This is definitely something I've noticed: Popular culture has conflated rapiers and smallswords, hence all the "common knowledge" about rapiers being lighter and "more elegant" than medieval arming swords.
one of my ancesters did a duell to the death in germany somewhere near bremen , he was an prussian aristocrat and got drunk and duelled with another, and won, but dueling was prohibitted, so he was chrged for killing him and lost almost all his land and wealth to the opponents family.. his family name was von Kempen ; it happened in the 19th century, it's written in the family chronicles
616lordofdarkness "I don't always drink... but when I do, I get my stabby stab stab stab, on!" (I don't meant to speak I'll of the dead, I hope you see the humor in this :D)
Interesting fact, here in Peru, Southamerica, dueling was legal up until a constitutional amendment banned it in 1928. However, dueling was generally accepted by the european descendants and upper classes, therefore, many duels took place during the 20th century. Even some important figures had duels, like Fernando Belaunde Terry, who fought against Eduardo Watson Cisneros for a political result on the elections for a Mayor, which Belaunde lost. The duel took place in 1957, using military sabres. After three rounds, the duel was canceled because both fighters sustained injuries and could no longer fight. Belaunde would continue his political career to eventually become president of the country. Dueling remained a legal and common affair, some magazines and newspapers even posted open letters from challengers to their opponents, while some even posted the results of these duels. It was not until 1972 that someone got in actual legal trouble for dueling, when a challenger was sued by his opponent right before the duel. An action that was criticized as a lack of chivalry or honor.
So, in DnD, the "rapier" is a very light weapon used for stabbing, which can be used with a character's dexterity instead of strength for striking. What I'm getting from this video is that instead, that should be called a smallsword. Would you agree?
+Allen Baker All weapon in melee combat should realistically require skill with the weapon, dexterity sort of, and agility. Not strength at all, unless you are grappling, strength is for archery.
+Lensius ill give dnd and other rpgs the very big two handed swords the really big more fantasy ones that arent all that realistic. Other than that though swords should probably pretty much all be dex based not strength based. Archery makes way more sense for strength than dexterity.
Likewise, D&D weights are actually somewhat accurate this time around, being slightly on the heavy side but being within what we'd expect a specimen to be (The Rapier for example is 2 lbs, while the longsword is 3 lbs) Except for the Pike. The pike is 18 lbs for whatever reason, despite being a shorter example of pike.
Incidentally in Sweden we have the word Värja which is a term which, as far as I know, originally refers to whatever bladed weapon that a soldier carried as a sidearm and has since become a catch-all term that basically covers all thrust-oriented swords.
Värja as a term for all blade sidearms? This is clearly german Wehr, the bayonett was in Germany often called Seitengewehr. Up to 18th Gewehr ( today umbrella term for long firearms) could also be a polearm or bladed sidearm.
This confusion is, in part at least, caused by lazy re-enactors. I've seen many, many times a rapier hilt with a modern epee (usually) blade on it, either because it was cheaper than getting proper blade, once their original broke, or because of straight-up laziness - you need comparatively less strength to use epee blade than rapier one, so it's easier to do a flashy-looking duels with them. Old man Greywolf shakes his cane at you!
"Crappy Zorro films"? I will have to rewatch The Mask of Zorro until it washes the bad aftertaste of those swords out of my mouth. ruclips.net/video/nB8tiSMCwRE/видео.html Funny thing rewatching this older movies is that they always have fencing sabre blades mounted on semi-period appropriate hilts ruclips.net/video/fFoLmhIgIxM/видео.html
Since you talk about duelling in France, I'd like to share with you all the video of the last official duel in France in 1967 : 1967 Epee Duel Deffere vs. Ribiere It was between two politicians elected in the parliament, one had insulted the other, the weapon is the épée, you can see some of the fight on the video. It was a first-blood duel, yet the offended asked to continue the fight after he received the first hit (in the forearm), the referee stopped the duel after the second hit. And last but not least, the offended was getting married the day after the fight. It makes you realize how different politicians are now...
"[In the 19th century] there were only a couple of parts really of Europe where duelling happened with any regularity, and even there it was very rare, the two places being France and Italy." There was also still a lot of duelling going on in German fraternities in the 19th century and well into the 20th century, and in some places even today, although by the late 19th century the rules had strongly ritualised and had little to do with competitive fencing (although the goal was and is still to draw blood).
Hi, thanks for this very interesting video! I just wanted to point out that in German thrust-fencing of the 18th to 19th century yet another type of practice weapon was used: the Stoßrappier (the word is derived from "Stoß-Raufdegen" from something like "rough smallsword for thrusting "; do not confuse with Rapier which derives from "spada ropera"). The blade of this weapon closely resembled a blunted Mensur blade (diamond or lense cross section) with a dish guard. The weight is close to the epee.
When it is true, the epee with sharp point for Stoßmensur/ thrust Mensur was by german students called ,Pariser', which is today something rather different ;-).
Thank you for the video. It's so sad that the rapier fell victim to technology and fashion and had such a short lifespan as such many people both on the katana cultist and HEMA circles mistake the rapier for a foil/epee.
Thank you for putting these in simple terms even someone like me can understand! This was very helpful information for figuring out what weapons to use for when the story I'm writing takes place.
I got a pair of epee style duelling swords today. Brass hilts with a smallsword-esque design, rectangular blade dimensions and very, very pointy. I did a few tests with them just to see how they were in terms of thrusting potential, and the damn things go right through thick cloth! Wouldn't want to get into a fight with them, I imagine they could actually pierce quite deep into a person's body, perhaps even be lethal. But they're astoundingly light and having two of them is a neat little bonus.
Thanks for clarifying the differences between these types of swords. I recently saw the movie The Great Race with one of my friends. There's a duel in it where the duellists start out armed with foils, and after a while decide to switch to sabres.
