The English term "rapier" comes from the French 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 espee rapiere , first recorded in 1474, a nickname meaning ' grater ' .

The rapier was the principal civilian sidearm throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Designed for cut-and-thrust fencing of progressively complex techniques, the rapier is characterized by a double-edged blade with an acute point and an elaborate guard for the hand.

2022年4月29日 · Perhaps the most recognizable rapier style is the cup-hilted rapier. This sword was popular in the 1600s in Spain and other countries. Unlike the ornate sword hilts of Germany and other northern countries, Spanish cup-hilt rapiers were crafted for practical use above all else.

By the early seventeenth century, the rapier, a long slender thrusting sword, began to dominate as the gentleman’s weapon of choice. During the course of the century, however, as civilian fencing techniques became more specialized and refined, the rapier developed into a lighter, trimmed-down weapon known by about 1700 as the smallsword.

2024年9月25日 · A rapier, designed purely as a thrusting weapon, features a long, narrow, rigid, and nearly edgeless blade with a sharp point. While rapiers vary in shape, length, width, and hilt style, they are generally thin, lightweight, fast, and well-balanced, optimized for one-on-one combat against unarmored opponents.

The Arms & Armor French Rapier is a lovely and deadly sculpture in steel. This is a classic form of the swept hilt rapier with the its long S shaped sweep that connects the knuckle bow to the forearm of the hilt. The rear guard arm curves forward towards the sword tip and the hilt lacks a forward guard arm. The rap

The rapier was a sword worn with civilian dress and used in duels. The term rapier derives from a 16th-century French word rapière, which in turn derived from the Spanish espada ropera, or “dress sword.”

Originally, by the 1470s the French referred mockingly to any excessively long and slender weapon as la rapière, while the Spanish called a small sword worn in civilian clothes at court or about town a spada ropera, a “robe sword” or “dress sword.”

The rapier was the principal civilian sidearm throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Designed for cut-and-thrust fencing of progressively complex techniques, the rapier is characterized by a double-edged blade with an acute point and an elaborate guard for the hand.

2025年2月8日 · Unlike battlefield swords, the rapier was a civilian weapon, commonly worn by nobility and aristocrats as an accessory, a status symbol, a self-defense sword, and a tool for dueling. By the late 17th century, it was adopted in France and became the predecessor to the lighter small sword of the 18th century.