Accession Number

1986.008.1781a

Alternate object names

Sword

Creation Date

circa 1620

Description

This portion of a rapier from the Atocha completely deteriorated during its long immersion in the sea. A resin version of its form was cast from the calcareous marine concretion that formed around the object underwater. It is a “swept-hilt” rapier, with an elaborate inner guard (the portion of the hilt closer to the blade). The wooden grip was wrapped with wire to improve the user’s hold. The pommel is shaped like a squared egg covered with twisting, knobbed ridges. These elements are all of styles typical to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. A portion of the thick, narrow blade is encased in wood from a sheath, which was likely covered by leather that did not survive.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

Defending The Ship

Spain’s fleets were always in danger. English, French, and Dutch privateers, as well as pirates of all nations, lurked in the Atlantic. If they could not capture the whole fleet, they might well seize a straggler. Both the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita were guard galleons—heavily-armed ships ready to defend the flotilla against all comers.

The galleons’ cannons, capable of delivering powerful broadsides, were the first line of defense. Gunners were highly skilled. They would have started out as common sailors, but they received additional pay when they gained expertise.

Aboard the Atocha, Captain Garcia de Nodal was in charge of the ship’s company of soldiers. They were experienced infantrymen, seasoned in Spain’s endless wars, and they considered themselves superior to the sailors as a result. Despite this attitude, some of them decided to learn seamanship. While they would refuse to help with menial tasks, such as scrubbing the deck, they were often knowledgeable enough to help raise the sails. In times of battle, they might assist with the cannon before hand-to-hand fighting broke out.
Object Caption (2023):

Edged Weapons: rapiers and daggers
Iron (c.1620), and reconstructions with original components
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008. 0145, 1986.008.0909, 1986.008.1000, 1986.008.1010, 1986.0081011, 1986.008.1013, 1986.008.1781a

Sword fighting was not necessarily a skilled affair at this time. While a senior officer or gentleman might have the advantage of having studied fencing, even a common soldier would know enough to inflict a deadly wound with a rapier or dagger.