Gérard Thibault of Antwerp was a fencing master and writer of the 1628 rapier manual Academie de l'Espée. Thibault was from the Southern Netherlands which is today Belgium. His manual is one of the most detailed and elaborate extant sources on rapier combat, painstakingly utilizing geometry and logic to defend his unorthodox style of swordsmanship.

A rapier or espada ropera is a type of sword used in Renaissance Spain to designate a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It was widely popular in Western Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries as a symbol of nobility or gentleman status.