Is it just me or are Rapiers the most beautiful swords ever? It's almost mesmerizing in how unprecedentedly deadly it is, like a wonderfully lit cloud with a great multitude of colors permeating through it that distracts you just long enough for a slender, electric finger of death to descend hastily on your benumbed noggin.
emlmm88 If you think rapiers are beautiful, which I'd agree. I'd highly suggest that you look up an 'Italian Sides Sword variant'. I absolutely, hands down, LOVE that type of blade. The blade tapers, not only down the width of the blade, but the length as well. If I could describe what it is, I'd say that it's a medieval arming sword with the handle of a rapier. To me, it's the best of both worlds. You can cut limbs off, & still thrust like no tomorrow. Now, I'm not using hyperbole, or speaking 'softly' when I say that it can hack limbs. Pig carcass & tissue is one of the closest things relating to human flesh. I've seen it personally with my own eyes cut straight through a pig's stomach, chop the leg off, chop the snout off, & pierce it just as any rapier would. I'm a big straight blade guy. This blade was originally a military cut & thrust design in which was meant to build the gap of having a personal defense & elegant weapon, while also having that cutting ability. Personally, I'm a guy who likes options, I'd like to cut & lob limbs off, & pierce people, while having a beautiful European sword. Straight blades are the way to go IMHO. Hope you see what I'm talking about. ~Cheers
I find it easier to brake down the "rapier" into two categories. The first being what I and others such as Mr. Leoni of the Order of the Seven Hearts term "Renaissance Rapiers", or designs which originated from the mid to late 1500s and early 1600s which are as you describe, weapons that cut relatively well but are optimized for the thrust. The swords from Meyer and Mair's manuals would fall into this category. Later "rapiers" which were invented in the later 1600s roughly corresponding to the Baroque period which are further optimized for the thrust to the point where limb removal really isn't possible even with a strong cut, and lacerations may only be given with slicing and raking actions, effectively limiting the target areas to the hands, throat, groin and face, may be appropriately named "Baroque Rapiers". While these weapons existed and were popular beyond the periods of their invention I find this a helpful division for explaining what a weapon can do with its name. The swords from Fabris and Giganti's manuals would fall into this category.
The works of Fabris and Giganti were both originally published in 1606 though, and thus fall outside of Tom Leoni's Baroque Rapier definition. Meyer's rappier is more akin to what Matt refers to as a sidesword, also treated of by the various Bolognese masters.
Moricant This is correct, and the periodization terms co-opted by Mr. Leoni, which originated from studies of art and culture, don't match up perfectly with the origins and designs of the weapons. The problem lies in the fact that the word "rapier" in its various spellings, is used for swords which other masters called sideswords, as well as later weapons, and historical terminology doesn't give us a convenient delineation. The alternative of having everyone use the historical terminology requires constant uses extra contextual explanations such as "Meyer's rappier, which is essentially the same weapon as the spada da lato of the Bolognese tradition, and is a transitional weapon capable of severing hands, heads, and delivering other powerful cleaving strikes while being more optimized than other contemporary swords for thrust centric fencing..." is terribly inconvenient to have to say to every person you meet. Unfortunately the problem with Mr. Leoni's system is that it also has to be explained, and isn't perfectly historically accurate. Unfortunately, I've yet to see a better solution.
One of the last duels in Italy involved a journalist who challenged Mussolini to a sabre duel in 1915, Mussolini won and inflicted him several wounds before the duel was stopped.
77jarim It looks like his fencing skills were one of the few things who stopped him to being humiliated by other more capable politicians back then, if someone pointed out how stupid his statements were he would challenge them to a duel, and back then winning the duel meant also winning the argument.
I want to say that I find your talks very educational. Keep it up. I'm learning a lot about how varied sword have been, in regards to shape form and function.
I am so glad to see this video now. This is a game changer. That means that a very light thrust weapon like the small sword is able to present a deadly weaopon. I always thought the metal wouldn't withstand human bones etc...
I own a number of rapiers from Arms & Armor, they are fairly accurate reproductions as well as sport fencing weapons (foil/epee/saber). Friends and acquaintances are surprised when they first pick the rapiers up; they always remark that it's much heavier than they imagined. They are also very surprised when the see the correct techniques & context within which rapiers are used, e.g. finding the sword, single time parries, etc.. I blame those Errol Flynn type swashbuckling movies (where the blades used on weapons are fencing blades) for transmitting and perpetuating misinformation.
I was just watching a friend playing Assassin's Creed (France) and they call the main sword a 'Foil'---needless to say, your video defends my side of the argument that ensued when I laughed at his game!
Évariste Galois was a French Mathematician who lived from 1811 to 1832. He had a duel with another person over a woman, and died. But the night before he wrote down all of his mathematics, creating Galois theory in a night, the night before he died. So a 19th century dual to the death.
I'm just reading around the Peninsular wars...there's a very amusing account of honour 'behaviour' which neatly describes the difference between French and English culture.
It gets even more confusing when you include swedish swords. We have a category for all cut and thrust swords including rapiers, cavalry swords, sideswords etc. I have a swedish cavalry swords that gets identified as a rapier despite being quite broad and as a saber despite clearly behaving in a totally different manner. The manuscript for it was rapier style fencing.
Extremely informative! Thank you :) I always wondered what the hell was going on with the Epee, it just seemed out of place and weird and now I know why :)
A very distant cousin of mine was involved in a duel in 1706 in Suffolk. Unfortunately it didn’t end well for him! It would be interesting to know what sort of swords you think were most likely used? My ancestor was a barrister, his opponent held the title ‘Captain’, so I’m guessing most likely an army Captain. Apparently the legal profession was a hot-bed of duelling in those days! Really enjoy you material btw, which I’ve been binge-watching recently 👍
I once owned a small sword made by cold steel, along with one of their rapiers. The rapier in the hand felt like it weighed twice as much as the small sword.
I do like thePappenheimer Rapier. Cold Steel Cavalier Rapier is this type. It's fairly good for a reproduction. The bevel on it is off though. No idea why Cold Steel did it like that. It cannot maintain an edge. It can give some worrying cut,but it's a thruster alright. And that is about 1049g( 2.3lbs). Which is still heavy.
I actualy had a hard time trying to translate those terms to spanish, so that's what I could find: Foil -> Estoque Epee -> Florete Rapier -> Espada ropera Can anyone confirm or refute that?
Huh. I do not know spanish but should really a foil have a name similar to an estoc? A weapon that is a lot heavier and sturdier. I believe epees are called florettes in swedish as well which seems right. And regarding the rapier, check out his video on sideswords. It is a modern category for the transitionary weapon between an arming sword and a proper rapier, the term rapier is a bit of a misnomer as it sometimes referred to a sidesword. And I belive the sidesword is known as an espada ropera in spanish, it is called a spada de lato in italian these days.
My father told me years ago when he was a little boy in the 1950's his grandfather (my great grandfather) remembered and told him a story about a duel in Puerto Rico when the Spanish still ruled over Puerto Rico. The duel was between two men fighting for the hand at marriage with the same girl. One had challenged the other to a duel for right to marry the girl they both desired. The was in a small rural village in Western Puerto Rico in Aguadilla. The men of the village agreed to allow the duel. They fought on a hill top with Machettes. The outcome of the duel I do not remember as my father has long since passed on. But it is a true story I thought to share. Keep in mind these were poor farmers a Sword or Pistol would most likely not be accessible. So bladed tools would be used.
Also, a request. You've done a number of videos on swords specialized for the thrust; I'm wondering if you plan to, or could, do a video on swords specialized for the cut.
