German school of fencing

German school of historical fencing

page of Mscr. Dresd. C 93 by Paulus Hector Mair (1540s)
Also known as	historical German swordsmanship, Kunst des Fechtens
Focus	longsword, messer, dagger, polearms, grappling
Country of origin	Holy Roman Empire
Famous practitioners	Johannes Liechtenauer, Hans Talhoffer, Paulus Hector Mair, Sigmund Ringeck

The German school of fencing (Deutsche Schule; Kunst des Fechtens^[1]) is a system of combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire during the Late Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern periods, as described in the contemporary Fechtbücher ("combat manuals") written at the time. The geographical center of this tradition was in what is now Southern Germany (Augsburg, Frankfurt, and Nuremberg). During the period in which it was taught, it was known as the Kunst des Fechtens, or the "Art of Fencing" (commonly mistranslated as the "Art of Fighting").^[2] Though the German school of fencing focuses primarily on the use of the two-handed longsword, it also describes the use of many other weapons, including polearms, daggers, messers (with or without a buckler), and the staff, as well as describing mounted combat and unarmed grappling.

Most authors of writings on the system are, or claim to be, in the tradition of the 14th-century master Johannes Liechtenauer. The earliest surviving treatise on Liechtenauer's system is a manuscript dated to 1389, known as Ms. 3227a. More manuscripts survive from the 15th century, and during the 16th century the system was also presented in print, most notably by Joachim Meyer in 1570.

The German tradition was largely eclipsed by the Italian school of rapier fencing by the early 17th century, however, practitioners of the German school persisted at least until the end of the 18th century.^[3][4]

Fencing with the German longsword has been a focus of historical European martial arts reconstruction since the late 19th century, when swordsmen such as Alfred Hutton first popularized the pursuit.

The term "the German school of fencing" can be misleading, because there were and are multiple styles of German fencing. For example, both German academic fencing and old German theatrical swordplay are referred to today as being of the "German school of fencing".^[5]

History

Late medieval tradition

The first document of German heritage which shows fencing techniques is the Royal Armouries Ms. I.33, which was written around 1300. The next documents date from approximately a century later, when records of the tradition attributed to the 14th-century master Johannes Liechtenauer begin to appear.

The history of the German school of fencing in the tradition of Liechtenauer spans roughly 250 years, or 8-10 generations of masters (depending on the dating of Liechtenauer) from 1350 to 1600. The earliest source, Ms. 3227a of 1389, mentions a number of masters who are considered peers of Liechtenauer: Hanko Döbringer, Andres Jud, Jost von der Nyssen, and Niklaus Preuss. Martin Hundsfeld and Ott Jud were probably active in the early 15th century, but there is a scarcity of historical sources until the mid-15th century.

The mid-15th century saw the peak and decline of the "Society of Liechtenauer" under Peter von Danzig, Sigmund Ringeck, and Paulus Kal. Kal's contemporary, Hans Talhoffer, may have been involved with the founding of the Brotherhood of St. Mark, which enjoyed a quasi-monopoly on teaching martial arts from 1487 until 1570.

German Renaissance

Late 15th-century masters include Johannes Lecküchner, Hans von Speyer, Peter Falkner, and Hans Folz. In the 16th century, the tradition became more a sporting exercise than a system of combat for duelling or the battlefield. Early 16th-century masters include Hans Wurm, Jörg Wilhalm, and Andre Pauernfeindt (also Paurnfeindt; Paurnfeyndt; Paurenfeyndt)^[6]

In 1516, Pauernfeindt published a treatise entitled Ergründung der ritterlichen kunst des fechtens durch freyfechter czu Vienn ("Foundation of the knightly art of combat by the Freifechter of Vienna"), which is one of the earliest printed fencing manuals. Comparisons with descriptions in other manuscripts from the period (such as the Cologne Fechtbuch) confirm that this period was a transitional stage between the late medieval school of Johannes Liechtenauer and the German Renaissance "sportive" Federfechten as practiced in the late 16th century (as recorded in the later printed manuals by Joachim Meyer and others). A later manuscript, dated 1564 and attributed to Lienhart Sollinger, cites Pauernfeindt and is largely identical in content.^[7][8]

In the mid 16th century, the first attempts, notably by Paulus Hector Mair, at preserving and reconstructing the teachings of the past century appeared. The foundation of the Federfechter in 1570 at Vienna falls into this late period. The final phase of the tradition stretches from the late 16th to the early 17th century, with masters such as Joachim Meyer and Jakob Sutor.

