Swords: Difference between revisions

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'''Rapier'''

* These slender thrusting weapons, the first to break out of the "broadsword" family and the first to be outside Oakeshott's typology, appeared in the 15th and 16th Centuries. The older, heavier cutting swords had begun falling from favor for civilian use because of the whims of fashion, and carefully-aimed thrusts became the order of the day. Hence, the rapier: a slender, maneuverable weapon which gave rise to the entire family of "fencing" weapons. Many rapiers had very ornate handguards in which the crossguards curved around to protect the hand and fingers. These later evolved into bell-shaped or D-shaped guards that protected the hand and knuckles, on later forms of the sword.

* These slender thrusting weapons, the first to break out of the "broadsword" family and the first to be outside Oakeshott's typology, appeared in the 15th and 16th Centuries. The older, heavier cutting swords had begun falling from favor for civilian use because of the whims of fashion, and carefully-aimed thrusts became the order of the day. Hence, the rapier: a slender, maneuverable weapon which gave rise to the entire family of "fencing" weapons. Many rapiers had very ornate handguards in which the crossguards curved around to protect the hand and fingers. These later evolved into bell-shaped or D-shaped guards that protected the hand and knuckles, on later forms of the sword. One aspect that is not widely known is that rapiers have to be made extra thick in the blade, almost diamond shaped in some models, to give enough mass for their thrust specialization. This forward oriented construction obstructs the cutting edge which adds another disadvantage to the problems of using it as a cutting sword. As a result it is hyperspecialized to the thrust but the edge has only limited use and some smiths did not bother to edge their rapiers.

**Both the rapier and the Italian side sword(a light sword that is considered to have preceded the rapier but has enough mass in the blade to make a respectable cut unlike the rapier which uses the edge as a diversion)had about two inches above the guard unedged. This is called a ricasso and is used to allow the fingers to curl over the guard and hold it steady in a thrust. This in turn led to secondary guards. Thus the webs of stiff metal wiring above the guard that you see in movies are not as you might first think, just dandyish decoration.

**The rapier bred a style that allowed an extra hand for a number of reasons, notably you just don't go round town carrying a war shield. One possibility was a cloak which was just that, an embryo raincoat(so to speak) used as an [[Improvised Armor|improvised shield.]] It's moves were different from a shield proper. For instance writer James Loriega who visited a Spanish Navaja(long knife) school which also taught the cloak said that the master taught whiplike motions to blind the enemy with the cloak rather then primarily blocks(though shields can be used to bludgeon with). A common pair with the rapier is the buckler which is a small hand shield which though it was sometimes used in war could also be carried around town worn on the belt(hence the term "swashbuckler" from toughs who would swagger around conspicuously "swashing" or shaking their bucklers). Another possibility is the dagger which is useful in case an enemy gets under the guard of a rapier. One of the weirder options was the grasping glove which is simply a mail glove for grasping the blade(one reason rapiers continued to be edged was to prevent an enemy doing this with his bare hands. One common use seen in cinema is simply using the off-hand for balance. This became the normal usage until the obsolescence of sword dueling.