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In the 16th century there was a king who went headlong into battle armed only with a rapier sword and this page tells about the man, but moreover...it tells about his sword. Before we read about King Gustav II and his rapier we must understand the period of time in question and the period of time was called The Renaissance, from 1400 up to 1600 A.D
The actual word Renaissance is a French word meaning new birth and new life, and the Renaissance era pursued new free concepts of expression and thought, that was away from the Middle Age's and its low values and pursued modern interest and ideals with new enthusiasm. The Renaissance periods strongest feature was the innovation of new learning, and the awakening of the mind with a thirst for new knowledge and understanding in all things, including the arts, literature, religion, philosophy and warfare. Before the fifteenth century the only educated class were those who worked within the church. Clergymen were promoted as the true authority on everything, and woe betide you if you disagreed. Everyone else was kept in ignorance, like the proverbial mushroom that is always kept in the dark and fed on substitutes. During the Renaissance period however men all over Europe slowly began to make decisions on many aspects of life themselves. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Western Europe received the influx of many learned travellers from the East, who brought literature, arts, sciences, teaching and many other treasures with them. Despite the churches best efforts to put this new age down, the tide had been unleashed, it was unstoppable, and slowly but surely development, culture and humanitarianism increased and buried the old ways for good. In many ways, during Renaissance a new civilisation was being created, whereas middle age ideals were now being totally abandoned in favor of the new way of thought.
The Renaissance set up a new viewpoints from which new education methods were practised. Languages, philosophy, art, government, and religion were all case studies in which to make discoveries and critical comparisons for change investigated, in fact it is where the foundations of modern education were laid. Raphael, Da Vinci, Titian, Corregio and others produced words and works of art that are still looked upon with awe to this day. The Renaissance era gradually changed all aspects of social life. With it came new arts such as printing, new conceptions of our earth through geographic discoveries, new national policies as in the cultivation of trade by sea, new church life through the Reformation. The Renaissance opened up wide all learning, adventure and growth it also saw the advent of new weapons and the rapier was one of them. Below King Gustav II on his horse, with his rapier at the ready.
King Gustav II Adolphus was born on December 9th 1594 in Stockholm, the son of King Charles IX of the Vasa dynasty and Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp of Germanic descent. Gustav II became the monarch of Sweden from 1611 until the day he died in 1632 at the relatively young age of 38. During his reign as King, Gustav II founded the city of Gothenburg he also named several other 'large Swedish dwelling places' as cities and annexed them all into the Swedish land registries. King Gustav II liked to get out and about, pro-actively working hard, enthused by devoted loyalty and patriotism to put Sweden on the map as a major super-power of the day. King Gustav entered the Thirty Years War in the hope of securing the Swedish state and the Swedish protestant Church from danger of being absolved into Catholicism during world political upheaval and unrest at that time, he was subsequently noted as The Lion of the North - Saviour of the Protestants. King Gustav II was also an excellent military tactical strategist and the Swedish army that he built was almost entirely composed of men of learning, education and quality. One of his tactical strategies was to enable his artillery to move around the battle field rather than have them sit in the accepted static positions. This enabled attacking rather than defensive cannon fire, and from the most strategic possible positions during battle this tactic earned him several victories.
Famous military leaders Carl von Clausewitz and Napoleon Bonaparte admired, idolized and praised Gustav II more than any other person, past or present as the greatest general of the battlefield. King Gustav's officers and men respected him with an almost religious devoutness, because he would lead this men into battle from the front not the rear as the majority of other notables and kings had done in the past. Gustav II's status and position was further reinforced by him having strong alliances with France, Brandenburg and Saxony. As the legend goes, King Gustav II was finally killed in the famous Battle of Lützen on November 6th 1632 when he apparently lost his direction in the dense fog of war alias cannon smoke and he became separated from his men. Not wanting to turn back he inadvertently charged straight into the midst of W. E von Wallenstein's heavily armed Austrian cavalry....they immediately cut him down with their swords, King Gustav died with his rapier in his hand. As some consolation though, King Gustav's army defeated Albrecht W. E von Wallenstein's army. Below: Artist Carl Wahlbom's (1810 - 1858 ) painting of The Battle of Lützen and the death of King Gustav II.
Paul Chen of Hanwei swords has faithfully reproduced the rapier sword, code SH-2206, that King Gustav II Adolf carried around at some stage and allegedly carried into battle on that fateful day. I must mention here that King Gustav II owned more than one rapier, he probably had half a dozen. As stated, his sword was a rapier, as most gentlemen's swords were in that particular era. The Paul Chen reproduction rapier is a high quality, very decorative and impressive piece that reminds us that this sword was truly made for a King. It features Gustav's own initiatives in the functional double cradle or basket as the hand guard was known, and to add a touch of regal color there is a crimson felt underlay that all adds up to personify King Gustav II and a flare for attention that he was renown for.
