Colichemarde is a type of

small sword The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: or dress sword) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The height of the small ...

(often written "smallsword") blade that was popular from the late 17th century to the middle 18th century.

Overview

The small sword is considered to be a descendant of the "transitional rapier", which itself evolved from the rapier due to the demand for a lighter sword, easier to wear. The shape of a colichemarde blade features a wide forte, which abruptly tapers to a much narrower form at a point varying between a fifth to a third of the blade length from the hilt. The blade cross section was most often triangular and hollow-ground. This configuration combines good

parrying A parry is a fencing bladework maneuver intended to deflect or block an incoming attack. Execution To execute a parry, fencers strike the opponent's foible, or the area near the tip of the blade, with their forte, or the part of the blade nea ...

characteristics, due to the wide blade forte, with the good maneuverability and thrusting characteristics imparted by the narrow blade foible. Its lighter weight, shorter length and superior balance, compared to the rapier, allowed faster and more accurate movement of the blade. This enabled the fencer to achieve a more precisely targeted thrust on an adversary. The point where the blade of a sword joins the tang was a recognized weak point. The tang was often made of

malleable iron Malleable iron is cast as white iron, the structure being a metastable carbide in a pearlitic matrix. Through an annealing heat treatment, the brittle structure as first cast is transformed into the malleable form. Carbon agglomerates into small ...

and forge-welded to the steel of the blade. A wider blade at this point of transition, such as is seen in the colichemarde, may have been viewed as offering a stronger union.

Brief history

The colichemarde blade configuration is sometimes credited to one Graf von Königsmark (perhaps Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck), owing to the two names' similarity in pronunciation. The colichemarde first appeared about 1680 and was popular during the next 40 years at the royal European courts. It was especially popular with the officers of the French and Indian War period.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

was presented with one during his inauguration. The widespread misapprehension that the colichemarde quickly ceased to be produced after 1720 dates to the opinion given by

Sir Richard Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

in his ''Book of the Sword'' (1884). However, many securely dated colichemarde swords from as late as the 1770s can be found in collections. This sword appeared at about the same time as the foil. However the foil was created for practicing fencing at court, while the colichemarde was created for dueling. It made frequent appearances in the duels of New Orleans.

Notes

{{reflist Fencing Early Modern European swords

Overview

Brief history

See also

Notes