (belly button) when standing naturally with the point resting on the ground. A small number of rapiers with extending blades were made, of which four survive in modern collections. The purpose of the ability is unclear, with suggestions including trying to gain the advantage of surprise in a duel or an attempt to get around laws limiting weapon length.

Off-hand weapons

Rapiers are single-handed weapons and they were often employed with off-hand

buckler A buckler (French ''bouclier'' 'shield', from Old French ''bocle, boucle'' ' boss') is a small shield, up to 45 cm (up to 18 in) in diameter, gripped in the fist with a central handle behind the boss. It became more common as a companio ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

s, cloaks and even second swords to assist with defense. A

is a small round shield that was used with other blades as well, such as the

arming sword In the European High Middle Ages, the typical sword (sometimes academically categorized as the knightly sword, arming sword, or in full, knightly arming sword) was a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform (i.e., cross-shape ...

. Capo Ferro's ''Gran Simulacro'' depicts use of the weapon with the rotella, which is a significantly bigger shield compared with the buckler. Nevertheless, using the rapier with a parrying dagger is the most common practice, and it has been arguably considered as the most suited and effective accompanying weapon for the rapier. Even though the slender blade of a rapier enables the user to launch a quick attack at a fairly long and advantaged distance between the user and the opponent, and the protective hilt can deflect the opponent's blade, the thrust-oriented weapon is weakened by its bated cutting power and relatively low maneuverability at a closer distance, where the opponent has safely passed the reach of the rapier's deadly point. Therefore, some close-range protection for the user needs to be ensured if the user intends to use the rapier in an optimal way, especially when the opponent uses some slash-oriented sword like a

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

or a broadsword. A parrying dagger not only enables the users to defend in this scenario in which the rapier is not very good at protecting the user, but also enables them to attack in such close distance.

History

The ''espada ropera'' of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

was a cut-and-thrust civilian weapon for

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

and the

, while earlier weapons were equally at home on the battlefield. Throughout the 16th century, a variety of new, single-handed civilian weapons were being developed. In 1570, the Italian master Rocco Bonetti first settled in England advocating the use of the rapier for thrusting as opposed to cutting or slashing when engaged in a duel. Nevertheless, the English word "rapier" generally refers to a primarily thrusting weapon, developed by the year 1600 as a result of the geometrical theories of such masters as

Camillo Agrippa Camillo Agrippa (1520 – 1 January 1600) was a noted fencing, fencer, architect, engineer and mathematician of the Renaissance. He is considered to be one of the greatest fencing theorists of all time. Biography Though born in Milan, Agrippa l ...

, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, and Vincentio Saviolo. The rapier became extremely fashionable throughout Europe with the wealthier classes, but was not without its detractors. Some people, such as George Silver, disapproved of its technical potential and the dueling use to which it was put. File:Rapiere-Negative0-19-19(1).jpg, Swept hilt, an Italian fashion File:Rapiere-Negative0-18-18(1).jpg, Swept hilt, an Italian fashion File:Rapiere-Negative0-17-17(1).jpg, Pappenheimer, a German innovation File:Rapiere-Negative0-20-20(1).jpg, Cup hilt, a later Spanish fashion created in the early 1600s Allowing for fast reactions, and with a long reach, the rapier was well suited to civilian combat in the 16th and 17th centuries. As military-style cutting and thrusting swords continued to evolve to meet needs on the battlefield, the rapier continued to evolve to meet the needs of civilian combat and decorum, eventually becoming lighter, shorter and less cumbersome to wear. This is when the rapier began to give way to the

colichemarde Colichemarde is a type of small sword (often written "smallsword") blade that was popular from the late 17th to the mid-18th century. Overview The small sword is considered to be a descendant of the "transitional rapier", which itself evolved fro ...

, which was itself later superseded by the

which was later superseded by the

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

. Noticeably, there were some "war rapiers" that feature a relatively wide blade mounted on a typical rapier hilt during this era. These hybrid swords were used in the military, even on the battlefield. The sword carried by King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

is a typical example of the "war rapier". By the year 1715, the rapier had been largely replaced by the lighter small sword throughout most of Europe, although the former continued to be used, as evidenced by the treatises of Donald McBane (1728), P. J. F. Girard (1736) and Domenico Angelo (1787). The rapier is still used today by officers of the

Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard,; ; ; ; , %5BCorps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard%5D. ''vatican.va'' (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2022. also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard,Swiss Guards , History, Vatican, Uniform, Require ...

of the pope.