Decline of the German tradition

In the 17th century, rapier fencing of the Italian school became fashionable due to treatises by such as Salvator Fabris, and the German tradition becoming regarded as old-fashioned and unrefined among the nobility during the Baroque. Longsword fencing was gradually discontinued at noble fencing schools, including most universities, at the time. The rapier had an advantage in that it could be worn well with the clothing of that time period when longswords were typically seen as too large to be worn fashionably.

Author Jean Daniel L'Ange writes in his book Deutliche und gründliche Erklärung der adelichen und ritterlichen freyen Fecht-Kunst, from 1664 (another edition was published in 1708), that "a big sword is very dangerous in our times because it is more difficult to [carry] around with clothing than a smaller thrusting sword, which can easily be worn." He also writes that "it is possible to kill a man who is armed with a gun in a short range, when he stands close to you[,] with the help of the rapier, because of the highly effective thrusting techniques [that] will save your life, rather than with the slower cutting of a bigger sword or a sabre. You may even be able to kill him, before he can take his gun out of its halter, before he can make the first shot".^[9]

L'Ange also writes, "you can hide your rapier well under your mantle and thus avoid any provocation in public. A long sword may cause problems and excite enemies". But L'Ange also pays tribute to the Marksbrüder and states, "their art is truly a knightly science, it must be preserved for the coming, yet unborn generations!".^[10][11] However, some civilian fencers still practiced the German school instead of the rapier-fencing of the noble elite. The last known practitioner was Theodori Verolini^[12] in 1679, when he published his book Der Kůnstliche Fechter ("The Artful Fencer"), which was based upon Joachim Meyers fechtbuch.

Late survivals in the modern period

There are paintings from the middle of the 18th century^[13] that show practitioners still using long swords in the fencing schools of the Marxbrüder and Federfechter. It cannot be verified if these depictions are anachronistic or they show techniques and practices of the original Liechtenauer tradition still in use.^[14] In 1726, Gottfried Rudolf Pommer auf Bugenhagen mentions in his publication Sammlung von Merktwurdigkeiten ("Collection of Oddities")^[15] the use of long swords at the time in those fencing schools. Most fencers of the 18th century viewed longsword fencing as a curious thing, and it was probably only taught in the few remaining fencing schools of the Marxbrüder and Federfechter and in some stage fencing schools.^[16][17]

The very last practitioners of longsword fencing may have ceased activity with the dissolution of the Marxbrüder and Federfechter by the early 19th century.^[18][19] On 16 April 1862, The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung mentioned the death of an unnamed, 76-year-old (born in 1786) former member of the Marksbrüder, who having fenced longsword in his teenage years in the early 1800s, was possibly the very last living such practitioner.^[20][21]

Spread

The geographical origin of the tradition of Liechtenauer is difficult to establish. There are several places called "Lichtenau" in Germany, and Ms. 3227a states explicitly that Johannes Liechtenauer traveled widely to learn from as many masters as possible.^[22][23] Of course, it is to be assumed that there were traditions of combat training throughout the medieval world, in spite of the absence of evidence of their details. What is now known as the "German school" comprises those traditions which were put on paper in the late medieval period, and this tradition of compiling written manuals or epitomes of fighting systems appears to mostly have been confined to Southern Germany. From about the same time, early records of the Italian school of fencing document the German school, beginning with the writings of Fiore dei Liberi, who mentions a master of Swabia called Johannes "who was a student of Nicholai of Toblem."^[24]

After the medieval period, emerging traditions of fencing, i.e. the early modern rapier systems, as opposed to the generic systems of "combat" or "fighting" of the late medieval period, developed in close contact with each other, which led to the separate but closely related rapier styles of Italy, Spain, and later France, all of which were also well received in Germany. For example: Paulus Hector Mair describes a Spanish style of rapier fencing in his book on fencing.^[25]