Can you please do a video on "The Swords of the Conquistadors".... Ive tried to research this topic online and there doesnt seem to be a lot of information about them... These Mercenaries conquered two continents and the Caribbean and yet there is very little information about the types of swords they carried.... Since we are talking about 16th and 17th century Mediterranean arms im curious if you can provide some more details about the type, length, and hilt of the Swords carried by these men.....
Morrion, breastplate and shinguards were the usual armor. But spanish troops also adopted the native-american cloth armor because its multi-layered differential hardness composition was good against arquebus and musket rounds. For melee weapons they had glaives, partizans, rapiers and small round shields. And no, smallpox had nothing to do with the conquest of Mexico. The first account of smallpox in mexico came with Panfilo de Narvaez who arrived to arrest Cortez two and a half years after Cortez took Veracruz, when the last remaining defense of mexico was Cuitlahuac and his personal army of a couple thousand mexica vs Cortez' small remaining forces (under 300), Narvaez's defectors and 30K tlaxcalteca warriors. Cortez conquered Mexico because the aztec were tirants who lost the favor of their neighbors, and because Tenochtitlan was a 2M people floating city completelly dependant on the currents of a couple rivers he could easily block. Smallpox as a biological weapon was used in the conquest of Peru and Chile, 6-10 years and millions of miles away from the fall of Tenochtitlan.
I would say that rapier is the most evolved sword at all. Its still designed to kill but profits from "modern" technologies of craftsmanship. Everithing that comes latter was for massive use of light-trained guys or much mor "easy carry" than "easy kill" designed.
Krystof Mraz I wouldn't say that because like everything it depends on what context we are talking about. There's no ultimate sword. In a one on one unarmored duel with swords about Longsword length and lower, the Rapier is arguably one of the best weapons you could use. But the Rapier is nearly useless against armor, not very good against multiple opponents, not very good against polearms and I definitely wouldn't use one on a horse. A rapier is specialized for that specific situation and it is technological achievement...but it doesn't beat all other swords depending upon the situation. It's sort of like a rock, paper scissors thing with weapons.
I understood that the rapier was the popular, generally carried weapon of gentlemen of the first half of the 17th century, to be replaced over several decades by the sabre, along with the influence of increased cavalry in military use. The epee and foil were merely used for athletics and some dueling, and the short sword was a poor man's daily walkabout weapon and an infantry weapon not held in the high social regard as the sabre.
Hey Matt, I've been curious for a while now. May I ask where did you take that rapier you're showing and that awesome main-gauche dagger you use in rapier and dagger videos? Keep up the good work! Although I cannot see how someone could mistake a rapier for a smallsword or foil.. XD
While my x5 Grandfather carried a Confederate Cavalry Sword (he was in the Texas Cavalry, Terry's Rangers from 1861 until his capture in 1864) but dont think he ever used it and carried about 4 revolvers. His Dad my x6 Grandfather was a Texas Ranger (which his son would do after the Civil War) was carrying a Colt Walker .44 in the 1840's. It just amazes me at the same time as revolvers the mass cavalry charge with swords was still going on in Europe. Seems like Europe didnt want to adopt and issue big revolvers and later lever action guns. Maybe because of tradition?
Maybe you already knew it, but fencing with epees was also quite famous in germany, until first blood and until today its totally legal to fence to first blood. It is quite famous among the university students, that are in fraternaties, that are politically more on the right side. And sorry for any mistakes in the statement above, as you may guess I'm from germany.
Actually dueling was really common in 19th century Germany, especially with the so called academic Sabre and there is even a practice in german fraternities the so called Mensur. There are specialized Weapons and a special fighting style that ensures that nobody dies
Extremely informative as always! I was never certain of the difference, myself. When Ryse Son of Rome comes out on PC in October will you play it? I have seen some gameplay footage and to my untrained eye the combat looks pretty authentic; it would be cool to hear your opinions on it.
+scholagladiatoria If rapiers and and small swords are identified by being specialized more toward the thrust, why are WWI era cavalry swords for both Great Britain and the U.S. often referred to as sabers even though they were straight, long and slender? Additionally, I believe the M1913 by George Patton was double edged.
Mark Suarez The British 1908 and American 1913 are not sabres, they are swords. They get called sabres wrongly, because lots of writers on swords in the 20thC classified things by hilt type, which is completely stupid really :-)
In russian-influenced countries there is a very confusing diference to west-european terms. Fencing foil is called "рапира" (rapier). Smallsword doesn`t exist as a separate term and is refered to (I belive) under the same name as epee (and well... as rapier too) - "шпага", which is a cyrillic transcription of the spanish word "spada".
I'm going to have to hunt down the source for this but two men in New Orleans perhaps seconds before the US Civil War were to fight a duel and one of them insisted that they should fight to the death. So the other guy showed up at the agreed place with a rifle and shot him as he approached. The victim didn't die and they reconciled afterward.
How about the Germanic college dueling as seen in 'The Student Prince'. As I remember that was Heidelberg. There apparently the goal was to inflict a facial scar. Was that a regular saber or was it a specialized dueling sword? It had to have been a sword with at least some cutting capability. Thrusting at the face for sport would lead to a lot of blind students.
+Patrick Boyle : Thrusting would also lead to a lot of dead students :-D A student duel was (and is -- they are still conducted) is fought with a specialized weapons (_Schläger_). It's blunt (no point) but razor sharp (which actually produces _less_ of a scar) and may have either a basket or a bell guard.
using an epee blade for smallsword fencing makes sense, if you are trying to simulate life and death combat with a real smallsword, but if you want to simulate the training they did, the the foil is more realistic.
Regarding later-period Duelling, would you include Prussia and Austria-Hungary as having a continuing Duelling culture? e.g Bismark and his University Duelling scars.
scholagladiatoria I don´t think mensurfechten and duelling can be seen synonymously. While a duell is a result of a precedent offence mensurfechten is a traditional and reglemented melee still practiced today.
Oof, yes to the first part, the foil is the practice weapon of the smallsword, correct. However, the 18th-19th century rules for foil fencing were a bit different - no 'right of way' for example. The epee and the rapier are not very closely related at all - the epee is the practice weapon of.... the epee de combat, which is a type of smallsword used for first blood duels in France during the 19th century. The rapier is very very different and is a much larger and heavier cut and thrust weapon. Look at examples of rapiers on the Wallace Collection website for example - they frequently weigh over 1000g and have cutting edges.
One of the problems might be the differences in the names of swords in different languages. For example, in Russian a foil is called a rapier, while an epee is called a shpaga, which comes from spada and generally means a whole class of swords that includes rapiers, smallswords and probably even sideswords. Then there's German with its Degen, which can mean both epee in sports fencing and any thrusting sword of the Renaissance and Modern eras in a historical context. They do have a separate name for the foil, though.
interestingly enough as the smallsword developed the edge was intentionally removed so people wouldn't try to cut with because as you said it's a thrusting weapon although I'm pretty sure it was usually more square than triangular at least since that development
+Alex Neeley You seem to have a better understanding of the timeline so I'll take your word for it regarding the shape of the blade I just thought it seemed a little off at first.
