Fechtbuch

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fol. 2r of the Cod. 44 A 8, depicting two fencers in the vom tag and alber wards.

Fechtbuch (plural Fechtbücher) is Early Modern High German for "combat manual"^[1], one of the manuscripts or printed books of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance containing descriptions of a martial art. Usually, the term is taken to include 15th and 16th century German manuals, but the nature of the subject matter does not allow a clear separation of these from treatises from other parts of Europe on one hand (particularly from the Italian and French schools), and from manuals of later centuries on the other hand.

List of Fechtbücher:

German school
- MS I.33 (ca. 1300, predating Liechtenauer)
- MS 3227a (ca. 1389)
- Fechtbuch of Sigmund Ringeck (1440s)
- Codex Vindobonensis B 11093, kept in Vienna, and "Gladiatoria", discovered in Poland, both dating to the mid 15th century and largely uninfluenced by Liechtenauer.
- Fechtbücher of Hans Talhoffer (several surviving manuscripts dating 1443–1467).
- Fechtbuch of Peter von Danzig, Cod. 44 A 8, 1452
- Jud Lew Cod.I.6.4°.3 (1450s), Augsburg
- Fechtbuch of Paulus Kal (1460s)
- Cgm 558 a Swiss treatise of the later 1400s only loosely related to the German school.
- Codex Wallerstein (Vom Baumans Fechtbuch), 1470s, Augsburg
- Solothurner Fechtbuch, no text, dependent on Paulus Kal, 1470s, Solothurn
- Johannes Lecküchner Cod. Pal. Germ. 430, Heidelberg (1478), Cgm. 582, München (1482) [1]
- Cod. Guelf. 78.2, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel (late 15th century)
- Peter Falkner P 5012, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Hans Folz Q566 (ca. 1480), Weimar
- Hans von Speyer (MS M I 29) (1491) [2] [3]
- MS 862, ca 1500, influenced by Kal and Falkner, drawn upon by Wilhalm.
- Hans Wurm, grappling, (ca. 1505)
- "Goliath fechtbuch" (1510s) [4]
- Albrecht Dürer's fechtbuch HS. 26-232 (1512), Michigan State University
- Andre Pauernfeindt, Ergründung der ritterlichen kunst des fechtens durch freyfechter czu Vienn, Vienna, 1516
- Fechtbücher by Jörg Wilhalm (1520s)
- "Egenolph": Der Altenn Fechter anfaengliche Kunst, anonymous, printed by Christian Egenolph, 1529, Frankfurt am Main
- Hans Czynner MS. 963 (1538), Graz
- the compendia of Paulus Hector Mair (1540s).
- Hans Lecküchner (1558) (this is a reprint from the Altenn Fechter anfaengliche Kunst).
- Joachim Meyer "Grundtliche Beschreibung der freyen Ritterlichen vnnd Adelichen kunst des Fechtens in allerley gebreuchlichen Wehren mit vil schönen vnd nützlichen Figuren gezieret vnnd fürgestellet" (1570)
- Gunterrodt: "De veris principiis artis dimicatoriae" (1579), Wittenberg
- Codex Guelf. 83.4 (ca. 1591) [5]
- Jakob Sutor von Baden (1612)

Italian school
- Fiore dei Liberi's Flos Duellatorum (1410)
- Filippo Vadi's De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (1485)
- Pietro Monte (1509)
- Anonimo Bolognese M-345/6 (ca. 1510s) [6]
- Antonio Manciolino (1531)
- Achille Marozzo (1536)
- Camillo Agrippa, "Trattato di Scienza d'Arme" (1568)
- Giacomo di Grassi (1594)
- Salvator Fabris (1606)
- Ridolfo Capo Ferro (1610)
- Giuseppe Colombani (1711)

French manuals
- Le jeu de la hache (ca 1400)
- Anonymous. "La noble science des joueurs d'espee" (1528)
- Henry de Sainct-Didier "Traité contenant les secrets du premier livre de l’épée seule, mère de toutes les armes, qui sont épée, dague, cappe, targue, bouclier, rondelle, l’espée deux mains, et les deux espées, avec ses pourtraictures, …" (1573)
- Girard Thibault d'Anvers "Académie de l'epee, ou se démontrent par reigles mathématique, sur le fondement d'un cercle mysterieux, la theorie et pratique des vrais et jusqu'a present incognus secrets du maniement des armes, à pied et a cheval" (1623)
- Monsieur L'Abbat "The Art of Fencing, or, the Use of the Small Sword" (1734)
English manuals
- "Additional Manuscript 39564", 15th century [7]
- Harliean Manuscript 3542 ("The Man Who Wol"), 15th century [8]
- George Silver "Paradoxes of Defense" (1599)
- Joseph Swetnam "Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence" (1612) [9]
- Sir William Hope, several books (1690s)
- Capt. John Godfrey "A Treatise Upon the Useful Science of Defence, Connecting the Small and Back-Sword" (1747)
- Alfred Hutton "Cold Steel, A Practical Treatise on the Sabre" (1889), "Old Sword-Play" (1892)
Portuguese manuals
- A ensinança de bem cavalgar em toda a sela by Edward of Portugal (1391–1438)
- Memorial da Prattica do Montante Que inclue dezaseis regras simplez (1651)

[edit] Notes

^ fechten is cognate to English fight and still meant "fight, combat" in general in Early Modern times; in contemporary Standard German, fechten translates to "fencing", while the noun Gefecht retains the generic meaning of "fight, battle".