Medieval Collectibles Catalog : Swords : Renaissance Swords : Cut and Thrust Swords
Cut and Thrust Swords from Medieval Collectibles
The term "cut and thrust sword" is a general one which can be applied to a whole range of blade forms (field swords, side swords, arming swords). However, the Renaissance military sword is generally characterized by a swept or compound-hilt, a narrow cut-and-thrust blade with stronger cross-section, and tapering tip. A direct descendant of the medieval knightly sword, the cut and thrust sword was used by lightly armed footmen as well as civilians in the 16th and 17th centuries. During this time they were employed against a range of armored and unarmored opponents. They were popular for sword & buckler and sword & dagger fighting. They utilized an innovative one-handed grip fingering the ricasso (a dull portion of blade just above the guard). Renaissance cut & thrust swords should not be referred to as "early Renaissance swords" since they were actually in use throughout the period. Military and civilian forms of them existed before, during and after the development of the rapier. For example, similar blades (with and without ricassos and compound hilts) saw use in the English Civil War and even later. They should also not be referred to as "sword-rapiers" or "early rapiers", although in a sense, some of them were. Renaissance cut & thrust swords were their own distinct sword type. Although sometimes considered a "transition" form, this is inaccurate as they were both the ancestor and contemporary of the rapier for which they are often misidentified. Some forms of cage & basket hilts blades are occasionally referred to as "riding swords" by collectors and curators, and sometimes even as "broadswords". However, the 16th century Italians did sometimes distinguish between spada da cavallo, or a blade for horsemen, spada da fante, an infantry sword for foot-soldiers, and later spada da lato (side sword), a civilian cut-and-thrust sword, a form of which only later became the rapier (in modern times sometimes called a stricia).