The Rapier: Examining Problems in Etymology and Typology

Rob Runacres

doi:10.36950/apd-2026-002

Articles

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2024)

The Rapier: Examining Problems in Etymology and Typology

Rob Runacres^▸^▾

Article

Submitted: January 15, 2025
Published: 2026-05-11

Abstract

Modern rapier typologies have defined the current scholarly definition of the rapier and related weapons. Much of this understanding is derived from three authors: A.V.B. Norman, Claude Blair and Ewart Oakeshott. However, these typologies face challenges when examined in detail, in particular when examined with the etymology of the word rapier. This article examines Norman, Blair and Oakeshott’s interpretations and reconsiders the emergence of the term rapier, arguing that the history of the term and the modern understanding of development of the weapon do not necessarily correlate.

References

Agocchie, Giovanni dall’, Dell’Arte Di Scrimia Libri Tre (Tamborino, 1572)
Balsac, Robert de, La nef des princes et des batailles de noblesse avec aultres enseignemens (Balsarin, 1502)
Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Biblioteca Patrimonial Digital, Ms. 151
Bauer, Johan Jacob, Bibliotheca Librorum Rariorum Universalis, vol. 6 (Bauer, 1774)
Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de, Discours sur les duels de Brantôme (Librarie des Bibliophiles, 1887)
Calendar of State Papers Foreign: Elizabeth, Volume 4, 1561-1562, ed. by Joseph Stevenson (H.M.S.O, 1866)
A catalogue of the libraries of John De Pesters (1757)
A Catalogue of the Library of Harvard University, vol. 2 (Metcalf, 1830)
Clichtove, Josse, Hier beginnen seer schoone christelijcke ende euangelische sermoone[n] (Rolents, 1555)
Curius, Petrus, Pappa rerum maxime vulgarium congesta per locos in puerorum gratiam (Hillenius, 1538)
Eppendorf, Heinrich, Römischer Historien Bekürtzung (Schotten, 1536)
Grassi, Giacomo di, Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'Arme (Ziletti, 1570)
——, Di Grassi, His True Arte of Defence (Jaggard, 1594)
Gunterrodt, Heinrich von, De Veris Principiis Artis Dimicatoriae (Welack, 1579)
——, A short treatise on the true principles of combat, written for the most illustrious prince John, duke of Mecklenburg, ed. and trans. by Bert Gevaert (Freelance Academy Press, 2014)
Haym, Nicola Francesco, Biblioteca italiana ossia Notizia de' libri rari italiani, vol. 4 (Silvestri, 1803)
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 3, 1519-1523, ed. by J. S. Brewer (H.M.S.O., 1867)
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 14 Part 2, August-December 1539, ed. by James Gairdner and R H Brodie (H.M.S.O., 1895)
Lille, Archives du Nord, B 1703, fo 100 ds IGLF
Marc, François, Decisiones Aureae in sacro Delphinatus… (Fontana, 1561)
Marozzo, Achille, Arte dell'armi di Achille Marozzo Bolognese (Pinargenti, 1567)
McBane, Donald, The Expert Sword-man's Companion: Or The True Art of Self-defence (Duncan, 1728)
Medhurst, Walter Henry, An English and Japanese, and Japanese and English vocabulary (Batavia, 1830)
Meyer, Joachim, The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570, trans. by Jeffrey L. Forgeng (Greenhill, 2006)
Michel, Jean, Le mistère de la passion iesuscrist (Driard, 1490)
——, Le Mystère de la Passion (Angers 1486) ed. by Omer Jodogne (Gembloux, 1959)
Le Morte Arthur: Edited from the Harleian Ms. 2252 in the British Museum, ed. by Frederick James Furnivall (Macmillan, 1864)
Mondschein, Ken, ‘The Italian Schools of Fencing: Art, Science, and Pedagogy’, in Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books, Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries), ed. by Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, and Timothy Dawson (Brill, 2016), pp. 280-323
Morrison, Robert A dictionary of the Chinese language, in three parts (East India Press, 1815), vol. 1
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod.icon. 393, vol. 2 (Paulus Hector Mair, Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica)
Murner, Thomas, Ein worhafftigs verantworten der hochgelorten doctores vnd herren, die zů Baden vff der disputation gewesen sint vor den xij (Weißenburger, 1526)
Osmont, Jean Baptiste L., Dictionnaire typographique, historique et critique des livres rares, vol. 1 (Lacombe, 1768)
Ranconnet, Aymar de, Thresor de la Langue Francoyse (Douceur, 1606)
Rieger, Urban, Argument dises biechleins: Symon Hessus zeygt an Doctori Martino Luther ursach… (Grimm und Wirsung, 1521)
Silver, George, Paradoxes of Defence (Blount, 1599)
