Fritz Maes

My mission is to make you aware of the true & relevant history of Medieval & Renaissance German warrior nobility and their combative culture, by presenting a basic visual-verbal essay about the apex of Ritterlich Kunst (Chivalric Arts) circa 1350-1550, as it existed in the primary Germanic ethno-realms of the Holy Roman Empire. We must realise that their past world of knightly martial arts was one not simply of brutality yet also one of beauty. What I present herein is but a brief sample of that vast world, which hopefully serves as much-needed context for superior understanding thereof. Select topics are hyperlinked to the best online resources that I could find, whether English of German. The viewer/reader is encouraged to make further independent research of these topics. Indeed, my work only covers primary aspects of Chivalric Arts and not the whole of Chivalry, which was an entire shared European aristocratic military culture encompassing far beyond what could be told presently. So much more could be said about Chivalric Arts across Europe (e.g. in England, France, Italy, Spain, etc.); yet my presentation’s purview had to be limited to what was most familiar to & beloved by me and richly resourced: Thus the Chivalric Arts of Germany. Lastly, nobody of either the so-called HEMA Community or the Academia-Museum-Entertainment Complex has dared to produce such a needed & worthy overview as I have done via this gorgeous & glorious presentation. Mark my words: German Chivalric Arts (GCA) shall live again. My best regards ~ Fritz Maes ~ October 2016

Gútiská Rúnós (Gothic Runes) are mysterious abstract symbols for real entities and primal powers. These Runes are arguably foundational – thus the Ur-Runen – perhaps being a complete array as early as circa 100 AD. My book relates this earliest Germanic tribal set of Runes to its ethnic founders – that is, the Goths – by providing historical & cultural context for understanding the Goths and their Runes. Hitherto nobody has dared to do so! And that alone makes my book unique and distinguished in Runology. Initially, these Runes are presented arrayed all together. Then each Rune is presented boldly & individually, within its own definitive & linguistic vignette. Therewith each Rune is fortified by a relevant inspirational image on the facing page. Thereafter, each Rune is supported by further insightful commentary and then random remarks. Finally, I offer my original runic poem to help others, especially children, to quickly & memorably learn the Gothic Runes. +

Who Were These Other Masters Of Fencing ?

These men were “other masters” who presented auxiliary longsword fencing lore in context of the professed prevalent longsword fencing lore of Master Johann Liechtenauer, as primarily covered by the majority of fighting lessons in the Döbringer Hausbuch (1389). These Other Masters were the following: Priest Hanko Döbringer; Andres Juden; Josts von der Neissen; Niclas Preussen.

It should be noted that it is possible these men were unacknowledged masters in the Liechtenauer Lineage, perhaps even his direct students. However, Fencing Master Kal in his Fechtbuch (1470) named none of these Other Masters among his list of masterly colleagues to the elite Liechtenauer College (Liechtenauers Gesellschaft) famously started by Grandmaster Johann Liechtenauer (?1340-1410?); whose lineage & lore were evidently the most prolific of the Medieval-to-Renaissance German Tradition of Fencing (Fechten).

Contrarily, is it possible that these Other Masters existed prior to Liechtenauer, and so instead he built his complex system from theirs? That seems unlikely. However, we do have the legacy of their longsword fighting lore: which is something valuable, if only now we aspire to animate it again honourably. That said, we know little else of these men who were the Other Masters.

Contents:
Questions & Answers
Other Masters Fencing
Symbolic-Dynamic Fighting Interpretation
Modern Mark-Verses
Modern Replica Longsword
Bibliography
About The Author