The 15th century Liechtenauerian tradition seems to have been geographically centered on Swabia and Franconia, and influenced development in the adjacent territories, including Alsace, the Rhineland, the Lowlands, Bohemia, and the Swiss Confederacy. In the 16th century, there was an established tradition of Federfechten competitions. The dominant guild were the Brotherhood of St. Mark which held their annual meeting in Frankfurt. After 1570, there was a second influential guild, the Federfechter, which apparently originated in the southeastern part of the empire (Prague, Vienna). Masters or treatises of the period that can be located geographically include:

• the oldest surviving manual, Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 of c. 1300, originates in Franconia
• the oldest record of the Liechtenauerian tradition, Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a, appears to exhibit East Central German dialectal elements. By 1495, this manuscript had been acquired by Nicolaus Pol of Innsbruck
• Hans Talhoffer, in the 1440s to 1460s, was active throughout Southern Germany, including Königsegg, Emerkingen, and Zürich
• Johannes Lecküchner was active in Nuremberg in the 1460s; Hans Folz also was in Nuremberg in the late 15th to early 16th century. Albrecht Dürer compiled a manual on grappling in c.1505.
• Cgm 558, written in what is now Switzerland, most likely the Toggenburg, shortly before 1500.
• the Cologne Fechtbuch of Cologne or surroundings, c.1510.
• Christian Egenolph of Frankfurt was active in the 1520s
• Paulus Hector Mair of Augsburg was active in the 1540s. Jörg Wilhalm was also in Augsburg, active during the 1540s to 1560s.
• Joachim Meyer was active in the 1570s in Strasbourg.

Karl Ludwig Blum mentioned that there were traveling masters, who gave lectures to noblemen in the Grand Duchy of Moscow.^[26]

In spite of the surging popularity of the Italian and Spanish rapier, elements of the German tradition survived well into the 17th century. Even in 1614, many fencing masters based their fighting styles on the tradition. An example is would-be master Joachim Meyer, who based his early rapier fencing on Lichtenauers principles, which was considered to be the most effective and efficient school of fencing.^[27]

Disciplines

Master Johannes Liechtenauer based his system of fencing upon the use of the Longsword. He used this weapon to exemplify several overarching martial principles that also apply to other disciplines within the tradition. Ringen (wrestling/grappling) was taught, as well as fighting with the messer, and staff. Also part of the curriculum was fighting with the dagger Degen (mainly the roundel dagger) and with pole weapons. Two other disciplines besides Blossfechten involved the sword: fencing with (single-handed) sword and buckler (or a large shield in the case of judicial combat according to Swabian law), and armored fighting (Harnischfechten), the latter reserved only for nobility.

First principles

Johannes Liechtenauer's teachings as recorded in 3227a are introduced by some general principles (foll. 13–17). The anonymous author explicitly states that Liechtenauer had cast his teaching in opaque verses intended to hide their meaning from the uninitiated. He stressed that there is "only a single art of the sword" which had been the same for centuries and which is the kernel and foundation of all arts of combat.

• the principle of taking the shortest and most direct line of attack (of das aller neheste vnd kors körtzste / slecht vnd gerade czu) disregarding flourishes or flashy parrying techniques (mit dem höbschen paryrn vnd weit vmefechten).
• the difficulty of explaining techniques in words and the importance of direct instruction and intensive training, offering the aphorism that "exercise is better than art, because exercise without art is useful, but art without exercise is useless" (15r).
• the importance of footwork and stance (15v) and of correct distance (mosse, 15v) and speed of motion (16r)
• the importance of taking the offensive (vorslag, 14v, 16r-16v) with a fixed plan of attack
• the tactical importance of hiding the intended action from the opponent (16r)

The text goes on to present the core principles of successful swordsmanship in eight rhyming couplets (17v):

