Renaissance Sword Club

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Renaissance Sword Club is a historical European martial arts group in South East England, founded in 2013 by Rob Runacres. The club researches and recreates 16th–17th century European sword fighting, focusing on rapier and spada da lato, and related weapons like dagger, cloak, buckler and rotella. Members also explore staff weapons, longsword and small sword. Training follows Italian and French fencing traditions from classic manuals by masters such as Achille Marozzo, Charles Besnard, Giovanni dall’Agocchie and François Dancie. While sidesword and rapier are treated as different forms for teaching, the emphasis is on their similar mechanics and theory. Lessons are led by instructors and include sparring; members are encouraged to compete in events like Longpoint, Swordfish, Albion Cup and the Wessex League. The club also runs lectures and workshops across Europe, focusing on Early Modern French sword fighting and works such as the Book of Lessons, Besnard’s Le maistre d’arme liberal, Cavalcabo’s Treaty or Instruction for Fencing, and Dancie’s The Sword of Combat. Rob Runacres earned a PhD from the University of Winchester in 2024, researching fencing masters, martial instruction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and related topics in family history and court studies.