Swordsmanship

This article traces the pictorial lineages of images collected in one of the two Thun-Hohenstein albums through comparative analyses of fight books produced in the German-speaking lands, and considers how the representational strategies deployed in martial treatises inflected the ways that book painters and their audiences visualized the armoured body.

In the literature about swords, their use has predominantly not been analysed. This article tries to reconstruct some aspects of the use of Viking Age swords from Northern and Eastern Europe. The reconstruction is based on biomechanics, martial arts principles, late medieval fencing books and

Vlijmscherp verleden
Vlijmscherp verleden vertelt het verhaal over de geschiedenis van het zwaard en de rituele en symbolische betekenis ervan. U ziet bijna tweehonderd bijzondere zwaarden, afkomstig uit de prehistorie tot de twintigste eeuw. De pronkzwaarden, slagzwaarden en steekzwaarden komen uit bijna alle werelddelen. Blikvangers zijn de 'magische' bronzen zwaarden uit de prehistorie, Vikingzwaarden uit de omgeving van Dorestad, een Frans koningszwaard uit de Merovingische tijd en het Nederlandse Rijkszwaard, dat met de overige regalia een tastbaar symbool is van het koninklijk gezag.

Meer dan slechts een wapen

Het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden bezit de grootste collectie archeologische zwaarden van Nederland. Bruiklenen uit binnen- en buitenland verrijken de tentoonstelling en vullen het verhaal aan tot de twintigste eeuw. De zwaarden uit de verschillende perioden en landen geven u een beeld van de grote verscheidenheid in vorm, materiaal en versiering. U ontdekt hoe ze de afgelopen drieduizend jaar zijn gemaakt en u maakt kennis met hun (vaak) rituele en symbolische betekenis. Niet voor niets zijn zwaarden van oudsher een teken van macht, gerechtigheid en krijgskunst.

Zwaarden met persoonlijkheid

Een zwaard is niet alleen een wapen, het is veel meer dan dat. Al eeuwenlang staan zwaarden symbool voor macht, gerechtigheid en krijgskunst. Ze hebben vaak een aparte status en worden gezien als objecten met een eigen 'persoonlijkheid'. Zwaarden spreken nog steeds tot de verbeelding, net als degenen die ze droegen: strijders, ridders en soldaten.

The thesis mainly constitutes of a translation of a fencing treatise incorporated in the Hs. 3227a, also mistakenly named Codex Döbringer, from Middle High German into modern Polish. It is composed of two parts, the first, theoretical, and the second, practical. The theoretical part includes presentation of the source text, that is the manuscript, with following descriptions of methodology used during the transcription and translation procedures, including some of the difficulties that were to be faced during the translation process. The practical part constitutes of the transcription and the translation with an added glossary of German terms used in the text.
The presented translation is a pioneering venture, bringing the text described above into modern Polish. As such, it may be used by members of the Academia who research the fields of history, archaeology, history of language, paleography, martial arts – European or other – or any other branches of science and arts that may be considered with the subject matter. At the same time, it may be of interest to researchers and practitioners of historical European martial arts and contribute to further research of the subject as a source of information, also for those, who are unaware of advanced martial arts systems that flourished in mediaeval Europe, what could contribute to popularisation of the lost element of immaterial culture once present in the Old World.

Short catalogue to a small exhibition of historical books on fencing and dueling from the library of the Arms and Armor Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and swords and other objects relating to them in the department's collection.

Knightly Weaponry Play - the Manual of Fencing and Archery for German Scouting

This is an instructional manual for the basic, fun, and clever wielding by youth of longsword, single stick, bow & arrow, and crossbow & bolt.  Published in Germany in 1935 as Ritterliche Waffenspiele (Knightly Weaponry Play), this second edition book was originally written by a patriotic forester, naturalist, and Scouting leader, Herr-Doktor Wilhelm Fabricius, who along with his faithful wife, Frau Anna Schweickhardt, worked to inspire their nation’s various juvenile environmental-survival fellowships & brotherhoods like Deutsche Freischar, Wandervögel, Deutsche Jungenschaft, Adler und Falken, Deutsches Jungvolk, Bündische Jugend, Pfadfinder (German Volunteers, Wandering Birds, German Youngship, Eagle and Falcons, German Youngfolk, League of Youth, Path-Finders = Scouts).  This little field manual, now exceedingly rare, was the combined 23rd/24th final volume of the once-popular series of the chocolate-bar-sized Scouting Rucksack-Bücherei (rucksack-library), codicologically remarkable for their finely wrought pictures and bold yet delicate fonts, plus archival quality paper and sturdy bindings.