I was thinking about what epee is and I realized it's kord in my language. I always thought kord is international word, so I understand now why people don't understand me if I say kord. :-D My Czech sources saying rapier is just civil version of epee for duels and epee is for military use but it should look both almost same. Interesting is that sources saying Bohemia kingdom was one of the biggest and first producers of epees already in late gothic time and that is the reason why we have our own name for this type of sword and almost all world using variations of French name. It's interesting because sources in English saying epees and rapiers are developed in around year 1500 in Spain, but Czech sources saying that type of sword was here already in early 15th century. But we were part of holy roman empire, so maybe non Czech sources consider it German
i know that there was a number of american fatal duels in america during the 19th century. I think from memory it was around the 1880's it became socially unpopular. Yet in saying that i don't remember them being swords, mainly dueling pistols after around the 1750's. I however where the sword was more idolized by military than civilian society it seems likely that there would be some form of sword duel even if undocumented.
I'm very late on this episode but are there a whole lot of differences between French and Spanish styles of fencing or is there no difference at all? Do you have a preference of the two different styles of fencing?
biohazard724 Because most regular people never find out that they are different weapons, and just assume that they are synonyms for the same piece of steel.
SweGunner71 or because most people think a sword is a sword and assume anything with two edges and a cross hilt is a broad sword, that anything bigger than the wielder is a greatsword/claymore, and anything tiny is a rapier. and then there's the katana which everyone knows.
+crwydryny Well not everyone. My father would refer to a katana as "one of them there samurai weapons". scholagladiatoria Would most people even know the words "foil" and "epee"?
+scholagladiatoria What we saw that Guy Williams used in the TV show Zorro, was a variation of an epee? And another question: what kind of sword are the Radaelli and the Pecoraro?
Justin Grainger The term "short sword" predates D&D. I recall using it no later than the early '70s, generally to refer to the gladius or something similar. Generally it indicated any straight sword shorter than about two feet.
So let me get this straight. Arming sword -> sidesword < basket hilted broadsword, back swords, on one end, rapiers, smallsword, and foils on the other end of the evolutionary spilt?
Hello matt, would it be possible in a later video to talk about bronze age weapons since there isn't many that cross the subject on youtube, i know lindybeige talks a bit about them and skallagrim does a review on a khopesh he owns but i would like to know hear what you have to say about them. Thank you
Silly question, but in the Disney Zorro series of the late 1950's I was shocked to see they were just useing modern sport Sabers. What kind of sword would Zorro and the Conmandant really be using in 1820 California?
This is definitely something I've noticed: Popular culture has conflated rapiers and smallswords, hence all the "common knowledge" about rapiers being lighter and "more elegant" than medieval arming swords.
KorKhan89 Lighter no, elegant, well it's all opinion.
J. Corban Murphy I know, I was just putting in my 2 cents
one of my ancesters did a duell to the death in germany somewhere near bremen , he was an prussian aristocrat and got drunk and duelled with another, and won,
but dueling was prohibitted, so he was chrged for killing him and lost almost all his land and wealth to the opponents family..
his family name was von Kempen ;
it happened in the 19th century, it's written in the family chronicles
616lordofdarkness "I don't always drink... but when I do, I get my stabby stab stab stab, on!" (I don't meant to speak I'll of the dead, I hope you see the humor in this :D)
Lion of Judah if this is the case, then by all means, change your name .
Cool family story
Sucks man you would have been rich
Attention! A ,von' in a german family name must not be a sign of nobility! Also some noblemen have no ,von'!
Interesting fact, here in Peru, Southamerica, dueling was legal up until a constitutional amendment banned it in 1928. However, dueling was generally accepted by the european descendants and upper classes, therefore, many duels took place during the 20th century. Even some important figures had duels, like Fernando Belaunde Terry, who fought against Eduardo Watson Cisneros for a political result on the elections for a Mayor, which Belaunde lost. The duel took place in 1957, using military sabres. After three rounds, the duel was canceled because both fighters sustained injuries and could no longer fight. Belaunde would continue his political career to eventually become president of the country. Dueling remained a legal and common affair, some magazines and newspapers even posted open letters from challengers to their opponents, while some even posted the results of these duels. It was not until 1972 that someone got in actual legal trouble for dueling, when a challenger was sued by his opponent right before the duel. An action that was criticized as a lack of chivalry or honor.
Great post!
waa, i didn't know that. Nice to know!
So, in DnD, the "rapier" is a very light weapon used for stabbing, which can be used with a character's dexterity instead of strength for striking. What I'm getting from this video is that instead, that should be called a smallsword. Would you agree?
+Allen Baker Essentially yes, although I would argue for rapier also rolling with dexterity even though its heavier.
+Allen Baker All weapon in melee combat should realistically require skill with the weapon, dexterity sort of, and agility. Not strength at all, unless you are grappling, strength is for archery.
+Lensius ill give dnd and other rpgs the very big two handed swords the really big more fantasy ones that arent all that realistic. Other than that though swords should probably pretty much all be dex based not strength based. Archery makes way more sense for strength than dexterity.
+Allen Baker In 5e the rapier is no longer a light weapon, it is a finesse weapon that can use dex instead of strength for to hit and dmg
Likewise, D&D weights are actually somewhat accurate this time around, being slightly on the heavy side but being within what we'd expect a specimen to be (The Rapier for example is 2 lbs, while the longsword is 3 lbs)
Except for the Pike. The pike is 18 lbs for whatever reason, despite being a shorter example of pike.
In Russian both foil an rapier are called "рапира" (rapier), there is no other term for foil. So I was very surprised then I saw a real rapier.
+Gleb Rumyantsev How would you pronounce that, BTW?
(I haven't tried to learn Russian/Cyrillic yet)
+HipposHateWater It's "rapira".
same in lithuanian
Actually, the term for rapier in Russian is шпага (shpaga); same term is also used for both smallswords and epees. Рапира (rapira) is a foil.
elladan0891 shpaga is used for almost all thrusting swords in russian and even in my country. They didnt need to classify it.
Incidentally in Sweden we have the word Värja which is a term which, as far as I know, originally refers to whatever bladed weapon that a soldier carried as a sidearm and has since become a catch-all term that basically covers all thrust-oriented swords.
Värja as a term for all blade sidearms? This is clearly german Wehr, the bayonett was in Germany often called Seitengewehr. Up to 18th Gewehr ( today umbrella term for long firearms) could also be a polearm or bladed sidearm.
