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.
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. th-cam.com/video/nB8tiSMCwRE/w-d-xo.html Funny thing rewatching this older movies is that they always have fencing sabre blades mounted on semi-period appropriate hilts th-cam.com/video/fFoLmhIgIxM/w-d-xo.html
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.
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...
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.
"[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).
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ;-).
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.
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.
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...
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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 👍
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.
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?
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
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.
What fighting systems / styles where used for these weapons? Or what method do you teach in deploying these in Martial Arts. Also do you have a self defence Street method's relating to walking canes or short clubs or fist loaded weapons. Example (Japan) Katana or Wakizashi = kenjitsu , Iaido etc (Philippine) Ginunting or Talibong = Kali, Eskrima etc.
Are you asking what the name of the art these are supposed to be used with is called, or if there was some sort of martial art designed for European weapons such as these in the first place? If the first one, then that gets a bit complicated, since codified names like "Kenjutsu" or "Escrima" are basically just whatever term locals would use to refer to something along the lines of "So-and-so's art of defense" in the local language. (ex: "KenJUtsu" = "Way of [wielding] the sword", "Escrima" being short for "[way of using the] Stick", to "Fence" = "Art of [De]fence", etc.) Because of this, it's really hard to give you a consistent answer I could give you aside from "Fencing" with whatever desired master's name attached, unless you knew specifically what you wanted. :P (Not to be confused with Modern/Sport Fencing) If interested, try checking either Google or HEMA ("Historical European Martial Arts") circles by weapon type. There's all sorts of wonderful yet semi-obscure masters in the period of the rapier through that of the smallsword, as well as much earlier periods! :) If the latter, then of course! There's just as many equally-sophisticated martial arts native to Europe as there are from Asia. Most differences between arts are really just superfluous once you get past aesthetics and whatever ratio of striking & wrestling it prefers to emphasize. For example, the German longsword schools like the Liechtenauer-tradition tend to be incredibly similar to Japanese Kenjutsu styles. Hope that helped :)
Straight double edged (or sometimes triple edged) one handed swords from the renaissance period and forwards were generally used in the same method which is sometimes called "rapier fencing" as the rapier specializes in that style and it became known as that historically. The brits have their own ideas though or so it seems, focusing more on cuts than the italian tradition.
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?
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.
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!
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
scholagladiatoria Question: is it common for rapiers to not have an edge? Or would it then classify that sword as another type, and in which case, what kind?
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.
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?
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?
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.
been reading a lot on facebook lately about the snake rapier a 19th century made flexible sword (i would not call it a rapier) in a snake like round necklace. discusion on how deadly it is or is not because of it flexibility . any toughts on this perticular sword?
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.
Looking at assembling a few inexpensive small sword substitutes (for training) . What about the triangular (modern) epee blade mounted in sabre hilt (again modern). What do you think ?
The usual simulator for modern smallsword training is an epee blade with a foil hilt. The foil hilt is the most similar to a smallsword hilt - the Italian foil hilt is even better if you can get one. Epee guards are way too massive and sabre hilts are just the wrong shape as well as being too big.
An estoc is a form of longsword. It is a hand and a half sword designed for thrusting. Very much for using in a half schwert style. Used by armoured knights and the like. A rapier is a one handed long dueling weapon.
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?
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 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.
Can you tell me about the term "claymore"? I've heard it to refer to giant Scottish two handed monster swords, and basket-hilted one handed swords. Are they both correct, or which one is wrong?
abnunga Haha, one of the age-old questions. People are still undecided on the wrong and the right - in my view both are correct, for different time periods. Fact is that the term was applied to big twohanders at one time and basket-hilted one-handers at a later time.
abnunga it's an Anglicisation of claidheamh mor which just means 'big sword', so potentially it could apply to any sword that was big in comparison to other common swords of the time, hence the uncertainty.
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.
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.
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.
Can you tell something about celtic swords. It is so hard to find any information about it. Ptolemaos, Caesar and polybius write each different stories.
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 am a martial arts and combat enthusiast and in movies or tv shows I plan to create I put great detail when creating them. All of my fictional martial artists have elements of parkour in their style. In my opinion parkour the missing element to all martial arts. I don't know how you feel about that but what do you think? Also all of them are mostly hand to hand combat fights. I do use weapons but most of them are more modern uses like sticks, canes, knives, axes, normal day objects etc. But in my fantasy movie or tv show (i'm undecided) I create different cultures based off of real ones like Game of Thrones and would like your suggestions to my characters warfare and martial arts styles. Do you have an email and, or skype so I may discuss my ideas if you don't mind. Your channel bad-ass and I never stop learning. Don't ever stop unless you have too. I'm in chicago in the state of illinois so i'm unable to attend most accurate hema schools because their in europe. In general all martial arts in general are hard to train in because you have to travel to the country for its true origins and find the authentic arts whether that be realistic and practical defense and, or traditional arts.