Fabricius evidently wanted the German youth of his day to learn something of the noble and manly arts of combat pursued by Medieval German Ritter (knights).  Indeed, his book’s swordplay clearly interprets moves of Kunst des Fechtens (art of fencing/fighting) as illustrated centuries earlier by venerable Fechtmeister (fencing/fight-masters) like Hans Talhoffer (1467) and Joachim Meyer (1570 & 1600), and a probable Fechter & Ringer (fencer & wrestler) like Albrecht Dürer (1512).  All such were constituents of the array of martial arts correctly known as Ritterlich Kunst (Knightly/Chivalric Arts).  Howsoever imperfect his interpretation of those past teachings might be, Fabricius made up for it by his motivational vitality.

The goal of this book is juvenile martial prowess, which is the organic outcome of suprarational self-worth and historical curiosity leading to autodidactic achievement.  Training at such positive athletic activities makes for a higher quality citizen.  These were specifically intended, along with a kaleidoscopic variety of other worthwhile activities, to help the Scouts make themselves from boys into men for the benefit of, and to the credit of, their Volksgemeinschaft (ethnic community: i.e. Germany = nation, people, culture).  That said, weaponry play—with some vigorous wrestling along the way—simply makes for great joy!

The Fechtbuch (Fight-Book) from 1459 AD by Hans Talhoffer is truly an uncanny work. In this edition of his work, the fight-master opens a window for us to his world. He shares knowledge from his own field of expertise – the martial arts of Renaissance Europe. Yet he also presents works from masters of the same and other fields – Zwaintzig Ussrichtung (Twenty Directives) by fight-master Johann Liechtenauer; Bellifortis (Battle Force) by military engineer Conrad Kyeser; and Hie Lert (Here Teaches) by astrologer-physiologist Jud Ebreesch. By text and by pictures, numerous diverse and lively scenes are shown that are sometimes quite bizarre – vigorous fighting lessons, for judicial dueling and for battle; war-machines, strange inventions and secret formulas; and treatises upon cosmology and physiology.

In this rich personal edition of his work, Talhoffer deals with a wide variety of things, from the lofty to the earthy. He has something to offer everyone – whether fighter, artist, botanist, philologist, herbalist, chemist, metalsmith, carpenter, jurist, kinesiologist, astronomer, culinarian, theologian, costumer, physician or otherwise.

Although fighting-arts are the focus of Talhoffer’s book, it is really something of a kaleidoscopic view of the interests and pursuits of the Renaissance German warrior, inclusive of manifold things meaningful to his life. However atavistic or unreal his world may be deemed now, it did truly exist and held wonder and honour worthy of our admiration.

The diversity of this book stands witness to Hans Talhoffer as one of the dynamic personalities of his generation – one whom we must deem was a true Renaissance Man.

All imagery herein is from the 1459-Thott edition, courtesy of the original 15th Century manuscript held by sterwardship of Det Kongelige Bibliotek in Copenhagen Denmark. I made this PDF to present that work here for the free learning of all sincerely interested persons. It may be viewed via personal computer, saved onto CDR and/or printed into hard-copy, allowing complete archiving of the document in whatever quality format one may choose – with the understanding that it is meant for noncommercial and nonprofit educational usage. The imagery herein is colour-corrected; and where needed in four folios, the action of the artwork is conceptually restored. The original uncorrected DKB facsimile still exists online. DKB is found in the Web at this URL: http://www.kb.dk

So first is the facsimile of the original book itself, which lets you see the words and pictures for yourself. Next are my transcription of its German and my translation of that into English – the transcription gives you direct comprehensible reference to the original German wording, while the translation gives you the first and only rendering of that wording into English. Lastly is my interpretive commentary, which helps you better understand many aspects of the words and pictures.

Most curatorial examinations of weapons are dry and give little detail as to their origins or development. What follows examines the origins and development of the broadsword along with some of the issues which have accompanied this weapon through history to this era. This examination is a close look at the broadsword to demonstrate that previous methods of classification need to be corrected and that the history of a weapon is important as is its development. Only through the assembly of all the data about a weapon can a person have any idea about how the weapon would handle.