Historical schools of rapier fencing

Italy

* Achille Marozzo, ''Opera Nova Chiamata Duello, O Vero Fiore dell'Armi de Singulari Abattimenti Offensivi, & Diffensivi''1536 * Angelo Viggiani dal Montone, ''Trattato dello Schermo''1575 * Anonimo Bolognese, L'Arte della Spada (M-345/M-346 Manuscripts)(early or mid 16th century) date it to "about 1550" *

Antonio Manciolino Antonio Francesco Manciolino (... - ...; Floruit, fl. 1518-1531) is considered one of the most important masters of the so-called "Bolognese School" of fencing. There is very little biographical information about Antonio Francesco Manciolino:. on ...

, ''Opera Nova per Imparare a Combattere, & Schermire d'ogni sorte Armi''1531 * Bondi di Mazo, ''La Spada Maestra''1696 *

, ''Trattato di Scientia d'Arme con un Dialogo di Filosofia''1553 *

Francesco Alfieri Francesco Ferdinando Alfieri, was a famous Fencing, fencer in the 17th century. He was a representative of the Venetian school of fencing and “Maestro D’Armeuvkb” to the Accademia Delia in Padua in 1640. Alfieri was originally from Padua, ...

, ''La Scherma di Francesco Alfieri''1640 * Francesco Antonio Marcelli, ''Regole della Scherma''1686 * Giacomo di Grassi, ''Ragion di Adoprar Sicuramente l'Arme si da Offesa, come da Difesa''1570 * Giovanni dall'Agocchie, ''Dell'Arte di Scrimia''1572 * Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini, ''La Scherma Illustrata''1670 * Marco Docciolini, ''Trattato in Materia di Scherma''1601 *

Nicoletto Giganti Nicoletto Giganti was a 17th-century Italian rapier fencing master. The frontispiece of his 1606 work names him as “Nicoletto Giganti, Venetian”, although evidence suggests he or his family, moved to Venice from the town of Fossombrone, in Le ...

, ''Scola overo Teatro''1606 * Ridolfo Capo Ferro, ''Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma''1610 *

Salvator Fabris Salvator Fabris (1544-1618) was an Italian fencing master from Padua. During his life he taught in various European countries, most notably in Denmark where he was the fencing instructor of King Christian IV. It was during his time in Copenhagen ...

, ''De lo Schermo ovvero Scienza d'Armi''1606

Spain

* Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, ''De la Filosofía de las Armas'' (1569) * Luis Pacheco de Narváez, ''

Libro de las Grandezas de la Espada (lit. ''Book of the Greatness of the Sword'') is a 16th-century Spanish treatise on fencing written by Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Spanish fencing ('' destreza'') and the disciple of Jerónimo S ...

'' (1599)

The Netherlands

* Girard Thibault, ''Academie de l'Espée'' (1630)

France

* André Desbordes, ''Discours de la théorie et de la pratique de l'excellence des armes'' (1610) * Charles Besnard, ''Le maistre d'arme liberal'' (1653) * François Dancie, ''Discours des armes et methode pour bien tirer de l'espée et poignard'' () and ''L'Espee de combat'' (1623)

England

* Joseph Swetnam, ''The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence'' (1617) * ''The Pallas Armata'' (1639) * Vincentio Saviolo, ''His Practise'' 1595

Germany

* Jakob Sutor, ''Künstliches Fechtbuch'' (1612) * Joachim Meyer, ''Thorough Descriptions of the free Knightly and Noble Art of Fencing'' (1570) *

Johannes Georgius Bruchius Johannes Georgius Bruchius was a fencing master in the 17th century, who was originally from Germany, but lived and worked in the Netherlands. His book, ''Thorough description Of the Noble and Knightly Fencing or Weapon-Art'', was published in Leid ...

(1671) *

Paulus Hector Mair Paulus Hector Mair (1517–1579) was a German civil servant Historical European Martial Arts, fencing master from Augsburg. He collected Fechtbuch, Fechtbücher and undertook to compile all knowledge of the art of fencing in a compendium surpassing ...

, ''Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica'' (1542)

The classical fencing tradition

Classical fencing Classical fencing is the style of fencing as it existed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. According to the 19th-century fencing master Louis Rondelle,Rondelle, Louis, Foil and sabre; a grammar of fencing in detailed lessons for profess ...

schools claim to have inherited aspects of rapier forms in their systems. In 1885, fencing scholar Egerton Castle wrote "there is little doubt that the French system of fencing can be traced, at its origin, to the ancient Italian swordsmanship; the modern Italian school being of course derived in an uninterrupted manner from the same source." Castle went on to note that "the Italians have preserved the rapier form, with cup, pas d'ane, and quillons, but with a slender quadrangular blade."

References

External links

Dressing up the Rapier

How many styles of Rapier are there?

Rapier Sword 101: Exploring History, Types and Use
{{Swords by region Early Modern European swords European swords Historical fencing Renaissance-era swords Iberian weapons Spanish inventions