1. the help of God	Czu allem fechten / gehört dy hölfe gotes von rechte
2. a healthy body and a good weapon	Gerader leip vnd gesvnder / eyn gancz vertik swert pesundr
3. the principles of offensive and defensive and of hard and soft	Vor noch swach sterke / yndes das wort mete czu merken
4.-5. a list of basic techniques (discussed below)	Hewe stiche snete drücken / leger schütczen stöße fülen czücken Winden vnd hengen / rücken striche sprönge greiffen ringen
6. speed and courage paired with wariness, deceit and cleverness	Rascheit vnd kunheit / vorsichtikeit list vnd klugheit
7. correct distance, concealing one's intentions, reason, anticipation and dexterity	Masse vörborgenheit / vernunft vorbetrachtunge fertikeit
8. training and confidence, speed, agility and good footwork	Vbunge vnd guter mut / motus gelenkheit schrete gut

A characteristic, introductory verse of Liechtenauer's – often repeated in later manuscripts – echoes classic 14th century chivalry, addressing the student as "young knight" (jung ritter):

(fol 18r) Jung Ritter lere / got lip haben frawen io ere / So wechst dein ere / Uebe ritterschaft und lere / kunst dy dich zyret und in krigen sere hofiret

"Young knight, learn to love God and revere noble ladies, so that your honour grows. Practice knighthood and learn the art that dignifies you, and brings you honour in wars."

Unarmoured longsword

The principal discipline is unarmoured fencing with the longsword (Blossfechten).

The foundation of the system comprises five "master-hews" (Meisterhäue) or "hidden hews" from which many masterful techniques arise, 12 "chief pieces" (hauptstücke) that categorize the main components of the art, and five words (fünf Wörter) dealing with concepts of timing and leverage.

At the center of the art is an emphasis on swiftness, as well as on balance and good judgement:

(fol. 20r) vor noch swach stark Indes / an den selben woertern leit alle kunst / meister lichtnawers / Und sint dy gruntfeste und der / kern alles fechtens czu fusse ader czu rosse / blos ader in harnuesche

"'Before', 'after', 'weak', 'strong', Indes ('meanwhile'), on these five words hinges the entire art of master Lichtenauer, and they are the foundation and the core of all combat, on foot or on horseback, unarmoured or armoured."

The terms "before" (vor) and "after" (nach) correspond to offensive and defensive actions. While in the vor, one dictates his opponent's actions and thus is in control of the engagement, while in the nach, one responds to the decisions made by his opponent. Under Liechtenauer's system, a combatant must always strive to be in control of the engagement—that is, in the vor. "Strong" (stark) and "weak" (swach) relate to the amount of force that is applied in a bind, or contact, of the swords. Here, neither is better than the other, but one needs to counter the opponent's action with a complementary reaction; strength is countered with weakness, and weakness with strength. Indes means "meanwhile" or "interim", referring to the time it takes for the opponent to complete an action. At the instant of contact with the opponent's blade, an experienced fencer uses "feeling" (fühlen) to immediately sense his opponent's pressure in order to know whether he should be "weak or "strong" against him. He then either attacks on the vor or remains in the bind until his opponent acts, depending on what he feels is right. When his opponent starts to act, the fencer acts indes (meanwhile) and regains the vor before the opponent can finish his action.^[28]

What follows is a list of technical terms of the system (with rough translation; they should each be explained in a separate section):

Range

Some of the later practitioners of the German school of fencing, such as Theodori Verolini^[29], started to use the term Mensur in the 17th century to explain the different ranges of the art of fencing.

• Weite Mensur (wide mensur) the attacker has to make two footsteps to reach his opponent with his weapon.
• Mittlere Mensur (middle mensur) the attacker has to make one footstep to reach the other combatant with the blade.
• Nahe Mensur (near mensur) the attacker can cut or thrust his enemy without having to make any footsteps.
• Enge Mensur (close mensur) the attacker and his opponent are so close that they are able to reach the other person with their hands. Most of the wrestling-techniques (Ringen am Schwert) can only be used in the close mensur.

Basic attacks

Liechtenauer and other German masters describe three basic methods of attack with the sword. They are sometimes called drei wunder, "three wounders", with a deliberate pun on "three wonders."

• Hauen, "hews": A hewing stroke with one of the edges of the sword.
  • Oberhau, "over hew": A stroke delivered from above the attacker.
  • Mittelhau, "middle hew": A stroke delivered from side to side.
  • Unterhau, "under hew": A stroke delivered from below the attacker.
• Stechen, "stabbing": A thrusting attack made with the point of the sword.
• Abschneiden, "slicing off": Slicing attacks made with the edge of the sword by placing the edge against the body of the opponent and then pushing or pulling the blade along it.