Abstract:

L’argomento di questa tesi nasce dall'esperienza congiunta di rievocazione storica ed archeologia sperimentale che ho maturato con gli anni. Appassionato di rievocazione dal 2007,
ho praticato (e continuo tuttora a praticare) la scherma ed il reenactment relativi a svariati periodi della storia della Sardegna: il periodo medioevale (giudicale), quello romano-imperiale e da ultimo quello nuragico. La necessità di avere maggiori informazioni, non disponibili tramite le fonti scritte, iconografiche e archeologiche legate sopratutto a quest’ultimo periodo, mi ha portato con gli anni a pormi ulteriori quesiti sull’argomento. Quella dei nuragici era una società pacifica? In caso contrario come combattevano i suoi guerrieri? Che tipo di struttura gerarchico-militare avevano? Le risposte a queste domande diventavano sempre più impellenti man mano che mi confrontavo con il pubblico (e spesso con i pregiudizi legati a questo lontano periodo). Desideroso di avere delle risposte, coadiuvato dall’esperienza di artigiano-archeotecnico del bronzo che porto avanti nei ritagli di tempo, ispirato da studi sulla cosiddetta “archeologia del combattimento” e dalle tecniche forensi applicate nell'archeologia, sono giunto a conclusione che solo studiando i resti umani di quegli
uomini vissuti 3000 e più anni fa, avrei potuto ricavare maggiori risposte alle mie domande.
Nel presente lavoro ho esaminato i casi più noti in letteratura di reperti scheletrici con visibili segni traumatici, ponendo particolare attenzione ai periodi preistorici. Come paragone
per lo studio dei reperti nuragici è stato utilizzato lo scheletro di un presunto soldato medioevale, il quale presentava diversi traumi da combattimento. I resti ossei nuragici consistono in tre crani appartenenti a tre diverse sepolture collettive localizzate in aree della Sardegna tra loro molto distanti. Per questi tre casi si è provveduto a determinare il tipo di trauma osservato, che tipo di arma ha provocato la ferita e lo scenario ipotetico dell’aggressione che ha interessato ciascun individuo. Lo studio di questi casi ha permesso una ricostruzione delle modalità di combattimento più verosimili per tale periodo; queste hanno
permesso di dedurre quali ferite e in quali aree del corpo si potrebbero riscontrare più frequentemente i traumi. La riproduzione dei traumi mediante prove d’archeologia sperimentale (test di taglio) hanno permesso di capire quali lesioni potrebbero essere prodotte da alcune specifiche armi dell’età del Bronzo. Come ultima analisi sono stati elencati i principali casi di trapanazioni craniche per poter determinare se tali pratiche siano da mettere in relazione a traumi conseguenti ad episodi violenti o a pratiche etnoiatriche.

The subject of this thesis was born from a joint of historical reenactment and experimental archeology that I have gained over the years. Fond of living history since 2007, I practiced (and still continuing to practice) the fencing and the reenactment related to various periods of the history of Sardinia: the medieval period (Judicial), the Roman Empire and finally the nuragic one (Age of Bronze). The need to have more information, not available through the written sources, iconographic and archaeological related especially in the latter period, led me through the years to ask me more questions on the subject.
Nuragics was that of a peaceful society? Otherwise how his warriors fought? What kind of hierarchical-military had? The answers to these questions became more compelling as I compared them with the public (and often with the prejudices related to this distant period). Eager to get answers, aided by the experience of bronze artisan-archaeotecnic that I carry in my spare time, inspired by studies on the so-called "archeology of combat" and forensic techniques applied in archaeology, I have come to the conclusion that only by studying the human remains of those men lived 3000 years and more ago, I could get more answers to my questions.
In this paper I have examined the best known cases in the literature of skeletal remains with visible signs of trauma, paying particular attention to prehistoric times. As a comparison for the study of the nuragic finds, was used the skeleton of a supposed medieval soldier, who presented several combat trauma. The skeletal nuragic remains consist of three skulls belonging to three different collective burials located in areas of Sardinia each other very distant. For these three cases, it was decided to determine the type of trauma observed, what kind of weapon caused the wound and the hypothetical scenario of the attack that affected each individual. The study of these cases has allowed a reconstruction of how to combat the most plausible for that period; These have enabled us to deduce which wounds and in which areas of the body could be encountered more frequently trauma. Reproduction of trauma by tests of experimental archeology (test cutting) has allowed us to understand what injuries could be produced by a number of specific Bronze Age weapons. As the final analysis were listed the main cases of cranial drilling to determine whether such practices are to be related to trauma resulting from violent incidents or etnoiatric practices.

