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Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat (Greenhill Military Paperbacks)

by Hans Talhoffer

List Price: $22.95

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Average myArmoury rating:	(16 votes)
Average customer rating:	(26 votes)

Edition: Paperback

Other editions available: Hardcover

16 third-party copies available from: $19.87 (As of Sep 5, 02:29 PM)

Other items of interest:
• Codex Wallerstein: A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling
• Fighting with the German Longsword
• Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship: Sigmund Ringeck's Commentaries on Liechtenauer
• Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Arts Of Combat: Sword and Buckler Fighting, Wrestling, and Fighting in Armor
• The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe

Product Description:

This brilliant and attractive book makes one of the most influential and lavishly drawn fencing manuals of the Middle Ages available in English for the first time. The authentic fifteenth-century techniques of master of arms Hans Talhoffer present not only a unique historic record but also a visual guide for modern practitioners. Illustrated with 268 contemporary images, this guide provides a glimpse of real people fighting with skill, sophistication, and ruthlessness.

Customer Reviews:

Really neat book!
Review date: 2008-01-12

My boyfriend asked for this book for Xmas (the only place I had seen it was the Renaissance faire near us). I was very happy to find it on amazon. This book makes a great gift for anyone who loves swordfighting, medieval history, or unique books. It's full of drawings depicting everything you need!

Awesome Book!
Review date: 2007-06-09

Much of what I feel has already been said...and better stated...by others here.

...nevertheless, I will throw in my two cents worth.

I bought this book little over two years ago. It was the first Fechtbuch I ever saw, and I was simply amazed at what it contained: A first hand look of what Medieval combat really looked like.

I have been a fan of Knights and swordplay since I was a kid, so to see a book that contained actual techniques that Knights used in battle was quite a shock. I had no idea that such a thing could be found in your local Borders bookstore (sorry Amazon). Nor was I aware that Knightly combat was so dirty! (I couldn't help but admire it all the same:)

After spending an hour imitating the movements IN THE STORE (That's right), I decided to purchase the book. It was one of the best purchases I have ever made.

Immediately after this, I did a google search on the word "Fechtbuch", and the wider world of Western Martial Arts came alive. I have since discovered the works of Fiore dei Liberi, Filipo Vadi, Joachim Meyer, and of course, many...MANY others too numerous to list here.

Even though, as a stand alone book, only a certain number of techniques can be easily learned (i.e. Murder Stroke, etc.) without a companion text, it is still an excellent tool for learning WMA, and no practicioner should be without this primary source. It is, to say the very least, a big eye-opener.

I would suggest buying The Art of Combat by Joachim Meyer (Jeffrey Forgeng translation) as a companion to this. You might want to wait till Amazon has it on sale (I bought it recently for $41 here), as it retails for $65.

I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in WMA, Fight Choreography (which I do as well, and have used some of Talhoffers moves in), and Medievel/Renaissance military history.

A 'Must Have' for all WMA students... Eventualy
Review date: 2007-05-30

This book is what got me started learning WMA. I found it at a book store and was initially captivated by the artful illustrations of genuine medieval sword combat. It was like nothing I had ever seen depicted in Hollywood or elsewhere. I was especially baffled by all of the images of fighters holding the sword blade in their bare hands. I took it home to study, with very little success. Even though I poured through the whole book every night for a week, the only technique I was able to 'unlock' was an arm trapping move illustrated in the Messer plates, and that was because the technique had a before and after plate that I could follow. So I put the book down, found myself an actual instructor, and started learning the basics.

I recently opened up 'Medieval Combat' again after roughly six months of training. Now the Longsword techniques illustrated inside are jumping off the pages at me! It's a very exciting feeling.

That being said, only 1/3 of this book actually addresses Longsword combat. The rest of the book deals with a multitude of other medieval combat methods; many of which could be very useful to today's re-enactor, medievalist, WMA practitioner or fight choreographer. Unfortunately, some of the other documented combat methods are so specialized that their use may have truly been lost to antiquity.

There are 270 illustrated plates. 71 of the plates are dedicated to Longsword. Of that, there are only 36 plates that do not include either gripping an opponent's blade, Half-Swording or the `Murder Stroke' technique. (Holding the sword upside down with the blade in both hands so the heavy crossguard acts as a hammer. The technique is meant to crush the opponent's head or catch their sword and disarm them.)

There are 6 plates concerning a Knightly Duel. They illustrate the display of the Knights' banners, equipment and coffins. There are a few interesting illustrations about deflecting a thrown spear with a sword, and finally a re-hashed Murder Stroke technique that was also shown in the Longsword section.

Then there are 23 illustrations for Pole-Axe. Anyone who participates in mass medieval combat re-enactments (SCA etc...) would probably find this section very helpful.

Then we come to the `interesting' part of the book. Talhoffer dedicates 64 plates to the lost medieval practice of Trial by Combat with Dueling Shield. To quote the book...`It is a slightly concave oblong, approximately six-and-a-half feet tall, with a rectangular coffered boss along the longitudinal axis allowing room for the hand to grip a central pole, which is sharply spiked at both ends.' The illustrations are extremely fascinating to look at but very difficult to gain any useful technique from. I imagine that even back in Talhoffer's time most people would not be used to this type of equipment. Trial by Combat did not occur ever day. These plates were meant to help a person stay alive during a very unfamiliar combat situation. It would take a lot of work and study for someone to unlock the skills in these plates.