Prologue by Interpreter : These princely singers of eros were aristocratic vigorous young men who composed ballads of love for their enigmatic precious young women. Such poetry ranged emotionally from the agony to the ecstasy felt by the lordly singers and their lady-lovers during their courtship and/or wedlock. The songs they crafted, whether tragic or cathartic, whether wrathful or thankful, were dynamic artistic celebrations of the natural and healthy sexuality of monogamous male-female affinity. These noble men greatly enjoyed lovemaking with their beautiful women, and then creating high literary artworks honouring them. Accordingly, these worthy men and their wonderful women generated children who constituted both renewed dynastic sovereignty and reborn ethnic nobility, quite literally the fruition of their parents’ various intimate passionate unions. This lyrical love-poetry of Germany is comparable to the best of that from Ireland, England, Denmark, France, Hungary, Russia, Persia, Japan, or anywhere else in the World. These Chivalric men were both warriors and poets, rulers and revellers, fighters and lovers, and were among the Medieval European élite of the mighty Holy Roman Empire. Indeed, these were traditional and superior men of action and achievement, whose ballads recorded for posterity the distinctive eros of their distinguished ethnos with its own dignified ethos. May we take pleasure and gain inspiration from their charming and heartfelt poetry, reaching us positively even today, across continents and centuries, thereby showing us the beauty of the knightly soul. Thanks be unto these princely singers of eros! ~ FM

Medieval German
Martial Art of Wrestling
Chivalric Combatives
War & Duel & Sport

Wrestling of Early Germany
Liechtenauer Wrestling
Ott Wrestling
Gladiatoria-Wien Combat Wrestling
Von Danzig Combat Wrestling
Ringeck & Hundtfeltz Pinning & Escaping
Lignitzer Wrestling
Talhoffer Wrestling & Dagger-Fighting
Falkner Dagger-Fighting & Wrestling
Wurm & Goliath Foot-Wrestling & Crater
Goliath Wrestling at the Sword
Dürer Wrestling & Fencing
Wilhalm Wrestling for Duel & Horse
Nameless via Egenolph Wrestling
Von Auerswald Sport-Wrestling
Foundationality of Wrestling to Fencing
Advice for Modern Martial Artists
Bibliography & Acknowledgements
About the Author

This is a book of four exciting essays:

Chivalric Arts and Fight-Books tells you what Teutonic masters of Medieval European martial arts said and taught about their noble warrior culture via their training manuals.

Foundationality of Wrestling to Fencing tells you the significance of unarmed grappling combatives to swordfighting.

Medieval Martial Meditation tells you about the most forsworn and forgotten aspects of knighthood, both esoteric and practical.

Jörg versus Saracen at Ceuta circa 1457 tells you the climactic true story of real knightly dueling to the death during warfare.

This book shall surely shock and awe even the most apathetic of academia, anachronistia, and athletica alike. It reveals a dynamic world of great deeds and high adventure. It is a daring book of scholarly vigor and manly prowess. Now you too may read it for yourself…

So Gáuts is the proper name of the mythical legendary namesake Founding Father of the Goths. Cognates of Gothic Gáuts include AHD Góz/Kóz, OE Geat, ON Gautr – all ultimately from Aryan Gautaz / Gautis. The meaning of his name is itself a mystery, much like the mysterious nature of the Gothic Runes themselves...Indeed, much has been written about his nominal etymology – and Avery (February 2016) has done quite the best survey. However, I think my following spectrum of information provides unique and verifiable definitions for his own name and that of his Folk.

I propose a radical new etymology – and consequently-revealed verity – for the mysterious given/first-name of that God: + Urkeltisch Oinogusos = Urteutonisch Ingwaz + So this Oinogusos > Ingwaz, like all the (Atlantic) Vanir who came from the West and out of the Sea, was thus going East (along with his name) and eventually encountered the (Eurasian) Aesir who came from the East – a paradigm matching the ancient juxtaposition of Celtia to Germania.

The Latinized Gothic word recorded by Jordanes as haliurunnas could translate as either “hell-runners” (Scardigli 1973 & Lehmann 1986) or “hell-runers” (Köbler 1989). Jordanes (551) did not provide decisive linguistic-etymological definition, although he made clear the spirit of its meaning. The conjectured original word-form was Gothic haljurunnos. It makes sense when understood via either translation (although I advocate hell-runners with double-nn); and by extension means “hell-witches, dark witches, hell-venturers, necromantrixes, sorceresses”. That would be congruent with the supposition that hell-running was communion with the despotic and necrotic entity of Halja (Hel/Hell) for unholy and unwholesome purposes via unclean and unnatural powers. The eternally authoritative Grimm (1821), in reference to this passage by Jordanes, equated the related AHD word hellirúna with the Latin word necromantia (necromancy).