Simeoni, Gabriele, Princelijcke deuijsen ofte wapenen van M. Claude Paradyn (Silvius, 1563)
‘Sir Francis Burdett, Bart. M.P. for Westminster’, The Albion 25 December 1824
Stow, John, Annales, or, a generall chronicle of England (Adams, 1614)
Vigne, André de La, Le vergier d’honneur nouvellement imprime a paris. De l’entreprise et voyage de Napples (Le Dru, 1502)
Wés, Giles Du, An Introductorie for to Lerne to Read, To Pronounce, and to Speke French Trewly (Hill, 1533)
Anglo, Sydney, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (Yale University Press, 2000)
Blair, Claude, European & American Arms, c. 1100-1850 (Bonanza Books, 1962)
Bruhn Hoffmeyer, Ada, ‘From Mediaeval Sword to Renaissance Rapier’, Gladius, II (1963), pp. 5-68
Cange, Charles Du Fresne, Sieur Du, Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis (Osmont, 1773), vol. 5
Capwell, Tobias, The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe (Holberton, 2012)
Castle, Egerton, Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century (Bell, 1892)
The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons, ed. by Leonid Tarassuk and Claude Blair (Simon and Schuster, 1982)
Domínguez, F., ‘El Manuscrito de las “Coplas de la Panadera” de la Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular de Sevilla’, Hispanófila, 90 (1987), pp. 81–98
Easton, Matt, ‘What makes a sword a RAPIER?’, Schola Gladiatoria (2023) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wECWKN_Raw> [accessed 31 October 2024]
Fallows, Noel, ‘Against the Arabs: Propaganda and Paradox in Medieval Castille’ in Medieval Iberia: Changing Societies and Cultures in Contact and Transition, ed. by Ivy A. Corfis and Ray Harris-Northall (Tamesis, 2007), pp. 57-69, doi:10.1515/9781846155703
‘framea’, Latinium <https://latinitium.com/latin-dictionaries/?t=lsn18701> [accessed 12 December 2024]
Gay, Victor, Glossaire archéologique du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance (Librairie de la société bibliographique, 1928)
Gevaert, Bert, and Reinier van Noort, ‘Evolution of Martial Tradition in the Low Countries: Fencing Guilds and Treatises’, in Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books, Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries), ed. by Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, and Timothy Dawson (Brill, 2016), pp. 376-409
Hallander, Jane, ‘The Secrets of the Korean Sword: Living and Dying by the Blade’, Black Belt (November 1983), pp. 21-26
Hewitt, John, Ancient armour and weapons in Europe: from the iron period of the northern nations to the end of the seventeenth century: with illustrations from contemporary monuments (Henry and Parker, 1885), vol. 3
‘History of William Wigmore’, The Ladies' Pocket Magazine, 2 (Robins, 1830)
Jones, Robert W., A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword (Boydell & Brewer, 2023)
Laking, Sir Guy Francis, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, Volume IV (Bell, 1921)
Leguina, D. Enrique De, Glosario de Voces de Armeria (Rodríguez, 1912)
Longnon, Auguste, Paris pendant la domination anglaise (1420-1436) (Champion, 1878)
Low, Jennifer A., Manhood and the Duel: Masculinity in Early Modern Drama and Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
Lowe, Eric, The Use of Medieval Weaponry (Aeon Books, 2020)
Norman, A. V. B., The Rapier and Small Sword, 1460-1820 (Arms and Armour Press, 1980)
Oakeshott, Ewart, A Knight and his Castle (Lutterworth, 1965)
——, European Weapons and Armour: from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution (Boydell & Brewer, 2000)
Paul, J. B., Accounts of Treasurer of Scotland, vol. II (HMSO, 1900)
Peláez Valle, José María, ‘La Espada Ropera Española en los Siglos XVI y XVII’, Gladius, XVI (1983), pp. 147-99
Stehling, David, Semantic Change in the Early Modern English Period: Latin Influences on the English Language (Anchor Academic Publishing, 2013)
Swanger, W. Jherek, The Duel, or the Flower of Arms for Single Combat, Both Offensive and Defensive, by Achille Marozzo (Lulu, 2018)
Tzouriadis, Iason-Eleftherios, ‘“What is the Riddle of Steel?” Problems of Classification and Terminology in the Study of Late Medieval Swords Iason-Eleftherios Tzouriadis’, in The Sword: Form and Thought, ed. by Sixt Wetzler, Lisa Deutscher, and Mirjam Kaiser (Boydell, 2019), pp. 3-11
Valle, Manuel, ‘Sobre el nombre ropera’, Asociación Española de Esgrima Antigua Foro de discusión (2004), <https://esgrimaantigua.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=350> [accessed 12 December 2024]
Windsor, Guy, The Duellist’s Companion, 2nd Edition (Spada Press, 2023)

