Posts: 354 Location: Dijon
Wed 09 Feb, 2005 5:54 pm
| Quote: |
' The form of combat for which this sword was intended is illustrated in the fechtbuch by Hector Mairs,published in the first half of the fifteenth century in Augsburg.The swords in the Fechtbuch do not have the central shank ( lot 62 does ),which was probably a refinement of the second half of the century. |
must be Paulus Hector Mair's "Opus Amplissimum de Re Athletica..." etc, etc, etc, kept in the Nationalbibliothek in Vienna (Cod.VB 10.825).
P.H.Mair actually was a master-at-arms of the XVIth century, who already in his time collected Fechtbücher and similar treatises - we know that at some point he had in his possession the book now known as 'Codex Wallerstein".
Though half-swording techniques are most of the time used in armour, and this edition of Mair's book has no armoured section (as far as I can recall). You'll see more of such techniques in Fiore's 'Fior di Battaglia', or in other XVth century manuscripts.
cheers
Fab
Posts: 241 Location: Surrey, UK.
Wed 06 Jul, 2005 2:56 am
In addition to what Fabrice has already said, this type of sword is actually described in Fiore dei Liberi's Fior di Battaglia, of c.1410. So there is an older history to this type of specialised armoured-combat sword.
From Fiore (accompanied by picture in treatise):
"This other sword has to be sharpened everywhere, except from the hilt to the point on two sides, in the middle third of the of the blade, it can not cut anything in a space that is enough to allow a hand with a glove to stay there comfortably. And in the same way, it has to be sharpened on the edge and on the point. And the hilt (quillons) have to be hard and pointed and well forged. And the pommel has to have a good point, and has to be heavy."
So this type of sword must have been known for the entirity of the 15thC, and given the date of Fior di Battaglia maybe back to the end of the 14thC.
Matt
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