In spite of the very large quantity of bronze age swords in Northern Italy, only few stone moulds have been found. In effect we have tested that carving such big stone moulds (more than 60 cm long) requires a big amount of raw material, deep knowledges and skills, rather than a wide set of implements. It has also been proved exprimentally that long sandstone moulds for swords, especially on blade details, are affected by fragility of the material itself, when stone comes in contact with the flowing melted bronze. For these reasons, this could mean that they were made in other materials and through other techniques, which did not leave any visible (or identified?) trace on metallurgical sites. A team of archaeologist and craftmen is now working on other methods, which will be presented in this paper.

2007 (1st ed) 2022 (2nd ed) study and teaching guide based on Fiore dei Liberi's l'arte d'armizare, presenting material on the context for the Fior di Battaglia, on the author, on the segno, and on fundamentals including the kinetics of blow delivery, essentials of footwork, balance, Fiore's fighting positions or poste, and six foundational plays developed from Fiore's material to teach core principles. Sold well but went out of print in 2011; a second, revised edition is now in print with Echo Point Books!

Papers devoted to the typology of certain categories of the material culture need the close cooperation with the local schemes. A change of researching “optics” is likely to have a positive effect on the process of studiing the general trends in the material, if this process of research is closely linked with the base of any typological constructions — with the spatial and chronological relations analysis. Besides the publication of new stray finds and partial republication of already known finds from the burial complexes, the main goal of this work is the checking of certain typological tendentions of such category of Scythian culture as akinakai (Scythian swords and daggers) of the Carpathian-Dniester region. A geographical division of Carpathian-Dniester region is proposed: Middle Dniester (Bukovinian) group, Eastern Carpathian (Neamţ) group, Siret-Dniester (Moldavian) group, Lower Dniester and Lower Danube groups. Chronologically, the massive of akinakai of Carpathian-Dniester region could be divided into three groups: Early Scythian (650—550 BC), Middle Scythian (550—450 BC) and Classic Scythian (450—300 BC). The following trends connected with Scythian swords and daggers were noticed: Early Scythian burials with akinakai concentrate in Bukovina and strayfinds in Moldova, Middle Scythian burials — are grouping in Moldavian and the strayfinds — in Neamţ group, and the Classical Scythian burials with akinakai are presented only in Lower Dnister and Lower Danube groups.

This essay is the first and only exploration of what the German Tradition of Chivalric Arts (Ritterlich Kunst)—with its three main lineages of Liechtenauer, Nürnberg, Gladiatoria—meant by masse for fencing and wrestling.  The findings may prove both revealing and riling: My conclusion is that masse meant “mass” in context of those past martial arts.  That simple and obvious equation differs from the current and hitherto uncontested consensus that masse et.al. meant “measure”.  Moreover, said consensus has no regard for whether the context be fechten (fencing) or ringen (wrestling), where multiple meanings for the same word may have existed.  Accordingly, many otherwise smart and talented fencers, wrestlers and scholars may misunderstand what masse really meant in context of Chivalric fencing and wrestling.  Counter to that, I hope to present a definitive and contextual analysis of relevant passages from those major German fechtbücher (fencing/fight-books) which spoke of masse; and accordingly provide a new, alternative and correct understanding for that significant word plus other related and relevant terms of Medieval German fighting arts.

Published by Paladin Press in 1999, Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction (TOMAR) remained in print until 2017, when Paladin closed their business. A limited number of copies are available at the URL below.

Intended for the practitioner market, TOMAR is a massive tome of 660+ pages and more than 600 photographs and illustrations documenting the fundamentals of metalwork and engineering employed in the reproduction of medieval armour. Anchored in basic techniques, it was always intended that a follow-on advanced book be completed which would include more intensive techniques such as raising, square edge-rolling, locksmithing, and the like.

The book has earned hundreds of positive reviews on Amazon and has been called the "bible" of armouring. Find it here: https://brianrprice.com/.

The following passages from major Fechtbücher (fencing/fight-books) of the German Tradition are meant to show the presence and the relevance of the principle of Indes (Inthereof) as found originally in the Liechtenauer Lineage of Bloszfechten (bare/unarmoured longsword fencing).  The word is a strange combination of genitive article, adverb, preposition and pronoun.  MHD Indes equates with NHD indes or indessen, and was synonymous with MHD underdez and MHD dÿ weile and even MHD mit.  It may translate into NE as meanwhile, meantime; or the suitable instantly, immediately; or the commendable within; but really neither the questionable just as, nor the suicidal simultaneously.  All such have served in various modern translations.  However, I think that Indes is best served by the wholly original translation of:  Inthereof.  That word serves the demands of its unique martial context for a meaning relevant to both time and space.  “Inthereof” provides us a new & superior understanding of Indes.