This confusion is, in part at least, caused by lazy re-enactors. I've seen many, many times a rapier hilt with a modern epee (usually) blade on it, either because it was cheaper than getting proper blade, once their original broke, or because of straight-up laziness - you need comparatively less strength to use epee blade than rapier one, so it's easier to do a flashy-looking duels with them. Old man Greywolf shakes his cane at you!
MartinGreywolf Yeah, when I see rapier hilts with epee blades is makes me upset. Sometimes I cry.
MartinGreywolf I think it's mostly becouse of films. All those crappy Zorro films, geesus.
"Crappy Zorro films"?
I will have to rewatch The Mask of Zorro until it washes the bad aftertaste of those swords out of my mouth.
ruclips.net/video/nB8tiSMCwRE/видео.html
Funny thing rewatching this older movies is that they always have fencing sabre blades mounted on semi-period appropriate hilts
ruclips.net/video/fFoLmhIgIxM/видео.html
I think i saw some pain in his eyes as he said the Spadroon is like a short rapier blade.
Since you talk about duelling in France, I'd like to share with you all the video of the last official duel in France in 1967 : 1967 Epee Duel Deffere vs. Ribiere
It was between two politicians elected in the parliament, one had insulted the other, the weapon is the épée, you can see some of the fight on the video.
It was a first-blood duel, yet the offended asked to continue the fight after he received the first hit (in the forearm), the referee stopped the duel after the second hit.
And last but not least, the offended was getting married the day after the fight.
It makes you realize how different politicians are now...
He likes to describe things as "very different beasts", doesn't he?
utterly*
"[In the 19th century] there were only a couple of parts really of Europe where duelling happened with any regularity, and even there it was very rare, the two places being France and Italy."
There was also still a lot of duelling going on in German fraternities in the 19th century and well into the 20th century, and in some places even today, although by the late 19th century the rules had strongly ritualised and had little to do with competitive fencing (although the goal was and is still to draw blood).
Fencing is still really popular in most german fraternities, atleast the ones i got to know in southern germany.
Hi, thanks for this very interesting video! I just wanted to point out that in German thrust-fencing of the 18th to 19th century yet another type of practice weapon was used: the Stoßrappier (the word is derived from "Stoß-Raufdegen" from something like "rough smallsword for thrusting "; do not confuse with Rapier which derives from "spada ropera"). The blade of this weapon closely resembled a blunted Mensur blade (diamond or lense cross section) with a dish guard. The weight is close to the epee.
When it is true, the epee with sharp point for Stoßmensur/ thrust Mensur was by german students called ,Pariser', which is today something rather different ;-).
Thank you for the video.
It's so sad that the rapier fell victim to technology and fashion and had such a short lifespan as such many people both on the katana cultist and HEMA circles mistake the rapier for a foil/epee.
Thank you for putting these in simple terms even someone like me can understand! This was very helpful information for figuring out what weapons to use for when the story I'm writing takes place.
I got a pair of epee style duelling swords today. Brass hilts with a smallsword-esque design, rectangular blade dimensions and very, very pointy. I did a few tests with them just to see how they were in terms of thrusting potential, and the damn things go right through thick cloth! Wouldn't want to get into a fight with them, I imagine they could actually pierce quite deep into a person's body, perhaps even be lethal. But they're astoundingly light and having two of them is a neat little bonus.
Thanks for clarifying the differences between these types of swords.
I recently saw the movie The Great Race with one of my friends. There's a duel in it where the duellists start out armed with foils, and after a while decide to switch to sabres.
Your ilk: Shad, Ian, slingshot guy etc - you are creating a ton of extra work for Dungeon Masters & pain for players. thanks.
i am sooo glad someone finely made this video so many people think they are the same!
Is it just me or are Rapiers the most beautiful swords ever? It's almost mesmerizing in how unprecedentedly deadly it is, like a wonderfully lit cloud with a great multitude of colors permeating through it that distracts you just long enough for a slender, electric finger of death to descend hastily on your benumbed noggin.
***** Damn! I knew I shouldn't have left the drama club!
emlmm88 If you think rapiers are beautiful, which I'd agree. I'd highly suggest that you look up an 'Italian Sides Sword variant'. I absolutely, hands down, LOVE that type of blade. The blade tapers, not only down the width of the blade, but the length as well. If I could describe what it is, I'd say that it's a medieval arming sword with the handle of a rapier. To me, it's the best of both worlds. You can cut limbs off, & still thrust like no tomorrow. Now, I'm not using hyperbole, or speaking 'softly' when I say that it can hack limbs. Pig carcass & tissue is one of the closest things relating to human flesh. I've seen it personally with my own eyes cut straight through a pig's stomach, chop the leg off, chop the snout off, & pierce it just as any rapier would. I'm a big straight blade guy. This blade was originally a military cut & thrust design in which was meant to build the gap of having a personal defense & elegant weapon, while also having that cutting ability. Personally, I'm a guy who likes options, I'd like to cut & lob limbs off, & pierce people, while having a beautiful European sword. Straight blades are the way to go IMHO. Hope you see what I'm talking about.
~Cheers
emlmm88 Are you a writer? HahaAlso I agree.
emlmm88 But what about katanas? And their 10,000 times folded nippon steel?
You have clearly never seen a proper schiavona or some smallswords.
I find it easier to brake down the "rapier" into two categories. The first being what I and others such as Mr. Leoni of the Order of the Seven Hearts term "Renaissance Rapiers", or designs which originated from the mid to late 1500s and early 1600s which are as you describe, weapons that cut relatively well but are optimized for the thrust. The swords from Meyer and Mair's manuals would fall into this category. Later "rapiers" which were invented in the later 1600s roughly corresponding to the Baroque period which are further optimized for the thrust to the point where limb removal really isn't possible even with a strong cut, and lacerations may only be given with slicing and raking actions, effectively limiting the target areas to the hands, throat, groin and face, may be appropriately named "Baroque Rapiers". While these weapons existed and were popular beyond the periods of their invention I find this a helpful division for explaining what a weapon can do with its name. The swords from Fabris and Giganti's manuals would fall into this category.
The works of Fabris and Giganti were both originally published in 1606 though, and thus fall outside of Tom Leoni's Baroque Rapier definition. Meyer's rappier is more akin to what Matt refers to as a sidesword, also treated of by the various Bolognese masters.
Moricant This is correct, and the periodization terms co-opted by Mr. Leoni, which originated from studies of art and culture, don't match up perfectly with the origins and designs of the weapons. The problem lies in the fact that the word "rapier" in its various spellings, is used for swords which other masters called sideswords, as well as later weapons, and historical terminology doesn't give us a convenient delineation. The alternative of having everyone use the historical terminology requires constant uses extra contextual explanations such as "Meyer's rappier, which is essentially the same weapon as the spada da lato of the Bolognese tradition, and is a transitional weapon capable of severing hands, heads, and delivering other powerful cleaving strikes while being more optimized than other contemporary swords for thrust centric fencing..." is terribly inconvenient to have to say to every person you meet. Unfortunately the problem with Mr. Leoni's system is that it also has to be explained, and isn't perfectly historically accurate. Unfortunately, I've yet to see a better solution.