Calvin Kary If it was kept on a wall so he could look at it and go "huh, that's kinda cool" once in a while, that would make sense.If he ever practiced with it in any form of sparring or competition, then he wouldn't want to fix the tip, because that would cause some serious damage.
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
scholagladiatoria Okay...So, the Foil was a practice Sword fro the Small Sword, And, the Epee for an adaption on that later. I think I got that (thought a foil and an epee were basically the same thing previous to this video)...But, was there a practice sword for the Rapier?
Joseph Swetnam mentions foiled rapiers in his 1617 text - the point is blunted by the addition of a metal button, and it is then padded with a leather ball.
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.
Which is more deadlier weapon epee or rapier? Epee is faster and lighter, so doesn't that mean that it is better weapon if you want to use thrust attack? (modified epee, not what they use in sport fencing)
Echimide The rapier is longer and being heavier can dominate the epee in the bind. However yes an epee (smallsword) is quicker. The thing with the epee/smallsword though is that it is really specialised to only oppose another epee/smallsword - if it comes up against a sabre or backsword (or something like a halberd) then it is in trouble, whereas a rapier is big and heavy enough to still be able to fight against battlefield weapons.
scholagladiatoria Ok. I think that my real question is this: What would happen if you make rapiers blade more thinner (so that is more like epee) You probably coudn't block as well but it would behave more quiqkly.
I have a problem after watching this video: so the dueling sword then in France wasn't the smallsword but the epee de combat (if I don't misspell)? And what's the difference between them?
The blades are essentially the same, but the epee de combat usually has a hilt like a foil, whilst the smallsword has a hilt like.... well like a smallsword. However, the main difference was in their application - smallsword duels were often to the death or incapacitation. Epee de combat duels were generally to first blood.
Imagine the épée in this video with a sharp point. That's a "dueling sword." (Épée du combat.) A smallsword generally had a more complex hilt, a slightly shorter blade (28-32 inches as opposed to 34-35 inches) and didn't necessarily have to have a hollow ground triangular sectioned blade. (AKA, "fluted" blade.) Some smallswords had flat or colichemarde blades.
![[Part 1] ทารกน้อยถูกทิ้ง👶 หญิงชราเก็บขวดขายเลี้ยงดูเขาจนโต #โลกการละคร](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nPTDvFCExks/mqdefault.jpg)
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.
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.
th-cam.com/video/nB8tiSMCwRE/w-d-xo.html
Funny thing rewatching this older movies is that they always have fencing sabre blades mounted on semi-period appropriate hilts
th-cam.com/video/fFoLmhIgIxM/w-d-xo.html
He likes to describe things as "very different beasts", doesn't he?
utterly*
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.
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...
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.
"[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.
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.
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.
Could you do a video on Halberd-Type polearms?
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.
i am sooo glad someone finely made this video so many people think they are the same!
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.
Your ilk: Shad, Ian, slingshot guy etc - you are creating a ton of extra work for Dungeon Masters & pain for players. thanks.
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.
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 ;-).
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.
Really appreciate this video. I've been wanting to know the differences.
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..
So in GoT, Arya Stark's "needle" (triangular blade) most closely resembles a "smallsword" then ?
Yes
Was just thinking this myself
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...
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
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 👍
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.
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?
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?
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
Have you ever reviewed a colichemarde?
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.
scholarapiertoria
Would you consider doing a short talk on the etiquette and code of conduct for first blood duels? Sounds like an interesting topic.
And what about techinique similarity. What is closer to historical smallsword, modern epee or foil?
Do you have a tomatoe plant growing behind you?
What fighting systems / styles where used for these weapons?
Or what method do you teach in deploying these in Martial Arts.
Also do you have a self defence Street method's relating to walking canes or short clubs or fist loaded weapons.
Example
(Japan)
Katana or Wakizashi = kenjitsu , Iaido etc
(Philippine)
Ginunting or Talibong = Kali, Eskrima etc.
Are you asking what the name of the art these are supposed to be used with is called, or if there was some sort of martial art designed for European weapons such as these in the first place?