After the Dueling Shield there are 19 plates concerning technique with the Rondel Dagger; a tapered spike, almost a foot long, which was held with an Ice Pick grip. Although the figures are in plain clothes, the techniques would most likely be used in an armored combat situation.

31 plates are dedicated to Wrestling. I haven't had much experience with Wrestling, but the moves look very similar to the Greco Roman style. I'm willing to bet that a trained modern Wrestler could examine these moves and decipher them with no problem. They may even pick up a few new tricks!

8 illustrations are devoted to the Messer. The Messer was a long knife that nearly all commoners carried with them. It was used as an every day tool but could also function as a formidable weapon. The modern equivalent of a Messer can be found in the Machete.

Next, there are 11 pages concerning Sword and Buckler. There are even a few pages on facing multiple opponents. In these images the person is holding the buckler as well as a dagger in one fist. Un-inspired Hollywood fight choreographers take note!

Talhoffer takes 9 pages of his book to address the bizarre ritual of Trial by Combat between a Man and Woman. To even the playing field the man is equipped with a wooden cudgel and placed in a pit up to his waist. The Woman places a heavy rock in a cloth sash to strangle the man or crush his head. She must either kill her opponent or pull him out of the pit, at which point the man would be executed. Likewise, the man must either dispatch the woman or drag her down into the pit and doom her to execution. If my description of this event sounds absurd, just imagine what the illustrations must look like! It is quite easy to find amusement in this scenario, but the truth is that it was a dead-serious affair. Imagine what it would have been like if a woman was raped and had no male family member who was willing to stand up and defend her honor. It would be her word against her assailant. She would most likely be forced to confront her rapist in a trial to the death. Considering the fact that women were sub-class citizens in Medieval Europe, I find it fascinating that half of Talhoffer's illustrations on this subject show techniques a woman could use to win the fight. Did Talhoffer ever offer his services to prepare a woman for her Trial by Combat?

Finally we have 20 pages devoted to combat while mounted on a horse. Most of the images show two men sword fighting next to each other, although there are a few fascinating plates devoted to how a man on horseback should hold a crossbow to fire back at someone pursuing him and how to prepare for a charging lance attack. It's a pretty sweet technique that includes discharging the crossbow bolt into the charging adversary, deflecting the lance with the arms of the crossbow and then grappling the enemy to the ground as his horse passes by. Again... why hasn't Hollywood borrowed any of these awesome, historically accurate combat techniques to use in their productions?

As I alluded to in the title of this review, I feel that `Medieval Combat' is a book that every WMA enthusiast should eventually get. The reason for my exhaustive explanation of each section was to help a potential customer understand what they are really getting with their purchase. For example, if you are only interested in Longsword combat, you may want to look at some other books first. Since most WMA and SCA organizations outlaw use of the `Mordhau' and have strict limits concerning when and how Half-Swording is allowed in a sparring situation, the amount of immediately applicable Longsword techniques in `Medieval Combat' is actually quite slim. Even so, I would still recommend Medieval Combat as a smart purchase to help expand your WMA library.

A Worthwhile Challenge
Review date: 2007-01-11

This reproduction of Hans Talhoffer's Close-Quarter Combat manual is an exquisite addition to a martial arts practitioner's collection or historian's library. It is composed mainly of black and white reproductions of the original fifteenth century coloured illustrations depicting several armed and unarmed fighting techniques; each of which is accompanied by a translation of the original succinct commentary on the technique by the author. By its very nature, it is not a self explanatory guide, and is not a manual for a novice, self taught practitioner of medieval martial arts. Even so, it illustrates specific instances of combat quite vividly, and can be decrypted by a more experienced martial artist to yield priceless information useful in perfecting one's technique. It should not be your first book on the subject, but it will likely be among the best. Truly a worthwhile challenge.

Medieval Martial Arts
Review date: 2006-12-16

Medieval scholars, martial artists, and historians will find this book to be very interesting. Usually, we associate martial arts with eastern cultures. Sometimes, we forget that the world only became orderly and civilized quite recently. Some may argue that parts of the world are still lawless today. But the important concept to remember is that during times when the rule of law is weak, or non-existent, people had to be able to defend themselves and their property. It would then make sense that part of one's education is to learn how to fight. Granted that formal training in the fighting arts were reserved for those classes of people who were selected to uphold the law and maintain peace, as well as those in the military. This book was written by a medieval military instructor, Hans Talhoffer. It reads almost like a manual, despite the lack of explanations and clarifications.

The book illustrates attacks, defenses, and counters. After reading the book, you will realize what should have been obvious: European states had a very developed martial arts during the medieval times. After all, they had a class of people who were devoted to fighting. The knights were not simple men in armor who simply hacked and slashed.

The book is a fighting manual. Therefore, a modern-day couch potato such as myself would have some difficulty understanding a lot of the concepts. Talhoffer intended his book to be read by fighting men, after all. He never could have anticipated that his book would survive hundreds of years later, to be read by people who have never had to engage in combat. The book must be evaluated with respects to the time, and the audience, for whom it was written.

This book should be a part of a medieval historian's collection. I also recommend this to anyone who is interested in the martial arts. Reading this book reminded me of the fictional character from Highlander, Connor McLeod. Surely, some of the Highlander's moves must have come from Talhoffer!

Product Details/Specifications:

Authors:
Hans Talhoffer

Creators:
Mark Rector (Editor)

Recording label: Greenhill Books
Publishers:
Greenhill Books

Manufacturer: Greenhill Books
EAN: 9781853675829
Binding: Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 355.40902
ISBN: 1853675822
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 320
Publication date: 2006-01-01

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