Dagger late 15th century French During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most men and women wore a small knife in a sheath as part of their daily dress and used it as an all-purpose eating utensil and tool. The size this knife, more properly called a dagger, the shape of its hilt, and the presence of a perpendicular ring guard at the base of the hilt, indicate that it was intended primarily as a weapon, both for offense and defense, rather than a utensil. Daggers of this type were used across western Europe from the late fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth century.. Dagger. French. late 15th century. Steel, bronze, bone. Daggers