rapier

The origin of the name 'rapier' is Spanish. Its name is a "derisive" description of the Spanish term {{lang|es|ropera}}. The Spanish term refers to a sword used with clothes ({{lang|es|espada ropera}}, {{gloss|dress sword}}), 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 {{lang|fr|rapière}} 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 {{lang|frm|espee rapiere}}, first recorded in 1474, a nickname meaning {{gloss|grater}}.[http://stella.atilf.fr/Dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/visusel.exe?11;s=2841020025;r=1;nat=;sol=0; 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 {{lang|de|rappier}} described what was considered a foreign weapon, imported from Spain, Italy, and France.{{cite book |first=Joachim |last=Meyers |title=A Thorough Description of the Free Knightly and Noble Art of Combat with All Customary Weapons|year=1570 }} Du Cange in his Middle Latin dictionary cites a form {{lang|la|Rapperia}} from a Latin text of 1511. He envisages a derivation {{etymology|gre|ραπίζειν (rapízein)|to strike}}.Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis, s.v.:

:RAPER, Gladius longior et vilioris pretii, Gallice Raper. Monstræ Factæ apud Chassagniam: Claudius Jornandi habet unam bonam Rapperiam et unam dagam. Ducit Borellus a Græco ῥαπίζειν, Cædere.

:Raper adjective sumitur, in Lit. remiss. ann. 1474, ex Reg. 195. Chartoph. reg. ch. 1155: Icellui Pierre donna au suppliant de ladite espée Raper sur la teste, etc. Adelung in his 1798 dictionary records a double meaning for the German verb {{lang|de|rappieren}}: {{gloss|to fence with rapiers}} on one hand, and {{gloss|to rasp, grate (specifically of tobacco leaves)}} 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. {{lang|es|espada}}, spada and {{lang|fr|épée}} ({{lang|fr|espée}}). When it was necessary to specify the type of sword the Spanish used {{lang|es|espada ropera}}. The name was registered for the first time in las Coplas de la panadera, by Juan de Mena, written between 1445 and 1450 approximately.{{Cite book|title=Poetas cortesanos del siglo XV|last=Onrubia de Mendoza|first=José|publisher=Editorial Bruguera S.A|year=1975|isbn=84-02-04053-5|location=Barcelona}}

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.{{cite book |first=John |last=Clements |title=Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Book Of Rapiers And Cut And Thrust Swords And Their Use |publisher=Paladin Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87364-919-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9YBAAAACAAJ}}

The term "rapier" is also applied by archaeologists to an unrelated type of Bronze Age sword.{{cite journal |last1=Molloy |first1=Barry P. C. |title=Hunting Warriors: The Transformation of Weapons, Combat Practices and Society during the Bronze Age in Ireland |journal=European Journal of Archaeology |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=9 January 2017 |pages=280–316 |doi=10.1017/eaa.2016.8|doi-access=free }}

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The word "rapier" generally refers to a relatively long-bladed sword characterized by a protective hilt 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), 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).{{cite web |title=La Striscia |url=https://www.scherma.roma.it/itaNEW/spade-armi-protezioni/spada-striscia.php |website=Scuola di Scherma Antica e Storica |publisher=Accademia Romana d'Armi |access-date=23 November 2023}} Pallavicini,{{cite book |last1=Evangelista |first1=Nick |title=The Encyclopedia of the Sword |date=1995 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=450}} a rapier master in 1670, strongly advocated using a weapon with two cutting edges. A typical example would weigh {{convert|1|kg}} and have a relatively long and slender blade of {{convert|2.5|cm|abbr=off}} or less in width, {{Cvt|104|cm}} 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 {{cvt|115|cm}} and can even reach {{cvt|130|cm}}.{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=William|title=Rapiers|url=http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/wew/fencing/blades.html|website=Elizabethan Fencing and the Art of Defence|publisher=Northern Arizona University|access-date=May 16, 2017}}

