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Talhoffer Longsword: Armoured and Unarmoured
by Jeffrey
Hull
I hope to show that
the seventy-two langes schwert (longsword) plates (#01-#67
& #74-#78) from the fight-book of 1467 AD by Hans Talhoffer (HT)
consist of half (#01-#36) meant for bloßfechten (unarmoured-fighting)
and half (#37-#67 & #74-#78) meant for harnischfechten
(armoured-fighting). HT’s fechter (fighters)
seem to wield Oakeshott-type XVa, XVIa or XVIIIa longswords. In these longsword plates the fighters are outfitted
in some sort of padded yet close-fitting fight-clothing (? fechtkleidung ?),
which perhaps served as undergarments for armour, or at least as work-out
suits. Said suits consist of
jacket (? cotte or pourpoint ?), trews, and shoes.
Their sequence is breached by six plates (#68-#73) dealing
with a grudge-match between two knights in rüstung (full Gothic
plate-armour). All men are
fighting afoot. The longsword fighters
in said fight-clothing are ostensibly, though not demonstrably, practicing
unarmoured fighting. However,
considering what and how the portrayed moves relate to the differing
techniques of combat as dependent upon whether a Medieval combatant
partook of bloß or harnisch, then we find the longsword
plates dealt equally into thirty-six for unarmoured and thirty-six
for armoured. The relevant techniques portrayed and described
by HT (1467) are: Hew (cleaving with
edge): schlachen; schlag;
haw; how; hout; krump; gayszlen Thrust (piercing with point): ortt;
stos; stossen; stich; hefften Slash (raking with edge): schnit;
fahen [!] Half-swording (one hand grips hilt and other hand grips blade): brentshiren; gewauppet ort Morte-strike (hands grip blade to smite with pommel or cross): mortschlag; mordstreich; tunrschlag Just what are the
differences betwixt bloß and harnisch?
Firstly, it is acknowledged that much similarity unavoidably
exists, considering we are talking about the same weapon – the German
longsword of the late 15th CentAD – for each sort of combat. However, the distinctions are clear, and should
be of general agreement amongst those who practice historically realistic
European armoured fighting which is based upon the German fechtbücher
(fight-books), or for that matter, upon the Italian manuals.
What follows is substantiated by a perusal of Liechtenauer
(1389 via Doebringer and 1440 via Ringeck), Liberi (1410), Gladiatoria (1450), Lignitzer (1452 via Danzig), Talhoffer (1467),
Wallerstein (1470), Hundfeld (1491 via
Speyer), Lew (1491 via Speyer), Goliath
(1510), Czynner (1538), and Mair (1550): * Hew and slash are most wieldy for bloß
* A longsword wielded both these ways is effective
against the unarmoured foe, or the first way for breaching the leather
or maille-armoured foe – yet not the plate-armoured foe. A fighter striking a foe in plate-armour either
would not or should not bother with such. * Half-swording and morte-strike are best for harnisch
* A longsword wielded the former way allows the needed
accuracy and power for seeking the gaps of plate; and wielded the
latter way, it allows battering and even puncturing of plate. A fighter girded otherwise could do such as
needed, especially against a foe in plate; and those equally plated
would definitely do so against each other. * Thrust is ubiquitous to both
bloß and harnisch * A longsword wielded this way has overall efficacy, whether fighter or foe
are either unarmoured or armoured, variously or likewise. A simple analysis
of HT’s captions and pictures finds marked difference between what
prove to be two distinct halves of HT’s longsword plates:
Furthermore, besides the foregoing statistical evidence, it seems there
is also numerological evidence. HT’s #73 rüstung
plate portrays the exact same struggle of weaponed-point (gewauppet ort) against morte-strike (Mordtschlag), as found in the second pair
within his #37 langes schwert plate of weaponed-point (unnamed)
against thunder-stroke (Tunrschlag)
– but with differing outcomes. In
