Interpretation in Historical Martial Arts

The former school visitor knows the interpretation under the term "What does the artist want to say to me? No text, no picture is created thoughtless and without intention. In the scientific treatise "Visualised motion: iconography of medieval and renaissance fencing books" the author of these lines briefly writes about the interpretation of images in …

Reconstruction of Historical Martial Arts

"Reconstruction is the process of creating or recreating something more or less non-existent or unknown,” as German Wikipedia defines it. In the reconstruction of an old text or image, we fill in gaps left intentionally or unintentionally by the author. In Historical Martial Arts these are movements that we recognize as necessary in order to …

The meaning of sport and martial arts in a 14th century poem

The discussion about the meaning of the sporting competition for fame with medals and titles in martial arts is neither new nor completely dissolvable. We want to treat ourselves to the fun of reading the historical state of discussion from the early 15th century on the basis of the song poem "Kloster der Minne" from …

1435 February 2nd – Talhoffer’s second letter to Erhard Haller

The following is a transcription of letter of Hans Talhoffer to the knight Erhard Haller in Nürnberg. It is part of the Case of Hans Villenbach. The file is to be found in the Staatsarchiv Nürnberg Reichsstadt Nürnberg, Losungamt, 7-farbiges Alphabet, Urkunden 874. It was written at 1435 February 2nd. The letter bears the sigil of Hans Talhoffer …

1434 March 23th – Talhoffer’s first letter to Erhard Haller

The following is a transcription of letter of Hans Talhoffer to the knight Erhard Haller in Nürnberg. It is part of the Case of Hans Villenbach. The file is to be found in the Staatsarchiv Nürnberg Reichsstadt Nürnberg, Losungamt, 7-farbiges Alphabet, Urkunden 874. It was written at 1434 March 23. The letter bears the sigil of Hans Talhoffer identical with …

1434 March 20th – Talhoffer’s confession in Salzburg

The following is a transcription of an “open letter” containing a witnessed confession of Hans Talhoffer in regard of a murder done by fellow  mercenaries in the duty of Nürnberg merchants. The file is to be found in the Staatsarchiv Nürnberg Reichsstadt Nürnberg, Losungamt, 7-farbiges Alphabet, Urkunden 873. It was written at 1434 März 20. The letter is …

1434 Hans Kuchler and Johannes Hartlieb

20 March 1434 - On the behalf of Hans von Villenbach the fencing Master Hans Talhoffer was taken to the fortress of Salzburg and was imprisoned. There he confessed that he was bribed by Nuremberg merchants to let the brother of Hans von Villenbach die (see 1434 Hans Talhoffer and case of Wilhelm of Villenbach). After the nobel Hans …

Taillefer is not Talhoffer

In 1834 Johann Martin Lappenberg wrote down the history of England. In the 1st Volume of his "Geschichte von England" on the page 551 he describes the Battle of Hastings. "Sogleich entbrannte der Kampf auf drei Stellen, die Trompeten, Zinken und Hörner hallten von den Hügeln wider, und die Normannen begannen den Angriff. Der erste Schlag war durch einen edeln, …

1440 – 1459 Luithold III of Königsegg

In my researches on the life of Hans Talhoffer I did not miss the letter of Johannes Graf zu Königsegg-Aulendorf to the 2010 facsimile of the so called Königsegg Codex (MS XIX.17-3). You can find the letter on the website of the publisher Von Zabern. I translated the "interesting" part for the Talhoffer biography that tries …

1492 The “Pergament Fencingbook” of Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg

In Urach, 1492 Dezember 26, Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg, dictated his last will and testament. He will be dead on the 24 February 1496 in Tübingen. This testament fills 20 pages and would not be of any interest to the researchers of old European martial arts if there would not be a small note on …