One of the last duels in Italy involved a journalist who challenged Mussolini to a sabre duel in 1915, Mussolini won and inflicted him several wounds before the duel was stopped.
Interesting. Mussolini is usually considered a goofball but I guess he was a goofball who could hold his own in an edged weapons fight.
*****
I guess that's very possible too.
***** In 1915 Mussolini was just a politician. Could still have been an arranged duel.
77jarim
It looks like his fencing skills were one of the few things who stopped him to being humiliated by other more capable politicians back then, if someone pointed out how stupid his statements were he would challenge them to a duel, and back then winning the duel meant also winning the argument.
Thiago Kurovski It would be fun if politicians still settled their score with a duel instead of haunting news and talk shows.
I want to say that I find your talks very educational. Keep it up. I'm learning a lot about how varied sword have been, in regards to shape form and function.
I am so glad to see this video now.
This is a game changer. That means that a very light thrust weapon like the small sword is able to present a deadly weaopon. I always thought the metal wouldn't withstand human bones etc...
Could you do a video on Halberd-Type polearms?
I own a number of rapiers from Arms & Armor, they are fairly accurate reproductions as well as sport fencing weapons (foil/epee/saber). Friends and acquaintances are surprised when they first pick the rapiers up; they always remark that it's much heavier than they imagined. They are also very surprised when the see the correct techniques & context within which rapiers are used, e.g. finding the sword, single time parries, etc.. I blame those Errol Flynn type swashbuckling movies (where the blades used on weapons are fencing blades) for transmitting and perpetuating misinformation.
scholarapiertoria
katana is the strongest sword, its known to cut cannons in half
It is also known to shoot fireballs.
It's also known to be able to store and play popular music.
Glorious Nippon Steel! XD
lanner95 Groots nipples heal
It is also a little known fact that Jesus carried a Katana and as a carpenter used it to make his own cross.
So in GoT, Arya Stark's "needle" (triangular blade) most closely resembles a "smallsword" then ?
Yes
Was just thinking this myself
The problem is: in some languages there is no word "foil". Foils are called rapiers, as well as rapiers. Hence the mish-mash.
Really appreciate this video. I've been wanting to know the differences.
I was just watching a friend playing Assassin's Creed (France) and they call the main sword a 'Foil'---needless to say, your video defends my side of the argument that ensued when I laughed at his game!
Évariste Galois was a French Mathematician who lived from 1811 to 1832. He had a duel with another person over a woman, and died. But the night before he wrote down all of his mathematics, creating Galois theory in a night, the night before he died.
So a 19th century dual to the death.
I'm just reading around the Peninsular wars...there's a very amusing account of honour 'behaviour' which neatly describes the difference between French and English culture.
Thanks for that video Matt, I must say the rapier looks quite the eloquent weapon compared to the aesthetics of many of the same period.
It gets even more confusing when you include swedish swords. We have a category for all cut and thrust swords including rapiers, cavalry swords, sideswords etc. I have a swedish cavalry swords that gets identified as a rapier despite being quite broad and as a saber despite clearly behaving in a totally different manner. The manuscript for it was rapier style fencing.
Extremely informative! Thank you :) I always wondered what the hell was going on with the Epee, it just seemed out of place and weird and now I know why :)
A very distant cousin of mine was involved in a duel in 1706 in Suffolk. Unfortunately it didn’t end well for him! It would be interesting to know what sort of swords you think were most likely used? My ancestor was a barrister, his opponent held the title ‘Captain’, so I’m guessing most likely an army Captain. Apparently the legal profession was a hot-bed of duelling in those days! Really enjoy you material btw, which I’ve been binge-watching recently 👍
I once owned a small sword made by cold steel, along with one of their rapiers. The rapier in the hand felt like it weighed twice as much as the small sword.
The "Italian" foil grip is a cute grip you don't see much anymore.
I do like thePappenheimer Rapier.
Cold Steel Cavalier Rapier is this type. It's fairly good for a reproduction.
The bevel on it is off though. No idea why Cold Steel did it like that.
It cannot maintain an edge. It can give some worrying cut,but it's a thruster alright.
And that is about 1049g( 2.3lbs). Which is still heavy.
OK! next time I get attacked by someone with a sword I'll keep that in mind.
I actualy had a hard time trying to translate those terms to spanish, so that's what I could find:
Foil -> Estoque
Epee -> Florete
Rapier -> Espada ropera
Can anyone confirm or refute that?
Huh. I do not know spanish but should really a foil have a name similar to an estoc? A weapon that is a lot heavier and sturdier. I believe epees are called florettes in swedish as well which seems right.
And regarding the rapier, check out his video on sideswords. It is a modern category for the transitionary weapon between an arming sword and a proper rapier, the term rapier is a bit of a misnomer as it sometimes referred to a sidesword. And I belive the sidesword is known as an espada ropera in spanish, it is called a spada de lato in italian these days.
Foil: Florete
Epee: Espadín
Rapier: Ropera
@@sheogorath979 Guess the rapier was the only one he got somewhat right
@@alcairr4934 yeah, understandable mistake, Spanish names for swords are a mess
@@sheogorath979
Yes, same in Portuguese
Foil: Florete
Epee: Espadim
Rapier: Roupeira/Rapieira (and I know that in Spanish it can also be Rapiera)
My father told me years ago when he was a little boy in the 1950's his grandfather (my great grandfather) remembered and told him a story about a duel in Puerto Rico when the Spanish still ruled over Puerto Rico. The duel was between two men fighting for the hand at marriage with the same girl. One had challenged the other to a duel for right to marry the girl they both desired. The was in a small rural village in Western Puerto Rico in Aguadilla. The men of the village agreed to allow the duel. They fought on a hill top with Machettes. The outcome of the duel I do not remember as my father has long since passed on. But it is a true story I thought to share. Keep in mind these were poor farmers a Sword or Pistol would most likely not be accessible. So bladed tools would be used.
Also, a request. You've done a number of videos on swords specialized for the thrust; I'm wondering if you plan to, or could, do a video on swords specialized for the cut.
Can you please do a video on "The Swords of the Conquistadors".... Ive tried to research this topic online and there doesnt seem to be a lot of information about them... These Mercenaries conquered two continents and the Caribbean and yet there is very little information about the types of swords they carried.... Since we are talking about 16th and 17th century Mediterranean arms im curious if you can provide some more details about the type, length, and hilt of the Swords carried by these men.....
Are you still interested?
The Conquistadors didn't conquer with swords, they conquered with smallpox.
