It was originally a training sword descended from the sprat.
Fencing foil History
In the seventeenth century the fencing foil appeared, a harmless weapon with a flexible blade, finished with a flower-shaped button, which allowed simulating a duel without risk.
In the past, women could only shoot foil, and given the light weight of the weapon it was widely used by children. Today, although it is advisable to begin by learning at least some fundamental foil principles, shooters start with any of the three weapons.
The Medieval Rapier
A medieval rapier is a sword with a narrow blade (which tapers from the hilt to the point) and always ends in a sharp point of three or more tables (sides of the blade), which is used more as a point than as a cutter. It was derived from medieval weapon swords to cope first with chainmail, and later and primarily with harness (full metal plate armor, also known as white armor).
The rapier was a specialized weapon for combat against harness, in the same way as were maces and axes, flails, hammer-picks and other horned weapons, mainly from the late Middle Ages. The introduction of gunpowder in medieval weaponry meant the end of plate armor, however the medieval rapier managed to survive and evolve.
The gradual introduction of individual powder weapons, such as arquebuses and muskets, radically changed the need to be covered by a 25 kg defensive panoply that did not always protect from an accurate or point-blank shot. Therefore, little by little, the only metallic protection of a soldier was the cuirass, the bracers and the helmet, and this especially in mounted units. Meanwhile, the rapiers ended up evolving throughout the sixteenth century into a lighter and narrower blade, for civil use, which was called rapier or rapier (since it was worn as part of clothing), at the same time. Once there were still versions for war more similar to the medieval rapier. However, the latter were relegated to secondary weapons, since specialized weapons were more effective in battle. Thus, the swords that lasted from the 16th and 17th centuries were either the most suitable for civil combat (duels and brawls) or those that could still play some role militarily, for example the stanchions that were used in profusion by mercenaries. like lansquenetes, mainly to break up booby formations.