“Anonymous Fechtbuch: Manuscript I.33” 13th century German Sword & Buckler Manual: World’s oldest fencing manual for sword fighters

Tis is one of the oldest and most enigmatic treasures in the Royal Armouries archives is the a surviving example of a Fechtbuch, or Fight Book.This particular manual was produced in Germany in the early 14th century and it documents historical martial arts techniques through a number of illustrated pages.We don’t know who it was written by or for, or even why it was written, but what we do know is that it is the oldest known European fencing manual anywhere in existence. The manual is good source (and among the very few) for how dynamic the Medieval sword & buckler style was, and how it both relates to and contrasts from the later Renaissance form. The Medieval sword & buckler is used in a similar but not identical manner to those often more slender blades of the later Renaissance (which employs wrist cuts, slices, and a wider rang of footwork). The Medieval sword & buckler was a popular means of settling disputes in civilian situations.The contention that I.33 may represent only a “martial sport” than earnest combat practice can be disputed on several grounds: 1. The use of thrusts and cuts to the face and hands. The thrust was traditionally banned in 13th and 14th century tournaments as being too dangerous and thus would surely seem out of place in casual exercise. As the fighters in I.33 are also unarmored, this threat would be even more dangerous. 2. The techniques, when practiced at speed and force suggest a very efficient and effective means of counter-attackThe author was likely a German cleric, as the text makes reference to a Sacerdos (priest) who instructs the Scholaris (student) in the art. One of the illustrations also shows a fighter with the shaved head (tonsure) common to Medieval clergy at the time, and the manuscript itself was discovered in a Franconian monastery. Recently translated by Dr. Jeffery Singman, curator at the Higgins Armor Museum, I.33 reveals a number of interesting things about early Medieval fighting arts. Dr. Singman described his analysis of the text in the Royal Armories Yearbook 2, 1997. As Dr. Singman points out, the text is part instructional verse and part direction.