The Renaissance War Sword.

“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 reaon 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 long, thin weapons 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.

 What is clear from Saviolo’s treatise is that the 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’ was an adaptable cut & thrust weapon, powerful enough to inflict strong blows & heavy enough to withstand all manner of attacks. The type of sword that is referred to by some modern practitioners as a ‘side-sword’.

 The origins of the word rapier are obscure. Some hold that it originates from the Spanish ‘espada ropera’ meaning ‘sword of the robe’ but 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.” Perhaps a clue lies not in the way that the sword looked but how it was held & used. From George Silver -

“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 Rap -io -ere, -ui, - tum (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 one finger over the quillon seems to have been in use from a much earlier 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. Differing grips offer different technical possibilities and it is possible that distinct ‘schools’ arose around each technique.

 

Partizan

“Therefore, these Partesans were made bigg and of great paize, and of perfect good steele, to the end they might breake the maile and deuyde the Iron.”

Giacomo di Grassi

 

The Partizan was the ‘cutting spear’ of the Renaissance battlefield, di Grassi calls it the most “excellent and commodious” of all staff weapons, used in battle to “enter among the Pikes, and cut them a sunder, and other weapons also partlie for that cause, and partlie to skirmish single, one to one.”

 

Dagger

Used either on its own or as a companion weapon to the sword. The sword & dagger became the most popular combination of late 16th century Europe.

 

Foils

These swords are made with lighter, more flexible & blunted or ‘foiled’ blades for contact free-play.

 

 

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