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 small sword, a lighter weapon that would follow in the 18th century and later,{{cite web |title=Sword - Rapier - early 18th century |url=https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-7007 |website=Royal Armouries |access-date=23 November 2023}} but the exact form of the blade and hilt often depends on who is writing and when. It can refer to earlier {{lang|it|spada da lato}} and the similar espada ropera, through the high rapier period of the 17th century through the small sword and duelling swords;{{cite book |last1=Norman |first1=Alexander Vesey Bethune |title=The Rapier and Small Sword, 1460-1820 |date=1980 |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |isbn=9780853682738 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xohAQAAIAAJ&q=rapier+%22small+sword%22 |access-date=23 November 2023}} 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 {{lang|it|spada da lato}}—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.){{cite web |title=List of Rapier Treatises for HEMA |url=https://www.historicaleuropeanmartialarts.com/path-of-the-rapier/ |website=Historical European Martial Arts Resources |access-date=23 November 2023}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Valentine |first1=Eric |title=Rapiers: An Illustrated Reference Guide to Rapiers of 16th & 17th Centuries with Their Companions |date=1968 |pages=49–50 |publisher=Stackpole Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIoHofkrXSgC&q=cup+hilt+rapiers |access-date=23 November 2023}} 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

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

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.{{cite book |first=Girard |last=Thibault |title=Academie de l'Espée |year=1630 }} 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.{{cite book |editor-last1=Impey |editor-first1=Edward |editor-link1=Edward Impey |date=2022 |title=Treasures of the Royal Armouries A Panoply of Arms |publisher=Royal Armouries Museum |page=144 |isbn=9781913013400}}

Rapiers are single-handed weapons and they were often employed with off-hand bucklers, daggers, cloaks and even second swords to assist with defense. A buckler is a small round shield that was used with other blades as well, such as the arming sword. 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.{{Cite web | title=Parrying Dagger |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/32166 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=The MET: Parrying Dagger |language=en }}

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.{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Colin |last2=Gerloff |first2=Sabine |title=The Dirks and Rapiers of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1981 |publisher=Beck |isbn=9783406070839 |pages=32–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E46ZMgf41BoC&dq=slender+blade+of+rapier&pg=PA32 |access-date=23 November 2023}}

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 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.

{{See also|Chronology of bladed weapons}}

The espada ropera of the 16th century was a cut-and-thrust civilian weapon for self-defense and the duel, 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.{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=William E. |title=Fencing Masters of the 16th & 17th Centuries |url=https://www2.nau.edu/~wew/fencing/masters.html |website=Elizabethan Fencing and the Art of Defence |access-date=23 November 2023}} 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, 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/paradoxes.html|title=Paradoxes of Defence, by George Silver (1599)|work=pbm.com}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord/pdfs/Silver_1599.pdf |title=Paradoxes of Defence |access-date=2015-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629204633/http://www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord/pdfs/Silver_1599.pdf |archive-date=2017-06-29 |url-status=dead }}

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, which was itself later superseded by the small sword which was later superseded by the épée. 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 in the Thirty Years' War 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 of the pope.{{Cite web |url=http://www.lilipuz.de/typo3temp/pics/c1517e4de4.jpg |title=Startseite KiRaKa, Kinder, Kinderradio, WDR - Kinder |access-date=2012-06-30 |archive-date=2021-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310122605/https://kinder.wdr.de/radio/kiraka/index.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=https://schweizergarde.ch/paepstliche-schweizergarde/en/about-us/uniforms/ |title=Startseite Swiss Guard, Vatican City}}