En el presente trabajo se analizan los datos disponibles sobre la “Esgrima Vulgar” practicada en la Península Ibérica en los siglos XV y XVI, centrándose en su uso civil más que en el militar, y en aspectos administrativos y sociales del oficio de esgrimidor, la reglamentación de las cofradías, los espacios y herramientas de la práctica, los juegos públicos, el estatus de profesionales y practicantes, los principales maestros del periodo, así como un recorrido por la tratadística conservada en la actualidad y de la que se tienen referencias.

This paper discusses the data available on the “Vulgar Fencing” practiced in the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th and 16th centuries, focusing on civilian use rather than in the military, and in administrative and social aspects of the craft of fencer, regulation of the brotherhoods, the spaces and practice tools, public games, the status of professionals and practitioners, the great masters of the period, as well as a tour of the tratadistica preserved today and have references.

The study is focussed on a (then) innovative intercultural and interdisciplinary comparison between sword-culture in Europe and Japan. It contains the first published  results of a direct comparison between blade surfaces on medieval Japanese and Merovingian Period European sword-blades polished in the traditional Japanese manner. In this context the crucial role of surface-technology by grinding and polishing for functional sword-blades is highlighted in detail for the first time. There is an English and a Japanese summary contained.

This paper is an examination of the social aspects of rapier combat. Rapier combat was a form of civilian combat that flourished in the Renaissance period. The paper focuses on an examination of the important social aspects of honour, the gentleman, duelling and the education of the gentleman. It then relates this to a case study of Elizabethan England to demonstrate how these concepts are important to understanding civilian combat in this period as a whole.
To introduce the topic of rapier combat, the earlier chapters explain the basic elements so that the reader may understand the subject and also gain some contextual grounding in this field. This is followed by an examination of Shakespeare’s plays as political and social commentary, followed by an in-depth discussion of the concepts that have been mentioned previously.
This paper will demonstrate the integrated nature of the concepts, and show that each is bound to the others. As such, it will follow that to discuss one concept alone would be restricting the perspective of the topic. The subject of rapier combat itself is only part of a much larger subject of swordplay, and much technical research has been done on this topic. Without a social investigation of these topics a full appreciation of their time cannot be expected. It is hoped that this paper will form a bridge between the technical research that has been completed in the fields and the other more social research that has been done in the same time period. It is also hoped that this paper will form a bridge between the academic research of scholars and the more antiquarian research of re-enactors and recreationalists.

Knightly Dueling is a complete overview of the fighting arts of German chivalric dueling, on horse and on foot, during the late Medieval and early Renaissance. Through the words and pictures of original source texts of the great German fight-masters of the 14th through 16th centuries – extraordinary works that poetically preserved medieval methods of the true knightly dueling of mortal combat over grave matters with battlefield arms & armour.Until now, no single book has encompassed and clarified the scattered existing historical information on German dueling with swords, lances, daggers, pollaxes etc. Knightly Dueling shows the ruthless reality of man-to-man combat of the German Kunst des Fechtens (art of fighting), providing a thorough understanding of Johannes Liechtenauer's Roszfechten (horse fighting) and Kampffechten (duel fighting). It gives Middle High German transcriptions, as well as the first and only modern English translations, of works from various fight books by Liechtenauer's renowned masterly interpreters, including Hanko Döbringer, Peter von Danzig, Hans Talhoffer and Andre Lignitzer. The book also presents an illustrated blow-by-blow account of a deadly duel from a German Fechtbuch (fight book); primary source information regarding specific training of noblemen for duels and the training of noble youth in the combat arts; and a unique glossary of historical German chivalric terms for arms and armour.Lavishly illustrated with lots of period artwork, Knightly Dueling restores the concept of German chivalry to its rightful martial role and is a must for any serious scholar of the dynamic field of European martial arts.

Axiom : When a new kind of sword originates and becomes prevalent, then it logically follows that both the sword and its new kind of fencing evolve and become perfected.  That is what must have started happening in Chivalric Europe circa 1100, when a new kind of sword—called variously longsword, langschwert, war sword, espée de guerre, great sword, grans espée, two-hand-sword, etcetera—came into being.  Its history is well-epitomised by the Liechtenauer Lineage of the German Tradition of the Art of Fencing, its Kunst des Fechtens.  The longsword probably first arose somewhere in Germany (i.e. Holy Roman Empire) and eventually spread via migratory innovation and/or native industry to England, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, Iberia, Poland, Bohemia, Prussia and Baltica.

