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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 9757270" data-attributes="member: 6796468">The rapier was a deadly weapon, not 'intended to draw blood'. It was a self-defense tool used to kill unarmored or lightly armored opponents. It was poisoned in Hamlet for dramatic purposes. Shakespeare -loved- his poisons and the drama of a nick being a deadly blow is strong.The rapier also -evolved- over time. In the 14 and 1500s it was a shorter side-arm with a cutting edge and a hardened point. ESPECIALLY the rapiers coming out of Schoningen in Germany.It wouldn't be until the late 1600s and early 1700s that it became an almost exclusively thrusting weapon that kept growing longer and weightier in the pursuit of sports-use.Also of note: Rapiers killed INCREDIBLY well as primarily thrusting weapons. Why? Because thrusting weapons, by their very nature, are more deadly than cutting weapons. You didn't need to hack through muscle and bone with a rapier to nick vital organs or arteries which resulted in either a swift death to internal bleeding or sepsis, or a -SLOW- death through deep-seated infections that happened in your vital organs.</blockquote>