Re: [HOE] Two weapons fighting

["Mr Leonard Zimmermann" <zimmerml@cnrf.navy.mil>]

Darrin Bright wrote:
> If you mean a rapier, however, this is a completely different kind of
> weapon. The rapier blade was triangular, and not particularly sharp at all.

Actually that more accurately describes an Epee, a late form of the Court Sword. And I would argue that, especially with modern metals, these blades do not break easily at all! They are highly flexible and can be bent into a complete circle without breaking. A modern fencing Epee is pretty much the same as the 18th century version, except for the blunted (and usually tipped) end.

A rapier, on the other hand, is a rather nebulous name. Even the master historians on the subject, such as Oakshott, are not perfectly clear on what was or was not a rapier in the 15th and 16th centuries. The 15th and early 16th centuries saw the rapier as what might be referred to as a side sword. A sword that was generally as long, perhaps a tad longer, than a longsword that was usually sharpened at the last half or last third of the blade on both sides with a sharpened tip. This would be most often used in a manner that most western martial arts historians would call cut-and-thrust. It was a hybrid between simply hacking (or cutting) with a sword and included more of the use of the thrust and was usually used in singular or small-group combats against unarmored or lightly armored opponents. 

The late 16th century saw the lengthening of this sword (sometimes to ridiculous proportions) and saw more of a move to a greater reliance on the thrust as the primary attack, but the cut was never ruled out and the edge was still required to maintain some sharpness for this reason, but again only for the last half to third of the blade (depending on whose fencing manual you read. The Italian masters never could seem to agree on anything, really. ;))
(If you want to know more about Western Martial arts and rapier combat try some sites such as http://www.thehaca.com, http://www.oakshott.org and http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/fencing.html)

The strength of these swords would vary strictly on the quality of manufacture. Most of them were only owned by the wealthy and nobility who could afford to have them made to a high quality (for that time). But I would find the argument of strength for that time to be mute when we talk about now or, more importantly for HoE, the future. A modern steel "rapier", of any of the above varieties, could be quite resistant to breakage depending on manufacture method. There are cheap blades out there that are strictly decorative that would not only break with relative ease, but would never hold and edge to be of use anyway. And there are those of modern manufacture that, despite their seeming solidity, could, with enough force, be bent back upon themselves without breaking. It's all in the manufacturing process.

Lenny Zimmermann