Rapier, first half of the 17th century.
The rapier is a long and thin sword, with an elaborate hilt, with a flexible blade, intended primarily for thrusting. The rapier, while not made for slicing a man in half, is sharp, and can cause serious slashes if a volley hits the opponent. Only the court swords (and certain large war swords of the 15th or 16th century) have blades intended solely for thrusting, blades which are moreover of round, square, triangular section or of any other shape which deprives it of sharp.
16th century:the rapier takes shape
It is a very common weapon between the end of the 15th and the end of the 17th century. To better situate in time and understand the appearance of the rapier, it is necessary to look a little at its "ancestor":the sword of size and thrust. It first appears, in its most basic form, in Spain in the second half of the 15th century under the name of "espada ropera", and consists of a sword with a lighter blade, and a more elaborate hilt and more ornate, which can therefore be worn at court. Around this weapon the Spaniards developed a very effective combat system based on circles, a vision of space and very "mathematical" point attacks, techniques long kept secret.
The weapon was imported into Italy at the end of the 15th century, but not its handling. So, from the medieval combat systems of Dei Liberi and Vadi, Italian fencing masters such as Achille Marozzo (Opera Nova, 1536) in turn developed a new school of fencing (ex:the Dardi school in Bologna ). In 1553, an architect, Camillo Agrippa in turn wrote, with great modernity, his first work devoted to fencing:Il Trattato Di Scientia d'Arme, con un Dialogo di Filosofia. He is one of the first (after Manicolino) to speak of four guards:prime, second, third and fourth. To better protect the hand which, for lack of iron, cannot be gloved, they spare on the new sword a ricasso (space between the blade and the handle) around which will be placed what will be called the "pas d'âne » (one on each quillon), rings intended to protect the index, the novelty of which consists in placing the latter above the front quillon (for a better grip of the weapon). Finally they complete the guard with a guard branch starting from the base of the front quillon and joining the pommel, intended to protect the three other fingers of the hand holding the spindle (handle). The blade, although finer than its medieval predecessors, remains wider than those with which the majority of rapiers will be equipped and is moreover most often of hexagonal section. This spada da lato (name given to the weapon in Italy) was exported to part of Europe during the 16th century (in France, under the reign of Charles IX, who saw the creation of the academy of masters of weapons in 1567) and lasted until about the end of this century (it turns out that it actually co-existed with the rapier, its evolution). Among the innovators, mainly Italian, some French, including Henry de Saint-Didier (1573), and Noël Carré.
Later, during the second half of the 16th century, the swords will undergo several changes. Indeed, the guards will see their quillons surrounded by two rings perpendicular to them, starting from the top of the ricasso, and from which other branches will eventually be added, on either side of the handle at the initial guard branch. This basket, protecting the hand more, since it envelops it almost completely, contributes, with the elongation and refinement of the blades (with lozenge section, then intended more for thrusting) to the advent of the rapier.
1590-1650:the golden age of the rapier
From the end of the 16th century, Italian techniques increasingly included the left-hand dagger (possibly replacing the roundel) in the shooter's armament. And it is around this Italian school that the French and English masters of arms will settle. Thus, it was at the dawn of the Grand Siècle that the rapier and the dagger became inseparable. It was also at this time that the Italians, who would then enter their Baroque period, would, like this style, give a more generous and excessive character to the aesthetics of the guard. And it's the "skeletonized" rapier as we imagine it:multiplication of the rings of the basket, addition of other guard branches...
At the dawn of the 17th century, it was the supremacy of the Italian style, with the importance of fencing masters such as Salvator Fabris (Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d'Arme, 1606), where the linearity was best illustrated Italian playing and the importance of the lunge extension), then Ridolfo Capoferro (Gran Simularcro dell'Arte Eddelluso della Scherma, 1610, introduction of a fifth and a sixth accompanied by the dagger). The blades of the rapiers are then long and tapered. The blade not being used for slicing and being very light compared to a size sword, it has the advantage of being able to be very long, without worrying about the size or the weight of the handle, the center of gravity or the place of the most important cutting point. We have therefore seen some rapiers exceed 1m of blade.
But around the 1600s, the rapier will go from change to change. Indeed, the Germans, without being fervent supporters of the thrust, will have the idea of garnishing the rings of his guard with plates (we see this from the end of the 16th century). Thus, it is the birth of the Pappenheimer guard, which despite its heaviness, gains in popularity by its more defensive aspect and more adapted to military combat. The plate will then gradually replace the ring. In the same way, the Spaniards, who remained very classical, around 1610 rid the rapier of its filiform and complicated hilt by replacing it with a simple and pragmatic upside-down bowl (in taza or cazoleta, cup and bowl in Spanish) of where in theory only one guard branch will come out. This taza guard foreshadows the guards of current sport fencing weapons. Generally speaking, the hilt of the 17th century rapier takes two paths:either the rings or the cup. From there, different mixtures are born. The Spaniards will prefer the cut, while the Italians and the Germans will develop the systems of rings and shells (plates in the rings).
1650:the abandonment of the military function
Towards the end of the reign of Louis XIII, a new, lighter blade appeared in France:the hollow-sided blade (triangular in section, with three sides), intended solely for thrusting. They were first created for foils, a new indoor weapon that required great lightness. In this new mode, the new swords are generally lightened. As the length of the ricasso is shortened, the guards are flattened and reduced, those with rings and shells becoming guards in figure eight, and the tazas taking the size of the guards of modern foils. They are more subtle and elegant swords, in keeping with a time when the look and posture of men are becoming less and less warlike. This new aesthetic formed the basis of 18th century court swords. Can no longer be used except in society (too weak against military sabres), it still gives the fencer the opportunity to abandon the dagger, since its lightness makes it possible to defend oneself by the speed of the weapon alone . The left hand, which used to be used to hold the dagger (in front of you, parallel to the right hand), now serves as a pendulum and is placed behind you, at head level. The body, which then adopted a rather crushed position (in particular with Fabris), straightens up and comes to rest on the left leg (for right-handers). The pioneers of this new fencing were masters such as Le Perche Du Coudray (1635 - or 1676, the date of his treatise being uncertain) or, a little later, Charles Besnard (Le Maistre d'arme liberal, 1653). This is the very beginning of the French school, the beginning of French predominance in the world of fencing.
At the beginning of the second half of the 17th century, it was the small court sword that saw the light of day and which, seducing almost all the courts of Europe for its elegance and lightness, closed the cycle of the rapier (although we will still see some in hand until the end of the century). The rapier was a special weapon, since it brought together the three functions of the sword:pageantry, duel and war. The court sword retains the functions of duel and ceremonial, but it now leaves the military domain to sabers, curved and straight, and to future regulatory swords.
The ultimate evolution of the rapier makes it a dueling sword, perfect when pitted against another rapier. The ricasso is gradually shortened and the shell guard is much smaller than its Spanish predecessor, in taza. In addition, the too heavy lozenge section blades were abandoned for the new French triangular section blades, commonly called musketeers. But those 110cm blades are still a bit long for melee battles. To optimize the speed of the tip, we have lightened the assembly to a width at the hilt of 19 mm and a thickness of 6 mm, but it cannot withstand the cutting blows of the much less slender cavalry swords.