Times Do Not Change -- Violence and Prevalence of Weapons

 Glasgow Museum

Rapiers were swords made to be worn with civilian clothes and were not used on the battlefield.  By the mid-1500s, every European gentleman wore one as an essential fashion item.  But because everyone was armed, arguments quickly led to violence.  In just one 20-year period in the 16th century, at least 4,000 people were killed in private duels in France alone.  (Hard to evaluate without knowing the population at that time.)