Renaissance-era swords

A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as '', ) and Italy (known as spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. Known for its elegant design and intricate hilt, it was widely popular in Western Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries as a symbol of nobility or gentleman status.

A longsword (also spelled as long sword or long-sword) is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for primarily two-handed use (around ), a straight double-edged blade of around , and weighing approximately .

thumb|Engraving of a claymore and armour at Dunvegan Castle (from Footsteps of Dr. Johnson, 1890).

The Zweihänder (, literally "two-hander"), also Doppelhänder ("double-hander"), Beidhänder ("both-hander"), Bihänder, or Bidenhänder, is a large two-handed sword that was used primarily during the 16th century.

thumb|Stiletto

A falchion (; Old French: fauchon; Latin: falx, "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century. In some versions, the falchion looks rather like the seax and later the sabre, and in other versions more like a machete with a crossguard.

A '''' () is a short arming sword, used in early modern Europe, notable for its sturdy build and a distinctive S-shaped or figure-8 shaped guard. Measuring long and weighing , it was the signature blade of the Landsknecht''.

thumb|Estoc

thumb|300px|Figure illustrating the basic cuts with the Dusäck in Joachim Meyer's fencing manual; a pair of fencers using the Dusäck is shown in the background (illustration by [[Tobias Stimmer, 1570).]] A dusack or dussack (also dusägge and variants, from Czech tesák "cleaver; hunting sword", lit. "fang") is a single-edged sword of the cutlass or sabre type, in use as a side arm in Germany and the Habsburg monarchy during the 16th to 17th centuries, as well as a practice weapon based on this weapon used in early modern German fencing.

The cinquedea (, ) or cinqueda is a civilian short sword (or long dagger). It was developed in northern Italy and enjoyed a period of popularity during the Italian Renaissance of the 15th and early 16th centuries.

small bladed weapon used as an off-hand weapon in conjunction with a single-handed sword

cold weapon

type of dagger

thumb|Closeup of a sword, with a box highlighting the crossguard area|400px|right A sword's crossguard or cross-guard is a bar between the blade and hilt, essentially perpendicular to them, intended to protect the wielder's hand and fingers from opponents' weapons as well as from their own blade. Each of the individual bars on either side is known as a quillon or quillion.

thumb|400px|A type of military backsword – a British 1796 heavy cavalry sword purchased by Sweden in 1808. A backsword is a type of sword characterised by having a single-edged blade and a hilt with a single-handed grip. It is so called because the triangular cross section gives a flat back edge opposite the cutting edge. Later examples often have a "false edge" on the back near the tip, which was in many cases sharpened to make an actual edge and facilitate thrusting attacks. From around the early 14th century, the backsword became the first type of European sword to be fitted with a knuckle

thumb|A koncerz with a conventional cutting edge A koncerz () is a type of sword used by Polish-Lithuanian cavalry in the Renaissance period. It is a narrow and long thrusting sword, generally used by a type of heavy cavalry (husaria, the famed Polish hussars) and optimized to defeat body armor, either by piercing directly through the metal links of mail armour or by thrusting at the exposed gaps between the plates of plate armour, but was not used to cut or slash at enemy combatants.

usually a two-handed sword used as an executioner's tool of trade

straight, double-edged bladed weapon

thumb|100px|Drawing of 15th-century specimen found in Italy. Schiavonesca (in , "Slavic sword") was a type of sword characterized by an S-shaped crossguard and a square pommel whose earliest specimens were found in late 14th-century Serbia. It was used by knights in the Kingdom of Hungary and Republic of Venice during the 15th and 16th centuries.

swords designed specifically for hunting

ceremonial arms

type of fencing sword

type of short sword of the late medieval and Renaissance period

Renaissance-era sword type

thumb|100px|Montante from 15th or 16th centuries. The montante is a two-handed sword used primarily in Spain and Portugal during the 15th to 17th centuries.

A poniard () or '''''' () is a long, lightweight thrusting knife with a continuously tapering, acutely pointed blade, and a crossguard, historically worn by the upper class, noblemen, or members of the knighthood. Similar in design to a parrying dagger, the poniard emerged during the Middle Ages and was used during the Renaissance in Western Europe, particularly in France, Switzerland, and Italy.

Sword made for François I, captured by Juan Aldava on 25 February 1525, recaptured at Madrid by Murat in 1808 and put on display in Napoleon's study

sword similar to a cutlass