Strange long rapier

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by cel7

Thanks Jim for your response! I really looked into rapiers today. Apparently the length is not exceptional and there was a period when this was the standard. Despite that, it remains a strange sword. Here is a link to a good study of various rapiers in museums (pdf). It mainly focuses on the length, weight, balance point, etc. It only describes rapiers made between 1575 and 1615. https://subcaelo.net/ensis/vauthier-..._articleVE.pdf

Absolutely! always up for a mystery.
Actually the blade length is indeed not exceptional , especially with Spanish rapiers, in fact the Spaniards were always ridiculed (cautiously) for their ridiculously long blades and the mysterious fencing techniques. Very interesting and well written study attached.....after 1615 the rapier blade began to give way to heavier arming blades, but hilts remained somewhat similar.
Except the Spanish, who held to their cup hilts and narrow, long blades into the next century.
That is why it is tempting to think of this anomaly as perhaps something Spanish colonial or even in rural regions of Spain.