Hans Talhoffer (c. 1420 - c. 1490) was a Fechtmeister (literally 'fencing master' or 'fight master'), employed as 'master of arms' to the Swabian knight Leutold von Konigsegg, a feudatory of Count Eberhardt the Bearded of Württemberg in southern Germany.[1] He is the author of 'at least six'[1] Fechtbücher, illustrated treatises describing methods of fighting with bare hands, dagger, long sword, short sword, pole weapons, shields, maces, and on horseback.[2]
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Talhoffer was a contemporary of fencing master Paulus Kal, an exponent of the German school of fencing, and 'probably a follower of the Grand Fechtmeister Hans Liechtenauer.'[3]
One of the few pieces of documentary evidence about Talhoffer's life appears in the records of Zürich (Switzerland), documenting that he was teaching near the Rathaus (city hall) in 1454, where a fight broke out among his students, resulting in various fines.
John Clements, Director of the Historical Armed Combat Association proposed in a foreword to a 2000 edition of the 1467 Talhoffer Fechtbuch that modern use of the term 'martial arts' is incorrectly associated primarily with Asian practices, and that Talhoffer's work exemplified 'hundreds' of similar fighting manuals in Medieval Europe that 'present to us a portrait of highly developed and innovative European martial arts based on sophisticated, systematic and effective skills.'[3]
Mark Rector notes in his introduction to his 2000 translation of the 1467 Talhoffer Fechtbuch that medieval swords were quite light, weighing between two and four pounds (roughly one to two kg) and were well balanced. Medieval European martial arts used nimble footwork and a 'primary tactical principle' of 'single time' so that 'every attack contains a defence and every defence contains a counter-attack'.[4]
Techniques illustrated by Talhoffer include unusual handling of swords, such as half-swording (gripping a hand-and-a-half or two-handed sword with one hand near the pommel and the other on the forte of the blade), handling swords at the tip to use the guard as a bludgeon or hook, and the use of cello-shaped shields that featured spiked ends for hooking and impaling opponents. Illustrations depicting a judicial duel between a man and a woman suggest duelling was not the sole preserve of men.[2]
Talhoffer's work is among the most widely known of the 15th century German Fechtmeister[3]. There are six surviving illustrated Fechtbücher, documenting a span of three decades of his activity.
A list of the Fechtbücher by Hans Talhoffer:
Of these, (1), (3) and (6)[5] have been edited by Gustav Hergsell. (5) is available online as full facsimile at the website of the Kongelige Bibliotek. [6] So that ignoring copies, (4) is the only known manuscript that remains unpublished as of 2006. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts website also has a complete English translation and analysis of the 1459 Thott Manuscript(5) by Jeffrey Hull.