Price of a rapier in the 17th century

corrado26 · 15th January 2022, 12:59 PM

A friend of mine is currently preparing a lecture on the true d'Artagnan and is also doing a currency comparison (livres to euros).
In the course of this he was able to research that as a lieutenant captain he is said to have received a salary of 900 (?) livres a month.
At the beginning of his career, however, it was said that he only had about 90 livres. (Exchange rate: 1684 corresponds to 1 livres approximately 15 euros).
Average wage of a worker under Ludwig XIV: 19 livres per month.
The searches are very difficult as there is little data to be found, if any, mostly in French and difficult to find.
Since the musketeers had to arrange their own armament, he would be interested to know how much a rapier might have cost in the 17th century.

Victrix · 15th January 2022, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corrado26

A friend of mine is currently preparing a lecture on the true d'Artagnan and is also doing a currency comparison (livres to euros).
In the course of this he was able to research that as a lieutenant captain he is said to have received a salary of 900 (?) livres a month.
At the beginning of his career, however, it was said that he only had about 90 livres. (Exchange rate: 1684 corresponds to 1 livres approximately 15 euros).
Average wage of a worker under Ludwig XIV: 19 livres per month.
The searches are very difficult as there is little data to be found, if any, mostly in French and difficult to find.
Since the musketeers had to arrange their own armament, he would be interested to know how much a rapier might have cost in the 17th century.

If you know the contemporary livres to reales exchange rate, you might get a good indication from https://www.academia.edu/858988/Meta..._rapier_blades.

midelburgo · 15th January 2022, 03:43 PM

I have somewhere a comparison of the cost of Toledo and Solingen blades in the xviith century. The first were 4 times dearer. In reales.

Now. Where was this? Leguina?

Victrix just put it, Marc Gener.

fernando · 15th January 2022, 04:02 PM

The problem is that we can find prices for blades in the required period, but not for whole swords.

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15th January 2022, 12:59 PM	#1
corrado26 Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Black Forest, Germany Posts: 1,207	Price of a rapier in the 17th century A friend of mine is currently preparing a lecture on the true d'Artagnan and is also doing a currency comparison (livres to euros). In the course of this he was able to research that as a lieutenant captain he is said to have received a salary of 900 (?) livres a month. At the beginning of his career, however, it was said that he only had about 90 livres. (Exchange rate: 1684 corresponds to 1 livres approximately 15 euros). Average wage of a worker under Ludwig XIV: 19 livres per month. The searches are very difficult as there is little data to be found, if any, mostly in French and difficult to find. Since the musketeers had to arrange their own armament, he would be interested to know how much a rapier might have cost in the 17th century.

15th January 2022, 04:02 PM	#4
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	The problem is that we can find prices for blades in the required period, but not for whole swords. . Attached Images

15th January 2022, 03:43 PM	#3
midelburgo Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 257	I have somewhere a comparison of the cost of Toledo and Solingen blades in the xviith century. The first were 4 times dearer. In reales. Now. Where was this? Leguina? Victrix just put it, Marc Gener.