If the first one, then that gets a bit complicated, since codified names like "Kenjutsu" or "Escrima" are basically just whatever term locals would use to refer to something along the lines of "So-and-so's art of defense" in the local language. (ex: "KenJUtsu" = "Way of [wielding] the sword", "Escrima" being short for "[way of using the] Stick", to "Fence" = "Art of [De]fence", etc.)
Because of this, it's really hard to give you a consistent answer I could give you aside from "Fencing" with whatever desired master's name attached, unless you knew specifically what you wanted. :P (Not to be confused with Modern/Sport Fencing)
If interested, try checking either Google or HEMA ("Historical European Martial Arts") circles by weapon type. There's all sorts of wonderful yet semi-obscure masters in the period of the rapier through that of the smallsword, as well as much earlier periods! :)
If the latter, then of course! There's just as many equally-sophisticated martial arts native to Europe as there are from Asia.
Most differences between arts are really just superfluous once you get past aesthetics and whatever ratio of striking & wrestling it prefers to emphasize. For example, the German longsword schools like the Liechtenauer-tradition tend to be incredibly similar to Japanese Kenjutsu styles.
Hope that helped :)
Straight double edged (or sometimes triple edged) one handed swords from the renaissance period and forwards were generally used in the same method which is sometimes called "rapier fencing" as the rapier specializes in that style and it became known as that historically. The brits have their own ideas though or so it seems, focusing more on cuts than the italian tradition.
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
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?
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.
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.
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!
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
scholagladiatoria
Question: is it common for rapiers to not have an edge? Or would it then classify that sword as another type, and in which case, what kind?
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.
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.
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
Thanks bro,just love the history of edged weapons..
The "Italian" foil grip is a cute grip you don't see much anymore.
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.
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?
Which one do you prefer?
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.
been reading a lot on facebook lately about the snake rapier a 19th century made flexible sword (i would not call it a rapier) in a snake like round necklace. discusion on how deadly it is or is not because of it flexibility . any toughts on this perticular sword?
Are there such things as foils that have true blades, Something that resembles a smallsword?
Actually a recent Royal Armouries vid on ECW referred to Rapiers as thin and delicate.
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.
Looking at assembling a few inexpensive small sword substitutes (for training) . What about the triangular (modern) epee blade mounted in sabre hilt (again modern). What do you think ?
The usual simulator for modern smallsword training is an epee blade with a foil hilt. The foil hilt is the most similar to a smallsword hilt - the Italian foil hilt is even better if you can get one. Epee guards are way too massive and sabre hilts are just the wrong shape as well as being too big.
Thank you , I'll search for them in the local universities's fencing club.
Another question - What's the difference between an Estoc and a Rapier?
I believe that the estoc by definition has a different guard (a cruciform one) and the blades are much much stiffer than rapiers
An estoc is a form of longsword. It is a hand and a half sword designed for thrusting. Very much for using in a half schwert style. Used by armoured knights and the like. A rapier is a one handed long dueling weapon.
Aside the above mentioned differences,Estocs also have no edge(from what I've heard)
10:08 Damn, we almost had a video without the 'that's the topic for another video' bit.
Anyway, thanks for the ликбез.
The problem is: in some languages there is no word "foil". Foils are called rapiers, as well as rapiers. Hence the mish-mash.
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?
WHAT THE BEST RAPIER IN AMAZON TO BUY?????
So how different are the styles of "fencing with each sword? I know the touch rules are different
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 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)
Where does "cutting you down to size" fit into this evolution?
Can you tell me about the term "claymore"? I've heard it to refer to giant Scottish two handed monster swords, and basket-hilted one handed swords. Are they both correct, or which one is wrong?
abnunga Haha, one of the age-old questions. People are still undecided on the wrong and the right - in my view both are correct, for different time periods. Fact is that the term was applied to big twohanders at one time and basket-hilted one-handers at a later time.
Thanks! Good to know :)
abnunga it's an Anglicisation of claidheamh mor which just means 'big sword', so potentially it could apply to any sword that was big in comparison to other common swords of the time, hence the uncertainty.
Would you review the famous duel from The Princess Bride?
Is it the light reflecting on the blade or is your rapier bent?
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.
So in Fencing which sword would be classified closest to the Rapier.. (Epee, Foil or Sabre)
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.
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.
was that foil actualy made in the 19th century? how much is it worth?
is it possible if a smallsword to have a sharpened three sided type blade like some knives have an such?
