Federfechter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Freifechter or Federfechter (Freifechter Von der Feder zum Greifenfels) were a fencing guild founded around 1570 in Prague. They were known, from early in their existence, to be skilled, rivalling the Marx brothers who for the best part of a century had held a monopoly. In 1575 they were admitted by the council of Frankfurt in spite of the Marx brother's protests, and on 7 March 1607, they were officially recognised by Rudolf II, although they had been acknowledged to be equally capable long before.

Their motto was

Schwing' dich, Feder, sieh, wie man tut, schreib' gern mit Tinte, die aussieht wie Blut

approximately, "Sway, Feder ("Fechtfeder" also "quill"), look at their work, writing in ink that looks like blood"

Their original charter reportedly derives from the Duke of Mecklenburg, and part of the reason that they might have retained a high reputation (equal to the Marxbruder, despite not having their cachet) for so long was the high requirements for any fencing master in Germany to start a school. The need for the nascent fencing master to impress the municipal council of his city to start a fencing school there might have weeded out the most unfit. Once posting his notice at the city's Rathaus, making his demonstration, and (presumably) impressing the council (by fighting a number of persons who presented themselves to fence the reviewee), he could be granted the use of an open space in which to teach.

During the existence of the Federfechter, the application process for starting a school was extremely stringent; partly because of resentment from the Marxbruder, who felt the Federfechter's existence threatened their privileges and interfered in an art that rightfully belonged to the Marxbruder. Ironically, the interference by the Marxbruder may have, in the long term, preserved the Federfechter's reputation; any master who managed to start a school with this much interference would have to be special, indeed.

The Oberhauptmänner of the Marxbruder and the Federfecther were often seen at the imperial court by the mid-1500s, and were each consulted on matters of honor.

A Eschenbachen Federfechter by the name of Hanns Schuler mentions that, at least in some cases, thick jerkins were worn by both Federfechter and Marxbruder during bouting with the dussack.

A quote from Augustin Staidt, a Federfechter: "Who despises me and my praiseworthy craft, I'll hit on the head that it resound in his heart."

Additional information can be found in the book Sechs Fechtschulen der Marxbrüder und Federfechter, by Karl Wassmannsdorff, published in Germany in 1870.