Morrion, breastplate and shinguards were the usual armor. But spanish troops also adopted the native-american cloth armor because its multi-layered differential hardness composition was good against arquebus and musket rounds.
For melee weapons they had glaives, partizans, rapiers and small round shields.
And no, smallpox had nothing to do with the conquest of Mexico. The first account of smallpox in mexico came with Panfilo de Narvaez who arrived to arrest Cortez two and a half years after Cortez took Veracruz, when the last remaining defense of mexico was Cuitlahuac and his personal army of a couple thousand mexica vs Cortez' small remaining forces (under 300), Narvaez's defectors and 30K tlaxcalteca warriors.
Cortez conquered Mexico because the aztec were tirants who lost the favor of their neighbors, and because Tenochtitlan was a 2M people floating city completelly dependant on the currents of a couple rivers he could easily block. Smallpox as a biological weapon was used in the conquest of Peru and Chile, 6-10 years and millions of miles away from the fall of Tenochtitlan.
In 'Forged in fire' you can see a rapier cutting a pig's carcass in half.
I would say that rapier is the most evolved sword at all. Its still designed to kill but profits from "modern" technologies of craftsmanship. Everithing that comes latter was for massive use of light-trained guys or much mor "easy carry" than "easy kill" designed.
Krystof Mraz I wouldn't say that because like everything it depends on what context we are talking about. There's no ultimate sword. In a one on one unarmored duel with swords about Longsword length and lower, the Rapier is arguably one of the best weapons you could use. But the Rapier is nearly useless against armor, not very good against multiple opponents, not very good against polearms and I definitely wouldn't use one on a horse. A rapier is specialized for that specific situation and it is technological achievement...but it doesn't beat all other swords depending upon the situation. It's sort of like a rock, paper scissors thing with weapons.
Would you consider doing a short talk on the etiquette and code of conduct for first blood duels? Sounds like an interesting topic.
I understood that the rapier was the popular, generally carried weapon of gentlemen of the first half of the 17th century, to be replaced over several decades by the sabre, along with the influence of increased cavalry in military use. The epee and foil were merely used for athletics and some dueling, and the short sword was a poor man's daily walkabout weapon and an infantry weapon not held in the high social regard as the sabre.
Hey Matt, I've been curious for a while now. May I ask where did you take that rapier you're showing and that awesome main-gauche dagger you use in rapier and dagger videos?
Keep up the good work! Although I cannot see how someone could mistake a rapier for a smallsword or foil.. XD
Hi - they are both made by Hanwei. You can get them through many different sellers, such as Kult of Athena and The HEMA Shop.
Thank you very much:)
I'm sorry I did not see that someone had already asked the same question in the comments about the rapier though
This is epeec video...like epic...you get it? It was a pun...an epeec pun...
You're foil-ing yourself if you thought that was funny.
:P
opmdevil
sword boyyyyyyyyyyy
CUT it out
Actually a recent Royal Armouries vid on ECW referred to Rapiers as thin and delicate.
At 6:45 I thought he was going to start singing the chorus of "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel.
While my x5 Grandfather carried a Confederate Cavalry Sword (he was in the Texas Cavalry, Terry's Rangers from 1861 until his capture in 1864) but dont think he ever used it and carried about 4 revolvers. His Dad my x6 Grandfather was a Texas Ranger (which his son would do after the Civil War) was carrying a Colt Walker .44 in the 1840's. It just amazes me at the same time as revolvers the mass cavalry charge with swords was still going on in Europe. Seems like Europe didnt want to adopt and issue big revolvers and later lever action guns. Maybe because of tradition?
Maybe you already knew it, but fencing with epees was also quite famous in germany, until first blood and until today its totally legal to fence to first blood. It is quite famous among the university students, that are in fraternaties, that are politically more on the right side.
And sorry for any mistakes in the statement above, as you may guess I'm from germany.
Actually dueling was really common in 19th century Germany, especially with the so called academic Sabre and there is even a practice in german fraternities the so called Mensur. There are specialized Weapons and a special fighting style that ensures that nobody dies
Extremely informative as always! I was never certain of the difference, myself.
When Ryse Son of Rome comes out on PC in October will you play it? I have seen some gameplay footage and to my untrained eye the combat looks pretty authentic; it would be cool to hear your opinions on it.
10:08 Damn, we almost had a video without the 'that's the topic for another video' bit.
Anyway, thanks for the ликбез.
Matt, could you do a video/videos on the evolution of the duel, dueling weapons (firearms included), and the etiquette and its place in society?
Hey...Matt just flipped us off around 3:20...how dare he!!😅
+scholagladiatoria If rapiers and and small swords are identified by being specialized more toward the thrust, why are WWI era cavalry swords for both Great Britain and the U.S. often referred to as sabers even though they were straight, long and slender? Additionally, I believe the M1913 by George Patton was double edged.
Mark Suarez The British 1908 and American 1913 are not sabres, they are swords. They get called sabres wrongly, because lots of writers on swords in the 20thC classified things by hilt type, which is completely stupid really :-)
Now that we are at it with these weapons, could you maybe talk a bit about Mensur fencing and how that fits in with all these weapons.
Matt Easton brings it. This video is still great in 2020
In russian-influenced countries there is a very confusing diference to west-european terms.
Fencing foil is called "рапира" (rapier). Smallsword doesn`t exist as a separate term and is refered to (I belive) under the same name as epee (and well... as rapier too) - "шпага", which is a cyrillic transcription of the spanish word "spada".
Was the foil ever a real weapon before fencing? Or was it invented purely for the sport of fencing, and always only had a blunt ball-pointed tip?
Imagine being at the annual meeting of sword ponces and not knowing your foil from your epee. Scandalous i say!
I would love to see you do a video about the Koncerz. If you haven't already.
Great video! Quick question: is there any significant difference between an epee du combat and a smallsword other than grip style?
You can cut with the smallsword, not effectively but you can. You can't with an epee
@@susamogus5693 : But the pointed/ sharpened tip can give a scatch(?) similar to ,Schmiss' in german academic fencing, when uncoveted skin is touched.
Thanks bro,just love the history of edged weapons..
Have you ever reviewed a colichemarde?
I’d imagine any such duels that resulted in death were very much kept hush hush!
I'm going to have to hunt down the source for this but two men in New Orleans perhaps seconds before the US Civil War were to fight a duel and one of them insisted that they should fight to the death. So the other guy showed up at the agreed place with a rifle and shot him as he approached. The victim didn't die and they reconciled afterward.
There were plenty of duels to the death in the 19th century of which there are a LOT of examples.... well, in America. ;)
How about the Germanic college dueling as seen in 'The Student Prince'. As I remember that was Heidelberg. There apparently the goal was to inflict a facial scar. Was that a regular saber or was it a specialized dueling sword? It had to have been a sword with at least some cutting capability. Thrusting at the face for sport would lead to a lot of blind students.
