View source for Rondel dagger

{{short description|Type of stiff-bladed dagger}}
{{Other uses|Rondel (disambiguation)}}

{{Lead too short|date=March 2023}}
[[File:De Fechtbuch Talhoffer 169.jpg|thumb|300px|Close-quarter fighting with rondel daggers from [[Hans Talhoffer]]'s [[Fechtbuch]]. This image is from a manual of combat from 1467.  It is one of a series of images of two men fighting hand to hand with rondels, demonstrating possible attacks and defences.]]

A '''rondel dagger''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɒ|n|d|əl}} or '''roundel dagger''' is a type of stiff-bladed [[dagger]] used in Europe in the late [[Middle Ages]] (from the 14th century onwards), used by a variety of people from [[merchant]]s to [[knight]]s.  It was worn at the waist and could be used as a utility tool, or worn into [[battle]] or in a [[jousting]] [[Tournament (medieval)|tournament]] as a [[Sidearm (weapon)|side arm]].

==Design and construction==
[[File:Diagram of rondel dagger01.png|thumb|The basic form of a rondel dagger]]
[[File:HJRK A 48 - Scheibendolch, 1490-1500.jpg|thumb|Rondel dagger (Burgundy, c. 1500)]]

The blade is made of [[steel]], and is typically long and slim with a tapering needle point, measuring {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} or more; the whole dagger can be as long as {{convert|20|in|cm|abbr=on}}.  ''Rondel'' means 'round' or 'circular'; the dagger gets its name from its round (or similarly shaped, e.g. [[octagon]]al) hand guard and round or [[sphere|spherical]] [[Hilt#Pommel|pommel]] (knob on the end of the grip).

The blade's [[Tang (tools)|tang]] extends through the handle, which is [[cylindrical]], normally carved from wood or bone.  In cross section, the blade is usually [[rhombus|diamond]]-shaped, [[Lens (geometry)|lenticular]], or [[triangular]]. These blades have a sharpened point, and either one or both edges are also sharpened, while some had no sharpened edges at all.<ref>Muir, P. (n.d.). Rondel Dagger. myArmoury.com. http://myarmoury.com/review_dw_rondel.html</ref> They were principally designed for use with a stabbing action, either underarm, or over arm with a reverse grip (reminiscent of an [[ice pick]]). The long straight blade does not lend itself to a slashing or [[sabre]] action.  

Rondel daggers were designed to be ideal for close-quarter combat which often requires [[grappling]]. They were used for puncturing and bursting the links in [[Mail (armour)|mail armour]] and they could penetrate the weaker points in [[plate armour]] and [[helmet|helmets]], such as areas of thinner plate, any gaps and the various joints.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} The wide, spherical pommel might have assisted by making it easier for the user to push or punch the point of the dagger home. As armour improved, puncturing in such ways was one of the only ways in which the heavy armour of [[Man-at-arms|men-at-arms]] could be breached.

Examples also exist of four-edged rondel daggers, the blade having a [[cross|cruciform]] profile.  These blades are not suited for cutting, or use as a general utility tool; they were worn as a side-arm in battle as a thrusting weapon, foreshadowing the appearance of the [[stiletto]] in the 16th century.<ref>Peterson, Harold, [https://books.google.com/books?id=maOkF5epP-QC&dq=rondel+dagger&pg=PA16 ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World''], Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-41743-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-486-41743-1}} (2002), pp. 16-26</ref><ref>Ford, Roger, et al., ''Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor'', London: DK Publishing Inc., {{ISBN|0-7566-2210-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7566-2210-7}} (2006), pp. 69, 131</ref>  Rondel daggers which have survived and found their way into museums and collections are usually those with fine craftsmanship and often ornate decoration.  The blades may be engraved, the grips ornately carved, and the hand guards and pommels highly decorated.

==Use==
The rondel dagger evolved in the 14th century from the early [[knightly dagger]] of the 12th to 13th centuries, matching the evolution of full plate armour.
By the 15th century it had become the standard side-arm for knights, and was carried into battle, such as the [[Battle of Agincourt]] in 1415. The contemporary post-mortem on the remains of [[Richard_III#Death_at_the_Battle_of_Bosworth_Field|King Richard III showed that at the Battle of Bosworth]], in 1485, he suffered a sharp blow from a pointed weapon such as a rondel dagger on the crown of the head, before other fatal wounds were administered.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fatal wounds on the back and base of skull (injuries 4-6) {{!}} Richard III: Discovery and identification |url=https://le.ac.uk/richard-iii/identification/osteology/injuries/skull-4-6 |access-date=22 December 2023 |website=University of Leicester |language=en}}</ref>  They were a knight's backup weapon to be used in hand-to-hand fighting, and as such one of their last lines of defense.  Since they were able to penetrate a suit of armour (at the joints, or through the visor of the helmet), rondel daggers could be used to force an unseated or wounded knight to surrender and be kept for ransom.

In the 15th century, the rondel dagger also rose to popularity among the emerging [[middle class]]. In a scene from a miniature by [[Girart de Roussillon]], depicting the construction of twelve churches in France (c. 1448), merchants and tradesmen can be seen wearing rondel daggers at their waists.

[[Hans Talhoffer]], in his [[combat manual]]s of the 1440s to 1460s, includes numerous examples of techniques for fighting with the rondel dagger, both in unarmoured combat and in single combat in armour.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="155px">
File:Rondel dagger merchants small.jpg|Merchants wearing rondels ([[:Image:Rondel dagger merchants.jpg|uncropped version]])
File:Augsburg Cod.I.6.4º.2 (Codex Wallerstein) 107v.jpg|[[plate armour|Armoured]] [[longsword]] combatants wearing roundel daggers as backup weapons (plate 214, ''[[Codex Wallerstein]]'', 15th century)
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of daggers]]
* [[List of medieval weapons]]
* [[Military technology and equipment]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Rondel daggers}}
* [http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_spot_rondel.html Spotlight: The Rondel Dagger] (myArmoury.com article)
* [http://www.truefork.org/DragonPreservationSociety/Talhoffer_old.php Website about Talhoffers Fetchbuch]
* [http://www.vanillachrist.com/kmarmor/arms.html Overview of Medieval arms and armour] [https://web.archive.org/web/20050207111523/http://www.vanillachrist.com:80/kmarmor/arms.html Montanaro's Medieval Period]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030628130425/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/warriorchallenge/print/print_knights_profile.html Overview of the 15th century knight's weapons and armor] 

{{Knives}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rondel Dagger}}
[[Category:Daggers]]
[[Category:Medieval European swords]]