The monograph systematizes data on Scythian blade weapons from the territory of Central and South-Eastern Europe (Moldova, western Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland). The paper examines in detail the finds of swords and daggers of the Scythian period (more than 200 artifacts), analyzes the chronological positions of these objects based on burials, and reveals a correlation with other types of weapons. The typological features of the weapons of the early nomads are studied against a broad cultural and historical background, covering all simultaneous cultures of the Eurasian steppe cultural continuum of the Scythian period from northwest China to Silesia, including Siberia, the Volga-Urals, the Balkans and the Caucasus. Thus, fundamental changes in the morphology of the Scythian akinakes were traced, “cultural types” were identified, the sources of generation of types of the Scythian akinakes were determined, and the dynamics of the displacement of these sources in time was shown. The book is in Russian and contains 648 pages of text, 212 figures, 40 catalogue tables and 16 color plates.

Iron Age swords are remarkable in terms of their short length compared to their contemporaries in La Tène Britain and Continental Europe, a feature that has led to speculation that they were primarily stabbing weapons or a ceremonial object not intended for fighting. This research incorporates previously published swords with new material from a survey of Irish museum databases to examine the swords in terms of blade morphology and dimension to infer their possible use in battle. The study shows that the majority of swords from the period (c. 700 BC – c. 400 AD), both La Tène and sub-Roman, have features of stabbing weapons used for fighting on foot. This is at odds with the nature of weaponry found elsewhere in La Tène Europe, and highlights an insular development in Ireland during the period. Through two case studies, this analysis also shows that in interacting with the outside world, conscious choices may have been made when it came to importing weapons and ideas. By clarifying the suggestions made in other works about the uses of these swords, this article looks at the swords from a new dimension, one that also relates these weapons to the nature of warfare and society in Iron Age Ireland.

Der vorliegende Artikel untersucht Formen und Verwendung von Schilden und Schildbuckeln von der vorrömischen Eisenzeit bis ans Ende des Frühmittelalters. Der geographische Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf Nordeuropa, dem römischen Reich sowie dem Karolingerreich und dem angelsächsischen Raum.

What follows is a discussion of the weapon commonly referred to as the feder. This investigation examines some of the etymology of the commonly used term federschwert in reference to this weapon along with how the term feder was used in documents of the period in which they were used. Further, it examines other proposed terms for the weapon, and examines images from various treatises of the weapon to discover the form of the weapon. It then discusses the actual form of the weapon, its physical characteristics and usage.

The extraordinary grave of the Early Migration Period warrior from Juszkowo, Pruszcz Gdański com.
During excavations held by the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk in July 2010 at Juszkowo, near Pruszcz Gdański, an isolated grave from the Early Migration Period was found apart from numerous features from the Early Iron Age, Roman, Medieval and modern periods. It was an inhumation grave of an approximately 30 year old male, equipped with a long double‑edged sword: the so called Asian spathae. The weapon has a lot of parallels in the areas inhabited by the Huns and subordinated peoples like the Alans or the Gepids. Such a form of sword was also proved for regions reached by Barbarian armies led
by the Huns, i.e. in western or southern Europe. However, the find from Juszkowo is unique so far to the north. Additionally, a sword bead of amber was documented in the Juszkowo grave, which is a quite typical
addition to an Asian spatha. The next element of grave furnishing was an iron brooch representing the Hăneşti type or a late form of crossbow fibulas (a tendril or with solid catch‑plate). Furthermore, a belt buckle of gilded bronze with silver inlays was spotted in the grave furnishing. It belongs to the Strzegocice‑Tiszaládány‑Kercz type, known from a wide zone between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea with particular concentrations in the middle Danube basin and Pannonia. The interment from Juszkowo should be dated to phase D2. It was a period of the abandonment in the area in question: the earlier settlement of the Wielbark culture ceased to exist. Moreover, the Wielbark culture burial rites excluded weapons fromgrave equipment. Therefore the question arises: who was buried at Juszkowo? In trying to answer this question, the authors suggest taking into consideration the possible return of warriors fighting in the south, submitted to the Huns, but also other possibilities, e.g., the existence of military outposts organized by the Huns to control the region, important to maintain contact with Scandinavia.

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