Master-Hews (Meisterhäue)

Called "five hews" in 3227a, later "hidden hews," and in late manuals "master hews", these likely originated as secret surprise attacks in Liechtenauer's system, but with the success of Liechtenauer's school, they may have become common knowledge. All five are attacks from the first phase of the fight (zufechten) and are long range, accompanied by triangular stepping.

• Zornhau: "wrath-hew"

A powerful diagonal hewing stroke dealt from the vom Tag guard that ends in the Wechsel guard on the opposite side. ^[30] When a Zornhau is used to displace (Versetzen) another oberhau, the impact and binding of the blades will result in the hew ending in a lower hanging at the center of the body.^[31] This strike is normally thrown to the opponent's upper opening.

• Krumphau: "crooked-hew"

A vertical hew from above that reaches across the direct line to the opponent, traveling left from a right position and vice versa. The motion of the blade resembles a windshield wiper. Krumphau is almost always accompanied with a wide diagonal sideways step. The Krumphau breaks the guard Ochs.

• Zwerchhau, or Twerhau: "thwart-hew"

A high horizontal hew, with the short (backhand) edge when thrown from the right side and with the long edge when thrown from the left side. The Zwerchau breaks the guard vom Tag.

• Schielhau: "squinting-hew"

A short edge (backhand) hew dealt from the vom Tag guard that ends in an upper hanger on the opposite side and usually targets the head or the right shoulder.^[31] It is basically a twist from vom Tag to opposite side Ochs with one step forward, striking simultaneously downwards with the short edge. The Schielhau breaks both the Pflug and Langen Ort guards and can be used to counter-hew against a powerful Oberhau.

• Scheitelhau: "part-hew"

A vertical descending hew that ends in the guard Alber. This hew is dealt to the opponent's upper openings, most often to the opponent's head, where the hair parts (hence the name of the hew). Through the principle of überlauffen, "overrunning" or "overreaching", a Scheitelhau is used to break the guard Alber.^[31]

Guards (also known as huten or leger)

Basic Guards

• vom Tach: "from the Roof"

a basic position with the sword held either on the right shoulder or above the head. The blade can be held vertically or at roughly 45-degrees.^[32] The word tach, or dach, is often translated as "roof".

• Ochs: "ox"

a position with the sword held to either side of the head, with the point (as a horn) aiming at the opponent's face.

• Pflug: "plough"

a position with the sword held to either side of the body with the pommel near the back hip, with the point aiming at the opponent's chest or face. Some historical manuals state that when this guard is held on the right side of the body that the short edge should be facing up and when held on the left side of the body the short edge should be facing down with the thumb on the flat of the blade.^[32]

• Alber: "fool"

In the Fool's Guard, the point of the sword is lowered to the ground, appearing to "foolishly" expose the upper parts of the body and inviting an attack. Although the Fool's Guard exposes the upper openings, it does provide excellent protection to the lower openings. From the Fool's Guard an attack or displacement can be made with the false edge of the sword, or the hilt of the sword can be quickly raised into a hanging parry.

Additional Guards: Liechtenauer is emphatic that the above four guards are sufficient, and all guards taught by other masters may be derived from them. Later masters introduce richer terminology for variant guards:

• Zornhut: "wrath guard"
• Wechsel: "change"
• Nebenhut: "near guard" or "side guard"
• Eisenport: "iron door", mentioned in 3227a as a non-Liechtenauerian ward, identical to the porta di ferro of the Italian school
• SchlüSchlüssel: "key"
• Einhorn: "unicorn", a variant of Ochs
• Schrankhut: "barrier guard"

The following are transitional stances that are not properly called guards:

• Hengetort: "hanging point"
• Kron: "crown", the sword hilt is held out about head height with the point up. Kron is used at the bind and is usually a prelude to grappling.
• Langort: "long point", the sword point is extended straight out at the opponent. Many of the cuts pass through this transitional guard, and it is the natural ending of a thrust.

