Swords

Swords  |  Foils  |  Daggers  |  Partizan

“Luke - …and therefore I praye you shew me the reason why the Rapier alone is the ground and beginning of this art.

Vincentio - The reason as I take it, is because that amongst Knightes, Captaines and valiant Souldiours, the Rapier is it which sheweth who are men of armes and of honour, and which obtaineth right for those which are wronged : and for this reason it is made with two edges and one point…”

 

Throughout his treatise Saviolo uses the terms rapier & sword intermittently. To the modern mind the term rapier conjures up images of a long, thin bladed weapon with the emphasis on its thrusting capabilities (Musketeers & dawn duels). In Saviolo’s day however this distinction appears not to have been the case. If we look to the Italian : English dictionary ‘Queen Annes World of Words’ by John Florio (Saviolo’s probable collaborator in writing ‘his Practice’) we find the following definitions:

SPADA - a sword, a rapier, a glaive a blade.

 SPADETTA - a little sword or rapier.

STOCCO - a short or arming-sword, a tuck.

VERDUGO - a rapier, a tucke, a little sword.

The origins of the word rapier are obscure. Some suggest that it originates from the Spanish ‘espada ropera’ meaning ‘sword of the robe’ but, to our knowledge, the term rapier was never used by contemporary Spanish authors. As A.V.B. Norman observed “the evidence for what was meant by the word rapier at a particular period is very confused.” However perhaps a clue lies not in the way that the weapon looked but how it was held. From George Silver (Paradoxes of Defence - 1599) “Yet the Italian teachers will say, that an Englishman cannot thrust straight with a Sword, because the hilt will not suffer him to put the forefinger over the Crosse, nor to put the thumbe upon the blade, nor hold the pummell in the hand, whereby we are of necessitie to hold fast the handle in the hand : by reason whereas we are driven to thrust both compasse and short, whereas with the Rapier they can thrust both straight and much further than we can : and these be the reasons they make against the Sword.”

From the Latin : Rapio -ere, -ui (v) : to tear, snatch, carry off; to seize quickly.

So, very tentatively, we might suggest that at some point in history the term rapier was used to describe any sword that was held or gripped with one or more fingers over the cross or quillon as opposed to a sword which was held with a more traditional ‘fist-grip’. The technique of hooking a finger over the quillon seems to have been in use from an early date (one of the figures in the Bayeaux Tapestry is clearly depicted using such a grip) though the introduction of protective rings for the fingers developed at a slower pace (around the beginning of the 16th Century). The differing grips offer different technical possibilities and it is conceivable that distinct schools arose around each weapon.

What is clear from Saviolo’s treatise is that the type of weapon that he is referring to is a military one. Although the slender bladed thrusting sword, as described above, was in existence in the later half of the 16th century it was without doubt the weapon of the civilian & had no place & little use on the battlefield. What was needed by the Captaines & Souldiours who would ‘follow the wars’ was an adaptable cut & thrust weapon, powerful enough to inflict strong blows, sturdy enough to withstand all manner of attacks &, above all, adaptable. The type of sword that is referred to by some modern practitioners as a ‘side-sword’.

This sword is based on an example in the Wallace Collection, London

(Catalogue # A535).

Made by PAUL MACDONALD.

 Blade length : forty one & a half inches.

Weight : three & a half pounds.

 

Examples of this sword design are to be found in numerous collections across Europe including the armoury in Brescia, the Paldi Pezzoloi Museum in Milan, the Museum at San Marino & the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.

 

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