{{Main|Italian school of swordsmanship|Dardi school}}

• Achille Marozzo, Opera Nova Chiamata Duello, O Vero Fiore dell'Armi de Singulari Abattimenti Offensivi, & Diffensivi{{spaced ndash}}1536
• Angelo Viggiani dal Montone, Trattato dello Schermo{{spaced ndash}}1575
• Anonimo Bolognese, L'Arte della Spada (M-345/M-346 Manuscripts){{spaced ndash}}(early or mid 16th century)Rubboli and Cesari (2005) date this work to 1500–1525. Leoni and Reich of the Order of the Seven Hearts{{cite web|url=http://www.salvatorfabris.com/ |title=Salvatorfabris.com |publisher=Salvatorfabris.com |access-date=2013-01-13}} date it to "about 1550"{{Cite web|url=http://www.salvatorfabris.com/BologneseIntroduction.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928060939/http://www.salvatorfabris.com/BologneseIntroduction.pdf|url-status=dead|title=2006 class handout|archivedate=September 28, 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.chicagoswordplayguild.com/c/theTradition/BologneseSwordsmanship.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330045310/http://www.chicagoswordplayguild.com/c/theTradition/BologneseSwordsmanship.asp|url-status=dead|title=Chicagoswordplayguild.com|archivedate=March 30, 2010}}
• Antonio Manciolino, Opera Nova per Imparare a Combattere, & Schermire d'ogni sorte Armi{{spaced ndash}}1531
• Bondi di Mazo, La Spada Maestra{{spaced ndash}}1696
• Camillo Agrippa, Trattato di Scientia d'Arme con un Dialogo di Filosofia{{spaced ndash}}1553
• Francesco Alfieri, La Scherma di Francesco Alfieri{{spaced ndash}}1640
• Francesco Antonio Marcelli, Regole della Scherma{{spaced ndash}}1686
• Giacomo di Grassi, Ragion di Adoprar Sicuramente l'Arme si da Offesa, come da Difesa{{spaced ndash}}1570
• Giovanni dall'Agocchie, Dell'Arte di Scrimia{{spaced ndash}}1572
• Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini, La Scherma Illustrata{{spaced ndash}}1670
• Marco Docciolini, Trattato in Materia di Scherma{{spaced ndash}}1601
• Nicoletto Giganti, Scola overo Teatro{{spaced ndash}}1606
• Ridolfo Capo Ferro, Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma{{spaced ndash}}1610
• Salvator Fabris, De lo Schermo ovvero Scienza d'Armi{{spaced ndash}}1606

{{Main|Destreza}}

• Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, De la Filosofía de las Armas (1569)
• Luis Pacheco de Narváez, Libro de las Grandezas de la Espada (1599)

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

• 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 ({{Circa|1610}}) and L'Espee de combat (1623)

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

{{Main|German school of fencing}}

• Jakob Sutor, Künstliches Fechtbuch (1612)
• Joachim Meyer, Thorough Descriptions of the free Knightly and Noble Art of Fencing (1570)
• Johannes Georgius Bruchius (1671)
• Paulus Hector Mair, Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (1542)

Classical fencing 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."{{cite book |first=Egerton |last=Castle |title=Schools and Masters of Fence: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century. |location=London |publisher=George Bell & Sons |year=1885 |pages=iv, 257 |url=https://archive.org/details/schoolsandmaste00castgoog|quote=Schools and Masters of Fence. }}

• Estoc
• Historical European martial arts
• Oakeshott typology
• Spada da lato

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |first=Jared |last=Kirby |title=Italian Rapier Combat: Ridolfo Capo Ferro |publisher=Greenhill Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85367-580-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NE-UHgAACAAJ&q=Italian+Rapier+Combat:+Ridolfo+Capo+Ferro}}
• {{cite book |first=Tom |last=Leoni |title=Venetian Rapier: The School, or Salle. Nicoletto Giganti's 1606 Rapier Fencing Curriculum. |publisher=Freelance Academy Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-9825911-2-3 |url=http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/venetianrapier.aspx}}
• Leoni, Tom. The Art of Dueling: 17th Century Rapier as Taught by Salvatore Fabris. Highland Village, TX: The Chivalry Bookshelf, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-891448-23-2}}
• {{cite book |first=Eric |last=Valentine |title=Rapiers: An Illustrated Reference Guide to the Rapiers of the 16th and 17th Centuries, and their Companions |publisher=Lionel Leventhal- Arms and Armour Press |year=1968}}
• {{cite book |first=William E |last=Wilson |title=Arte of Defence: An Introduction to the Use of the Rapier |publisher=Highland Village, TX: The Chivalry Bookshelf |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-891448-18-8 }}
• {{cite book |first=Guy |last=Windsor |title=Duellists Companion: A Training Manual for 17th Century Italian Rapier |publisher=Highland Village, TX: The Chivalry Bookshelf |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-891448-32-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vXoAAAACAAJ&q=Duellists+Companion:+A+Training+Manual+for+17th+Century+Italian+Rapier}}

{{Commons category|Rapiers}}

• [https://athenaeum.baronyofmadrone.net/exhibits/dressing-up-the-rapier/ Dressing up the Rapier]
• [https://www.arms-n-armor.com/blogs/news/how-many-styles-of-rapier-are-there How many styles of Rapier are there?]
• [https://swordencyclopedia.com/rapier-sword/ Rapier Sword 101: Exploring History, Types and Use]

{{Swords by region}}

Category:Early Modern European swords

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Category:Renaissance-era swords

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