+Patrick Boyle : Thrusting would also lead to a lot of dead students :-D
A student duel was (and is -- they are still conducted) is fought with a specialized weapons (_Schläger_). It's blunt (no point) but razor sharp (which actually produces _less_ of a scar) and may have either a basket or a bell guard.
Ah, a CAS Hanwei, practical rapier. Got one myself in a 37" blade.
using an epee blade for smallsword fencing makes sense, if you are trying to simulate life and death combat with a real smallsword, but if you want to simulate the training they did, the the foil is more realistic.
Regarding later-period Duelling, would you include Prussia and Austria-Hungary as having a continuing Duelling culture?
e.g Bismark and his University Duelling scars.
maximuslaurius Yes, I forgot the mensurfechten tradition.
scholagladiatoria It's amazing how late it went on; there are pictures of young upper-class Prussian officers in WW2 with duelling scars!
scholagladiatoria
I don´t think mensurfechten and duelling can be seen synonymously. While a duell is a result of a precedent offence mensurfechten is a traditional and reglemented melee still practiced today.
maximuslaurius
It is still a thing.
germanvisitor2 wow, that's pretty cool..
The foil looks like a car antenna with a guard attached.
Brilliant - thanks for curing my ignorance 😁
foil was a training weapon for swords when they were used and still is, the descendant of the rapier is the epee
Oof, yes to the first part, the foil is the practice weapon of the smallsword, correct. However, the 18th-19th century rules for foil fencing were a bit different - no 'right of way' for example. The epee and the rapier are not very closely related at all - the epee is the practice weapon of.... the epee de combat, which is a type of smallsword used for first blood duels in France during the 19th century. The rapier is very very different and is a much larger and heavier cut and thrust weapon. Look at examples of rapiers on the Wallace Collection website for example - they frequently weigh over 1000g and have cutting edges.
comparing with these other swords the rapier seems very bulky which is strange because popular media picture the rapier as a small and fragile weapon
One of the problems might be the differences in the names of swords in different languages. For example, in Russian a foil is called a rapier, while an epee is called a shpaga, which comes from spada and generally means a whole class of swords that includes rapiers, smallswords and probably even sideswords. Then there's German with its Degen, which can mean both epee in sports fencing and any thrusting sword of the Renaissance and Modern eras in a historical context. They do have a separate name for the foil, though.
Foil is in german: Florett.
interestingly enough as the smallsword developed the edge was intentionally removed so people wouldn't try to cut with because as you said it's a thrusting weapon although I'm pretty sure it was usually more square than triangular at least since that development
+Alex Neeley You seem to have a better understanding of the timeline so I'll take your word for it regarding the shape of the blade I just thought it seemed a little off at first.
+Alex Neeley Did you really answer your own comment?
+Alex Neeley Did you really answer your own comment?
so what's in between a smallsword and a saber? I'm tryna stretch out one corner of the triangle blade enough that I can cut with it. maybe just a leaf
I was thinking about what epee is and I realized it's kord in my language. I always thought kord is international word, so I understand now why people don't understand me if I say kord. :-D My Czech sources saying rapier is just civil version of epee for duels and epee is for military use but it should look both almost same. Interesting is that sources saying Bohemia kingdom was one of the biggest and first producers of epees already in late gothic time and that is the reason why we have our own name for this type of sword and almost all world using variations of French name. It's interesting because sources in English saying epees and rapiers are developed in around year 1500 in Spain, but Czech sources saying that type of sword was here already in early 15th century. But we were part of holy roman empire, so maybe non Czech sources consider it German
8:06 - "I should mention at this POINT"
i know that there was a number of american fatal duels in america during the 19th century. I think from memory it was around the 1880's it became socially unpopular. Yet in saying that i don't remember them being swords, mainly dueling pistols after around the 1750's. I however where the sword was more idolized by military than civilian society it seems likely that there would be some form of sword duel even if undocumented.
i use a smallsword some times and it does have one that does cut
I'm very late on this episode but are there a whole lot of differences between French and Spanish styles of fencing or is there no difference at all? Do you have a preference of the two different styles of fencing?
I believe President Jackson died in a duel. A handgun duel, but eh. Close enough.
Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel by Aaron Burr. Jackson died at an old age of 78.
So why are epees and foils so often misidentified as rapiers?
biohazard724 Perhaps because many old films used forms of epee instead of rapiers.
biohazard724 Because most regular people never find out that they are different weapons, and just assume that they are synonyms for the same piece of steel.
SweGunner71 or because most people think a sword is a sword and assume anything with two edges and a cross hilt is a broad sword, that anything bigger than the wielder is a greatsword/claymore, and anything tiny is a rapier. and then there's the katana which everyone knows.
+crwydryny Well not everyone. My father would refer to a katana as "one of them there samurai weapons".
scholagladiatoria Would most people even know the words "foil" and "epee"?
+scholagladiatoria What we saw that Guy Williams used in the TV show Zorro, was a variation of an epee? And another question: what kind of sword are the Radaelli and the Pecoraro?
Where does "cutting you down to size" fit into this evolution?
I dont understand how 2 grown adults consenting to duel over some underlined reason are not aloud to do so.
Learned something new everyday, had no idea Small swords are complete different from short swords. Those adjective really do make the sword i see.
to my (very limited) understanding 'short sword' is not an actual type of sword.
David Ducker genre of swords?
DtWolfwood
Apparently 'short sword' is not a historical term used to describe any type of sword - I think it came from D&D.
Justin Grainger The term "short sword" predates D&D. I recall using it no later than the early '70s, generally to refer to the gladius or something similar. Generally it indicated any straight sword shorter than about two feet.
*****
that was my thought as well. but i am far from an expert.
So let me get this straight. Arming sword -> sidesword < basket hilted broadsword, back swords, on one end, rapiers, smallsword, and foils on the other end of the evolutionary spilt?
Pretty much. :-)
Yep.
Are there such things as foils that have true blades, Something that resembles a smallsword?
Hello matt, would it be possible in a later video to talk about bronze age weapons since there isn't many that cross the subject on youtube, i know lindybeige talks a bit about them and skallagrim does a review on a khopesh he owns but i would like to know hear what you have to say about them. Thank you
12 and a half minutes of Genius.
And what about techinique similarity. What is closer to historical smallsword, modern epee or foil?
Silly question, but in the Disney Zorro series of the late 1950's I was shocked to see they were just useing modern sport Sabers. What kind of sword would Zorro and the Conmandant really be using in 1820 California?
Three possibilities: 1) Military Saber. 2) Smallsword, when being member of former spanish upper class. 3) Remaining ( non scraped) Rapiers.