Below: In the 1632 painting by the Swiss artist Matthäus Merian (1593-1650) of King Gustav II, we can observe that all the '"eye-lines" ( areas where the observers eye naturally follows contours ) of the artwork all lead to and emphasize the hilt of his sword. i.e.: his bent left arm, the opening of his coat, the edge of his coat, the sword belt, the shadows...etc...all point to his rapier! This was to subliminally illustrate that he was a fighting and doing king and not a sitting idly gazing out of his window king. This painting is possibly one of the last made of Gustav, as shortly after this portrait was taken, he was killed in battle.
The king was an active combatant in many of the battles that Sweden was involved in, consequently he was wounded several times in close quarter combats, including gunshot wounds to the throat and the abdomen that it is said added to his wounds already received by swords. He would not wear the customary chain mail that soldiers of the day wore, instead he wore a thick leather bodice, this he said gave him more mobility in a sword fight where he would draw his rapier and fearlessly bring it on to the enemy. A great honor was bestowed on King Gustav II, albeit posthumously, as in February 1633 the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates decided that King Gustav II's memory should be forever immortalized with the official and historic title of Gustav Adolph the Great This bestowing has never occurred before or since in Swedish history. With his surviving families prosperity booming at this stage in Sweden, King Gustav II's wife Maria Eleonora and his daughter, Christina became heads of the Swedish government and ruled thereon after. The Day of Gustav Adolph the Great is observed each year on November 6th in Sweden. On this day a special and most delicious pastry, with a chocolate medallion of the old king, is sold. The day is also an official flag day in the Swedish calendar in honor of King Gustav II, their fighting and most noble King. His rapier sword has also been remembered and this most classic and elegant sword has been faithfully reproduced by Paul Chen of Hanwei swords into an almost iconic symbol.King Gustav II's rapier had an overall length of 45¾ inches with a long slender blade that was 37¼ inches long and almost 2/8ths wide. The weight of this rapier was 2lb, 6oz. Rapiers were easy to wield as they were perfectly balanced, the secret of this was the solid metal pommel on the end of the handle, that acted as a counterbalance for the weight of the blade.
The rapier was the first real self defence weapon for the average gentleman, it generally developed due to the decline of suits of armor and knights of old. The rapier was generally a thrusting and stabbing weapon against un-armored opponents, having a sharp, short tapering point. It has been discovered that the entire length of some historic rapier blades were sharpened, whilst others just had the first few inches sharpened, on others, the blade was left blunt with no cutting edge. However, on all rapiers, except those specifically designed for training, the point was always needle sharp. A rapier blade could easily pierce clean through a persons body if it did not get obstructed by bone. The rapier first appeared around 1450 in Spain and enjoyed around 300 years of popularity up until its demise in the 1700's. It was between 1600 and 1700 that the rapier saw the start of a transition as hilts became smaller and blades were designed more for thrusting and stabbing through thinner apparel and even less for cutting and slashing. So in effect the sword changed as the fashion trend changed. I would like to say here that the rapier did not dominate the sword-smiths foundry as the major sword in production. The rapier was certainly very popular with civilians but was seen as inadequate as a military sword and subsequently weapons such as the broad sword, sabre and cutlass for example were still in high production.
But when a soldier was off duty, he would generally carry a rapier attached to his belt, as they were less obtrusive, less threatening and indeed a lot lighter. In France, the Kings bodyguard who were called musketeers would carry rapiers all the time, as they could be drawn and wielded very quickly. The famous Three Musketeers Athos, Aramis, and Porthos along with D' Artagnan, used rapiers with wrap around cup hilts, this design offered total protection to the hand. The solid cup hilt rapier made its appearance in Spain and Italy around 1650, and enjoyed a devoted following by many, not just the Musketeers. This design receded around the early 1700's as trend and fashion again dictated the style and survival of rapier.
The rapier was often used with a back-up countermeasure weapon, i.e. the main gauche. The main gauche was a double edged dagger that was held in the left hand whilst sword fighting with an opponent. The main gauche was a fanciful but smaller version of the rapier, but it was not unusual to see a 'mismatched' pair of rapiers and gauche daggers among many individuals. The rapier was many times lighter than the broad sword, or the Roman style straight gladius short sword of older times, and it innovated a whole new style of swordplay where the lunge was now a favorite way to fight and words like en garde became part of every day swordsman vocabulary.