Techniques

Other terms in Liechtenauer's system (most of them referring to positions or actions applicable in mid-combat, when the blades are in contact) include:

• Duplieren: "doubling", the immediate redoubling of a displaced hew.
• Mutieren: "mutating", change of attack method, changing a displaced hew into a thrust, or a displaced thrust into a hew.
• Versetzen: "displacement" or "parrying"^[28] (upper/lower, left/right), to parry an attack with one's own weapon.
• Nachreisen: "after-traveling", the act of attacking an opponent after he has pulled back to attack, or an attack after the opponent has missed, or an attack following the opponent's action.^[28]
• Überlaufen: "over-running" or "overrunning", the act of countering a hew or thrust made from below with an attack from above; a slight step backward usually accompanies the attack, the higher blow out-ranging the lower one.
• Absetzen: "off-setting", deflecting a thrust or hew at the same time as stabbing.
• Durchwechseln: "changing-through", name for various techniques of escaping a bind by sliding the sword's point out from underneath the blade and then stabbing to another opening.
• Zucken: "tugging", a technique used in a strong bind between blades in which a combatant goes weak in the bind so as to disengage his blade from the bind and stabs or hews to the other side of the other combatant's blade. This technique is based upon the concept of using weakness against strength.
• Durchlauffen: "running-through", a technique by which one combatant "runs through" his opponent's attack to initiate grappling with him.
• Händedrücken: "pressing of hands", the execution of an Unterschnitt ("undercut") followed by an Oberschnitt ("overcut") such that the wrists of the opponent are sliced all the way around.
• Hängen: "hanging" (upper/lower, left/right)
• Winden: "Winding", the combatant moves the strong side of his blade to the weak side of the opponent's blade to gain leverage while keeping his point online with the opponent's opening. There are eight variations.

Armoured combat (Harnischfechten)

Combat in full plate armour made use of the same weapons as Blossfechten, the longsword and dagger (possibly of special make optimized for piercing the openings in armour); but the techniques were entirely different. Attacking an opponent in plate armour is carried out in two ways: percussive force or penetration at joints or unprotected areas. Penetration was extremely unlikely even with thrusting attacks. Percussion was realized with the Mordstreich ("murder strike"), an attack with the hilt when holding the sword at the blade, and then penetration into openings of the armour with the Halbschwert (short sword), which allowed stabbing with greater precision. From the evidence of the Fechtbücher, most armoured fights were concluded by wrestling moves, with one combatant falling to the ground. Lying on the ground, he could then be easily killed with a stab into his visor or another opening of the armour.

See also

• Historical European Martial Arts
• Italian school of fencing
• English Longsword School
• Kampfringen
• Academic fencing or Mensur
• Arne Koets

References

Literature

• Clements, John. Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: Rediscovering The Western Combat Heritage " Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3
• Heim, Hans & Alex Kiermayer, The Longsword of Johannes Liechtenauer, Part I -DVD-, ISBN 1-891448-20-X
• Knight, David James and Brian Hunt, Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair , ISBN 978-1-58160-644-7 (2008)
• Lindholm, David & Peter Svard, Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword, ISBN 1-58160-410-6 (2003)
• Schulze, André (ed.), Mittelalterliche Kampfesweisen – Mainz am Rhein. : Zabern
  • vol. 1: Das Lange Schwert, 2006. – ISBN 3-8053-3652-7
  • vol. 2, Kriegshammer, Schild und Kolben, 2007. – ISBN 3-8053-3736-1
  • vol. 3: Scheibendolch und Stechschild, 2007. – ISBN 978-3-8053-3750-2
• Thomas, Michael G., Fighting Man's Guide to German Longsword Combat, ISBN 978-1-906512-00-2 (2008)
• Tobler, Christian Henry, Fighting with the German Longsword, ISBN 1-891448-24-2 (2004)
• Tobler, Christian Henry, Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship (2001), ISBN 1-891448-07-2
• Tobler, Christian Henry, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts (2010), ISBN 978-0-9825911-1-6

External links

• The Wiktenauer (wiktenauer.com), a wiki dedicated to historical European martial arts in general
• Bill Grandy, Call to Arms: The German Longsword (myarmoury.com)