A Good Musketeer's Rapier, Probably Saxony, ca. 1600

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Chris Evans

... I think that it is axiomatic that a sword's type/name is determined by its function rather than its appearance....

Oh, i have never put it that way. On an instant basis i think of (several)otherwise situations ... if i understand what you mean .

Originally Posted by Chris Evans

... So I fear that the practice of calling any sword fitted with a complex hilt or a slim thrusting blade a rapier will be with us for a long time to come... In any event, there is little logical consistency in how swords types are named, so why do we expect the public at large to adhere to an inadequately defined convention? ...

I am with you Chris but, if you are (also) referring to my post 17#, let me emphasize that the narrator in the video is not properly 'public at large' and the sword he shows has no elaborate hilt but simply and purely a bowl and straight quillons