En garde was a formal warning and announcement for the opponent to ready his sword for the combat or duel that was about to ensue between the consenting parties. There was no such announcement with the broad sword, side sword, hand and a half sword, grosse messer, sabre, or cutlass to name but a few, they were just wielded and slashed upon first sight of the opponent. Eventually due to the popularity of the rapier, the art of fencing came about with the use of much more flexible rapiers called the epee and foil. Fencing swords have no edge at all, just a sharp point, which is often blunted or capped to avoid any injury. The below sketch illustrates a sword fight, sometime around 1652 when rapier sword fights were becoming the gentleman's way of settling a dispute. The cloak would be used as a form of shield, it went over the free hand that held the main gauche, hence the modern day saying cloak and dagger. The cloak could be thrown over your opponents rapier, giving you the split second chance to run him through. The cloak could also be thrown at the opponent, distracting him enough to use the main gauche in your free hand.
Fighting with rapiers was a deadly accurate and precise art, unlike usual wide bladed double edged swords that would cut and slash, the rapier would only invariably be used to run through the opponent with limited cutting and slashing as the rapier wasn't designed for it. Therefore the rapier was more inclined to produce a mortal puncture wound rather than the slashing flesh wound as delivered by a normal military sword.
"So thus they lived in times of old, The advantage of the sword point as a stabbing and thrusting weapon over a heavy duty cutting edge became totally apparent by the end of the 16th century. The incredibly popular rapier, with its long, elegantly thin profile, that concluded in a sharp thin stiletto point, remained a gentleman's popular choice in civilian self defence for a few centuries. However, it was finally argued that it was perhaps too long and unwieldy when used for defence in confined areas like back alleys or even inside buildings. Eventually as fashion, trend and life style changed, so did the rapier, a more sophisticated, shorter and lighter version came about by the end of the 17th century. The rapier had evolved into an entirely new weapon, the Small Sword.
Below is an image of the small sword, the sword that finally saw the demise of the full sized rapier. Even though it was classed and titled the small sword it was in effect just a shortened rapier with a smaller, less fanciful hand guard.
Owning a King Gustav II Rapier There are many online stores that retail historic swords and one of the best rapiers is made by the company of Paul Chen of Hanwei swords. An authentic Paul Chen Hanwei rapier can be bought along with the matching main gauche back up dagger that originally accompanied it, the handle of which exactly follows the style of the rapier. One was never worn without the other in those dashing, swashbuckling days of chivalry and honor. Today though, the collector or sword fancier can normally be satisfied with the ownership of the rapier itself without this intriguing accessory. Below is an image of the King Gustav II main gauche, although the hand guard is not as grand as found on the full sized rapier, the pommel, handle and blade cross section is the same.
The main gauche was not a utility knife, it was a dagger, primarily carried with the intention of slashing or stabbing someone with it during a sword fight, if the owner of it had the chance. All Kings and noblemen carried them for many hundreds of years until they finally faded out basically due to the advent of the firearm. Going to a gunfight armed with a sword and main gauche was decidedly asinine and definitely not recommended! The rapier and the main gauche are still made traditionally with forged high carbon spring steel blades and are equipped with the proper stiff leather scabbards of the day. The scabbards are complete with with a metal protective tip that surronds the tip, that was sometimes crafted from silver. Reproduction rapier swords are produced with the sportsman in mind and can be bought with interchangeable blades known as 'practical blades' for the use of fencing, sparring and general sword training as they are acutely blunt, but still maintain the history that surround them. They are also available 'pre-aged' in that they are retailed with an antiquated look and feel to them, this process is normally done with acids and blueing chemicals. Below is the result of this antiquating, where the lovely shiny finish of the smooth polished stainless steel hilt and basket are darkened to give it that 400 year old rusty used look, even the bright red crimson velvet underlay is 'aged'. The antiquated look is befitting to some sword collectors as " the next best thing " to own a rapier as owned by King Gustav II and how it would look today. Also movie, TV and Shakespearian drama actors would find an antiquated rapier more aesthetic for their role.
Either way, these rapiers are available to anyone who is over the age of 18, and a rapier would make an excellent show piece and two of them in an ornamental crossed sword fashion, affixed to a good, grainy, wooden base in the shape of a shield would make a truly outstanding show piece. Almost like a coat of arms, and admittedly, where-ever you see swords hanging up like this, is always 'a stop and gaze' moment. There are several online shops
that retail these rapiers and other swords and I provide some links
below to the best of them both in the USA and UK.
I am not affiliated with any of the above listed shops, I cannot order swords for you so please don't ask thank you, If you wish more reading about the history of the rapier then please view this web page.  www.thearma.org/Youth/rapieroutline.htm
Updated January 25th 2012. |