Could you imagine trying to line that up though? I don't think it woukd be very effective at cutting.
Can you tell something about celtic swords. It is so hard to find any information about it. Ptolemaos, Caesar and polybius write each different stories.
Matt Easton brings it. This video is still great in 2020
I would love to see you do a video about the Koncerz. If you haven't already.
Ah, a CAS Hanwei, practical rapier. Got one myself in a 37" blade.
Imagine being at the annual meeting of sword ponces and not knowing your foil from your epee. Scandalous i say!
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 am a martial arts and combat enthusiast and in movies or tv shows I plan to create I put great detail when creating them. All of my fictional martial artists have elements of parkour in their style. In my opinion parkour the missing element to all martial arts. I don't know how you feel about that but what do you think? Also all of them are mostly hand to hand combat fights. I do use weapons but most of them are more modern uses like sticks, canes, knives, axes, normal day objects etc. But in my fantasy movie or tv show (i'm undecided) I create different cultures based off of real ones like Game of Thrones and would like your suggestions to my characters warfare and martial arts styles. Do you have an email and, or skype so I may discuss my ideas if you don't mind. Your channel bad-ass and I never stop learning. Don't ever stop unless you have too. I'm in chicago in the state of illinois so i'm unable to attend most accurate hema schools because their in europe. In general all martial arts in general are hard to train in because you have to travel to the country for its true origins and find the authentic arts whether that be realistic and practical defense and, or traditional arts.
What did you do to your rapier? I would fix that tip if I were you.
Calvin Kary If it was kept on a wall so he could look at it and go "huh, that's kinda cool" once in a while, that would make sense.If he ever practiced with it in any form of sparring or competition, then he wouldn't want to fix the tip, because that would cause some serious damage.
I’d imagine any such duels that resulted in death were very much kept hush hush!
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
Dear Matt,
What are your thoughts on the anime series Sword Art Online (SAO)?
Thunderbolt22A10 I'm afraid that I don't know anything about it.
Lol nice try
Caius Nair #Weeaboosrepresent
What's the difference between an epee du combat and a smallsword?
Is your short sword bent toward the end?
scholagladiatoria
Okay...So, the Foil was a practice Sword fro the Small Sword, And, the Epee for an adaption on that later. I think I got that (thought a foil and an epee were basically the same thing previous to this video)...But, was there a practice sword for the Rapier?
Joseph Swetnam mentions foiled rapiers in his 1617 text - the point is blunted by the addition of a metal button, and it is then padded with a leather ball.
So basically, the practice rapier was a rapier.
***** Yes... a blunt rapier with a padded ball on the end.
scholagladiatoria (the padded ball is to prevent injury to the eyes, as they didn't have fencing masks then)
scholagladiatoria
When did they get fencing masks?
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.
Which is more deadlier weapon epee or rapier? Epee is faster and lighter, so doesn't that mean that it is better weapon if you want to use thrust attack? (modified epee, not what they use in sport fencing)
Echimide The rapier is longer and being heavier can dominate the epee in the bind. However yes an epee (smallsword) is quicker. The thing with the epee/smallsword though is that it is really specialised to only oppose another epee/smallsword - if it comes up against a sabre or backsword (or something like a halberd) then it is in trouble, whereas a rapier is big and heavy enough to still be able to fight against battlefield weapons.
scholagladiatoria
Ok. I think that my real question is this: What would happen if you make rapiers blade more thinner (so that is more like epee) You probably coudn't block as well but it would behave more quiqkly.
I have a problem after watching this video: so the dueling sword then in France wasn't the smallsword but the epee de combat (if I don't misspell)? And what's the difference between them?
The blades are essentially the same, but the epee de combat usually has a hilt like a foil, whilst the smallsword has a hilt like.... well like a smallsword. However, the main difference was in their application - smallsword duels were often to the death or incapacitation. Epee de combat duels were generally to first blood.
Imagine the épée in this video with a sharp point. That's a "dueling sword." (Épée du combat.)
A smallsword generally had a more complex hilt, a slightly shorter blade (28-32 inches as opposed to 34-35 inches) and didn't necessarily have to have a hollow ground triangular sectioned blade. (AKA, "fluted" blade.) Some smallswords had flat or colichemarde blades.
Thanks for your replies!
scholagladiatoria So training and convention lead you to utilize your blade in a less lethal fashion, I take it to mean.
Michael Eversberg II Could you perhaps clarify what you mean by that? What you wrote doesn't make much sense.