Rondel dagger

The wide, spherical pommel might have assisted by making it easier for the user to push or punch the point of the dagger home.

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.

The contemporary post-mortem on the remains of 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.

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 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.