Keywords

rapier
typology
rapière
sidesword
sword

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Runacres, R. (2026). The Rapier: Examining Problems in Etymology and Typology. Acta Periodica Duellatorum, 12(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.36950/apd-2026-002

[1] Agocchie, Giovanni dall’, Dell’Arte Di Scrimia Libri Tre (Tamborino, 1572)

[2] Balsac, Robert de, La nef des princes et des batailles de noblesse avec aultres enseignemens (Balsarin, 1502)

[3] Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Biblioteca Patrimonial Digital, Ms. 151

[4] Bauer, Johan Jacob, Bibliotheca Librorum Rariorum Universalis, vol. 6 (Bauer, 1774)

[5] Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de, Discours sur les duels de Brantôme (Librarie des Bibliophiles, 1887)

[6] Calendar of State Papers Foreign: Elizabeth, Volume 4, 1561-1562, ed. by Joseph Stevenson (H.M.S.O, 1866)

[7] A catalogue of the libraries of John De Pesters (1757)

[8] A Catalogue of the Library of Harvard University, vol. 2 (Metcalf, 1830)

[9] Clichtove, Josse, Hier beginnen seer schoone christelijcke ende euangelische sermoone[n] (Rolents, 1555)

[10] Curius, Petrus, Pappa rerum maxime vulgarium congesta per locos in puerorum gratiam (Hillenius, 1538)

[11] Eppendorf, Heinrich, Römischer Historien Bekürtzung (Schotten, 1536)

[12] Grassi, Giacomo di, Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'Arme (Ziletti, 1570)

[13] ——, Di Grassi, His True Arte of Defence (Jaggard, 1594)

[14] Gunterrodt, Heinrich von, De Veris Principiis Artis Dimicatoriae (Welack, 1579)

[15] ——, A short treatise on the true principles of combat, written for the most illustrious prince John, duke of Mecklenburg, ed. and trans. by Bert Gevaert (Freelance Academy Press, 2014)

[16] Haym, Nicola Francesco, Biblioteca italiana ossia Notizia de' libri rari italiani, vol. 4 (Silvestri, 1803)

[17] Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 3, 1519-1523, ed. by J. S. Brewer (H.M.S.O., 1867)

[18] Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 14 Part 2, August-December 1539, ed. by James Gairdner and R H Brodie (H.M.S.O., 1895)

[19] Lille, Archives du Nord, B 1703, fo 100 ds IGLF

[20] Marc, François, Decisiones Aureae in sacro Delphinatus… (Fontana, 1561)

[21] Marozzo, Achille, Arte dell'armi di Achille Marozzo Bolognese (Pinargenti, 1567)

[22] McBane, Donald, The Expert Sword-man's Companion: Or The True Art of Self-defence (Duncan, 1728)

[23] Medhurst, Walter Henry, An English and Japanese, and Japanese and English vocabulary (Batavia, 1830)

[24] Meyer, Joachim, The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570, trans. by Jeffrey L. Forgeng (Greenhill, 2006)

[25] Michel, Jean, Le mistère de la passion iesuscrist (Driard, 1490)

[26] ——, Le Mystère de la Passion (Angers 1486) ed. by Omer Jodogne (Gembloux, 1959)

[27] Le Morte Arthur: Edited from the Harleian Ms. 2252 in the British Museum, ed. by Frederick James Furnivall (Macmillan, 1864)

[28] Mondschein, Ken, ‘The Italian Schools of Fencing: Art, Science, and Pedagogy’, in Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books, Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries), ed. by Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, and Timothy Dawson (Brill, 2016), pp. 280-323

[29] Morrison, Robert A dictionary of the Chinese language, in three parts (East India Press, 1815), vol. 1

[30] Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod.icon. 393, vol. 2 (Paulus Hector Mair, Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica)

[31] Murner, Thomas, Ein worhafftigs verantworten der hochgelorten doctores vnd herren, die zů Baden vff der disputation gewesen sint vor den xij (Weißenburger, 1526)

[32] Osmont, Jean Baptiste L., Dictionnaire typographique, historique et critique des livres rares, vol. 1 (Lacombe, 1768)

[33] Ranconnet, Aymar de, Thresor de la Langue Francoyse (Douceur, 1606)

[34] Rieger, Urban, Argument dises biechleins: Symon Hessus zeygt an Doctori Martino Luther ursach… (Grimm und Wirsung, 1521)

[35] Silver, George, Paradoxes of Defence (Blount, 1599)

[36] Simeoni, Gabriele, Princelijcke deuijsen ofte wapenen van M. Claude Paradyn (Silvius, 1563)

[37] ‘Sir Francis Burdett, Bart. M.P. for Westminster’, The Albion 25 December 1824

[38] Stow, John, Annales, or, a generall chronicle of England (Adams, 1614)