the rüstung, weaponed-point-man forsets (versetzen or versatzung) morte-man’s attack and finishes with killing thrust (stossen) of point to face; whereas in the
langes schwert, thunder-man
wrenches (Ryszen) weaponed-point-man’s
attack and finishes with thrust of pommel (stos)
to face. Thus the rüstung plates end with the same struggle as the beginning of the
harnisch half of the langes schwert plates. If this is
on-purpose by the arcanity of Medieval numerology,
then perhaps it is indicated by how switching the digits of “37”
makes “73” and vice-versa. Such
thinking may explain the odd placement of the six rüstung
plates within the seventy-two langes
schwert plates between #67 & #74 rather than between #36 &
#37 – that is, between the end of the bloß
and the beginning of the harnisch. Indeed, the knights
struggle within a battle-yard (schranken)
which is fenced hexagonally, thus reinforcing the idea of the factor
of “6”, which if squared arrives at “36” as the working number yet
again. Lastly,
HT’s 1459 (colour) version contains a plate (87
recto) portraying a combatant in full plate-armour versus one
in fight-suit. This plate is
set in the fight-book such that it bridges its own sections of rüstung
and langes schwert – that is, betwixt fighters portraying
harnisch and bloß. Indeed,
these combatants are portrayed within a battle-yard doing half-swording
versus morte-strike. This seems
interesting to consider vis-à-vis
HT’s 1467 version. Conclusion: The longsword plates of the 1467 AD fight-book
by Hans Talhoffer show the marked difference between typical unarmoured
and armoured techniques of 15th CentAD European swordsmanship. ***** Sources: Altenn Fechter anfengliche Kunst; Christian Egenolph (auth); Alexander Kiermaier (transcr); Franckfurt
am Meyn; 1529; Die Freifechter
Webseite; 2001;
<www.freifechter.org> A Brief Introduction to Armoured Longsword Combat; Matt Anderson (auth); Shane Smith (auth); ARMA Web-Site;
2004; <www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html> Codex Speyer (Handschrift M I 29 or Fechtbuch);
Hans von Speyer (edit & comp); Beatrix Koll (transcr); (transcript
thereof & formerly also facsimile); Almania; 1491; Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg; 2002; <www.ubs.sbg.ac.at/sosa/webseite/fechtbuch.htm> Codex
Wallerstein;
Gregorz Zabinski (transcr & transl); Bartlomiej Walczak (transl
& interp); Paladin Press; Boulder; 2002 (from 1470) Danzig Fechtbuch;
Peter von Danzig
(auth); Monika Maziarz (transcr);
Preuszen; 1452;
ARMA-Poland; 2004; <www.arma.lh.pl/index.html> Meister Hans Thalhofer:
Alte Armatur und Ringkunst;
Hans Talhoffer (auth);
Thott 290 2º; Bayern; 1459; Det Kongelige Bibliotek; Flos Duellatorum;
Fiore dei Liberi
(auth); Hermes Michelini
(transl); Italy; 1410; Knights of the Wild Rose; Calgary; 2001; <www.varmouries.com/wildrose/fiore/fiore.html> Medieval Combat; Mark Rector (transl
& interp); Hans
Talhoffer (auth); Bayern; 1467; Greenhill Books; London; 2000 Meister Hans Thalhofer: Alte Armatur und Ringkunst; Hans Talhoffer (auth);
Thott 290 2º; Bayern; 1459;
Records of the Medieval Sword; Ewart Oakeshott (auth & illus); Boydell Press;
Ritterlich Kunst; Sigmund Ringeck (auth); Johannes Liechtenauer (auth); Stefan Dieke (transcr); Mscr. Drsd. C 487; Bayern; 1389 &
1440; Sächsische Landesbibliothek-Dresden; Die Freifechter Webseite; 2001; <www.freifechter.org> Sigmund
Ringeck’s Knightly Art of the Longsword; David Lindholm (transl & interp); Peter Svärd (illus); Johnsson & Strid (contr); Sigmund Ringeck
(auth); Johannes Liechtenauer (auth); Paladin Press; Boulder; 2003
(from 1389 & 1440) The
Tailoring of the Grande Assiette; Tasha Kelly McGann (auth); La Cotte Simple Web-Site; 2004; <www.cottesimple.com/blois_and_sleeves/grande_assiette/grande_assiette_overview.htm> ***** Acknowledgements: My
thanks to About
the Author: He has been training in European fighting arts the
ARMA way in Kansas and Oregon for about five years now and previously
trained in Asian martial arts. He holds a BA in Humanities. He lives in Copyright 2004
of Jeffrey Hull |
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