rapier
| rapier | |
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| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Sword |
| Designations: | Espada ropera, rapier, rappier, striscia, rapier, rapier |
| Use: | Military, civil and equestrian weapons |
| Creation time: | circa 1550 |
| Working time: | until now |
| Region of origin / author: |
Italy , Spain |
| Distribution: | Europe |
| Overall length: | approx. 120 cm |
| Blade length: | about 100 cm |
| Weight: | approx. 1000-1300 gr. |
| Handle: | Wood, metal, ivory , precious metals , mother-of-pearl |
| Particularities: | There are two versions, one with basket hand protection, the other with bell hand protection |
| Lists on the subject | |
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With Rapier (French rapière "sword", Spanish Espada Ropera "sword that is carried to the dressing room") refers to a since the early 16th century in Europe spread stabbing and slashing weapon. In the early 19th century, the term rapier (also rappir ) was used for blunt training weapons. Haurapier stands for a blunt racket and rapier for a Parisian rapier with a blunt point.
description
The rapier has a double-edged, straight blade with a very pointed point . Compared to many later weapons that were more strongly designed for stabbing, it has less elasticity. The blades are diamond - shaped or lenticular in cross-section . A ricasso ( ricasso ) is attached to many versions and the blades are much longer than those of the epee. The basket is designed differently. You can find simple cross vessels or baskets with multiple (third, quarters, parry, handle,) main and secondary bows. The forms vary in the course of development and use. Various materials were used for the booklet .
development
In the 16th century, the term rapier was generally understood to mean the sword of the nobility. Therefore, the definition of a rapier can be very broad. However, the rapier usually has some special features, such as the vessel, which offers additional protection for the index finger, or the long and slim shape of the blade.
The rapier, which is lighter than previous sword types, was created at a time when wearing full armor decreased with the advent of firearms. It also enjoyed great popularity in civil life, especially among the increasingly important middle class. The rapier developed seamlessly from the side sword , from which the early forms of the rapier cannot always be exactly distinguished. While early rapiers could still be designed to be slash-heavy and thus very similar to the side sword, only later rapiers with their overlong, slender blades were weapons optimized purely for the stab. The Trattato di scientia d'arme, con un dialogo di filosofia , written by Camillo Agrippas, was formative for this development .
Typical of the rapier was a slim compared to the long sword , but compared to z. B. with the later epee relatively heavy, extra-long double-edged blade with mostly rhombic cross-section and strong point. The vessel (handle) of the rapier had a "cross", a broad quillons similar to that of medieval long swords, but was supplemented with an increasingly complicated, forged iron basket with ring-shaped clasps around the hand and especially the one To protect the thumb and the index finger resting on the so-called ricasso . Thanks to the support with the index finger , the blade , which is often over 100 cm long , could be moved more skillfully. The vascular bow protecting the fist was called pas d´âne (French donkey hoof). The development of the rapier began in France and Italy around 1480 . The rapier was made famous in Germany primarily through Joachim Meyer's fencing book, which appeared for the first time in 1570 and was published several times. Meyer used a weapon that was still quite heavy with blows, so his fencing style is equally characterized by blow and stab. However, various pictorial representations show that the rapier was used in Germany as early as the 1510s and during the German Peasants' War .
Particularly heavy early rapiers for military use are known today as the "riding sword" or in English as "sidesword"; like the heavy blades of earlier rapiers, they often had a more or less pronounced widening of the blade below the ricasso . Over time, the rapier's blade has become lighter and lighter and has been optimized for impact resistance at the expense of suitability for cutting. To save weight, larger, in some cases multiple, fillets were incorporated, which further impaired the ability to cut or cut. In the later specimens, the vessel hoops were supplemented with more and more flat elements in the manner of a guard blade , which were mostly perforated to save weight, to provide better protection against stings from the lighter blades .
Fighting technique
Since the rapier was too heavy to carry out a parade with the following riposte in quick succession, as in modern fencing , one tried to carry out a single action that had both defensive and offensive effect in fencing with the rapier. In contrast to more modern fencing, sideways movements were normal in rapier fencing. When fencing with the rapier, one often used a parrying dagger or the coat thrown over the free arm in order to be able to repel the blows of the opponent better. But the buckler , a small iron fist shield, was also used. Some parades could also be done with the free hand. Many accessories used in contemporary fashion were used as parrying weapons or even designed specifically for this purpose. Handles and levers on the opponent's arm were useful techniques. Fighting was rarely done with two rapiers; there were even special double rapiers that could be placed on top of one another in a sheath, but after releasing the lock became two almost full-fledged rapiers. Even then, this fight with two long weapons was rather a curiosity, which was usually discouraged in an emergency.
There were also rapiers that could break the jammed weapon of the opponent by means of blades that could be folded out at the side (a principle that was also used with parrying daggers), or those with a dagger hidden in the back straight. “Breaking” did not necessarily mean breaking the opponent's blade, but rather levering it out.
Rapier, between 1580 and 1600. Musée de Morges, Switzerland.
Rapier, first half of the 17th century. Musée de Morges, Switzerland.
Participants in a re-enactment fencing with rapier and parrying dagger
Further development
A special form was the rapier musket fork , which was used as a support for muskets . In the 18th century, France developed a thrusting sword with a smaller guard but a triangular, pointed blade, the light, agile so-called Parisian , which was used as a dueling weapon and especially by student associations well into the 19th century.
literature
- Duncan Noble: The rapier: history and use of a fearsome weapon. Ken Trotman Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-905074-95-2 .
- Ridolfo Capoferro, Jared Kirby: Italian rapier combat. Greenhill Publisher, 2004, ISBN 1-85367-580-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wendelin Boeheim: Handbook of Armament. Reprint d. Ed. Leipzig 1890, Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-201-00257-7 , pp. 285-286.
- ^ Camillo Agrippa: Trattato di scientia d'arme, con un dialogo di filosofia. (PDF; 13 MB)
- ↑ Joachim Meyer: Thorough description of the free knightly and aristocratic art of fencing in all sorts of common defenses adorned and supported with beautiful and useful figures. (online at: uni-egoswald.de )
- ↑ Presentation of a contemporary book with various illustrations on fencing with the rapier ( Memento from August 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Egerton Castle: Schools and Masters of Fencing: from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century. Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 978-0-486-42826-0 , p. 245. (Eng.)
- ↑ Wendelin Boeheim: Handbook of Armament. Reprint d. Ed. Leipzig 1890. Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-201-00257-7 , pp. 190-191.
- ↑ Mentions and descriptions can be found in the Italian fencing books by Achille Marozzo (1536, here still the side sword), Antonio Manciolino (1531, also more of a side sword), Camillo Agrippa (1553), Giovan Antonio Lovino (approx. 1580) and Giaccomo DiGrassi (1570/94). As the German author, Jacob Sutor (1612) briefly mentions it
- ↑ George Cameron Stone , Donald J. LaRocca: A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times. Courier Dover Publications, 1999, ISBN 0-486-40726-8 (Reprint), p. 188.
Web links
- Presentation of a contemporary book with various illustrations on fencing with the rapier
- Technical terms of edged weapons from Gerhard Seifert (PDF file; 1.3 MB)