[39] Vigne, André de La, Le vergier d’honneur nouvellement imprime a paris. De l’entreprise et voyage de Napples (Le Dru, 1502)

[40] Wés, Giles Du, An Introductorie for to Lerne to Read, To Pronounce, and to Speke French Trewly (Hill, 1533)

[41] Anglo, Sydney, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (Yale University Press, 2000)

[42] Blair, Claude, European & American Arms, c. 1100-1850 (Bonanza Books, 1962)

[43] Bruhn Hoffmeyer, Ada, ‘From Mediaeval Sword to Renaissance Rapier’, Gladius, II (1963), pp. 5-68

[44] Cange, Charles Du Fresne, Sieur Du, Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis (Osmont, 1773), vol. 5

[45] Capwell, Tobias, The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe (Holberton, 2012)

[46] Castle, Egerton, Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century (Bell, 1892)

[47] The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons, ed. by Leonid Tarassuk and Claude Blair (Simon and Schuster, 1982)

[48] Domínguez, F., ‘El Manuscrito de las “Coplas de la Panadera” de la Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular de Sevilla’, Hispanófila, 90 (1987), pp. 81–98

[49] Easton, Matt, ‘What makes a sword a RAPIER?’, Schola Gladiatoria (2023) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wECWKN_Raw> [accessed 31 October 2024]

[50] Fallows, Noel, ‘Against the Arabs: Propaganda and Paradox in Medieval Castille’ in Medieval Iberia: Changing Societies and Cultures in Contact and Transition, ed. by Ivy A. Corfis and Ray Harris-Northall (Tamesis, 2007), pp. 57-69, doi:10.1515/9781846155703

[51] ‘framea’, Latinium <https://latinitium.com/latin-dictionaries/?t=lsn18701> [accessed 12 December 2024]

[52] Gay, Victor, Glossaire archéologique du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance (Librairie de la société bibliographique, 1928)

[53] Gevaert, Bert, and Reinier van Noort, ‘Evolution of Martial Tradition in the Low Countries: Fencing Guilds and Treatises’, in Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books, Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries), ed. by Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, and Timothy Dawson (Brill, 2016), pp. 376-409

[54] Hallander, Jane, ‘The Secrets of the Korean Sword: Living and Dying by the Blade’, Black Belt (November 1983), pp. 21-26

[55] Hewitt, John, Ancient armour and weapons in Europe: from the iron period of the northern nations to the end of the seventeenth century: with illustrations from contemporary monuments (Henry and Parker, 1885), vol. 3

[56] ‘History of William Wigmore’, The Ladies' Pocket Magazine, 2 (Robins, 1830)

[57] Jones, Robert W., A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword (Boydell & Brewer, 2023)

[58] Laking, Sir Guy Francis, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, Volume IV (Bell, 1921)

[59] Leguina, D. Enrique De, Glosario de Voces de Armeria (Rodríguez, 1912)

[60] Longnon, Auguste, Paris pendant la domination anglaise (1420-1436) (Champion, 1878)

[61] Low, Jennifer A., Manhood and the Duel: Masculinity in Early Modern Drama and Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

[62] Lowe, Eric, The Use of Medieval Weaponry (Aeon Books, 2020)

[63] Norman, A. V. B., The Rapier and Small Sword, 1460-1820 (Arms and Armour Press, 1980)

[64] Oakeshott, Ewart, A Knight and his Castle (Lutterworth, 1965)

[65] ——, European Weapons and Armour: from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution (Boydell & Brewer, 2000)

[66] Paul, J. B., Accounts of Treasurer of Scotland, vol. II (HMSO, 1900)

[67] Peláez Valle, José María, ‘La Espada Ropera Española en los Siglos XVI y XVII’, Gladius, XVI (1983), pp. 147-99

[68] Stehling, David, Semantic Change in the Early Modern English Period: Latin Influences on the English Language (Anchor Academic Publishing, 2013)

[69] Swanger, W. Jherek, The Duel, or the Flower of Arms for Single Combat, Both Offensive and Defensive, by Achille Marozzo (Lulu, 2018)

[70] Tzouriadis, Iason-Eleftherios, ‘“What is the Riddle of Steel?” Problems of Classification and Terminology in the Study of Late Medieval Swords Iason-Eleftherios Tzouriadis’, in The Sword: Form and Thought, ed. by Sixt Wetzler, Lisa Deutscher, and Mirjam Kaiser (Boydell, 2019), pp. 3-11

[71] Valle, Manuel, ‘Sobre el nombre ropera’, Asociación Española de Esgrima Antigua Foro de discusión (2004), <https://esgrimaantigua.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=350> [accessed 12 December 2024]

[72] Windsor, Guy, The Duellist’s Companion, 2nd Edition (Spada Press, 2023)