Fencing challenges at English fairs

[ken creffield]

I believe that at English fairs in the 17th, 18th and poss 19th centuries, there were pro fighters who would take on all-comers with the hack sword, cudgels, wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing. If that is so, where can I read up on the subject? Why is there more info around about traditional martial arts from Japan and China than from Europe's own tradition? I believe that bare-knuckle fighters would take on 10 or 12 challengers in a day. I know nothing about hack-swording apart from a half-memory of an article which said the fights took place with wooden swords which had basketwork protection for the hands. The fighters slashed at each, not prodded, and the winner was the one who first drew blood on his opponent's face. I've not a clue what happened in cudgel fighting but a book I am currently reading, "The English Fair," by David Kerr Cameron, tantalisingly mentions cudgels, hack swords and bare knuckles without going into details. Please email me at kencreffield@tiscali.co.uk if you can recommend any books or websites that might help. Thanks.

[David_Knight]

First and foremost, a distinction needs to be made betwen the sporting arts you mention and proper martial (from the Latin martialis, "pertaining to Mars, God of War") arts.

As you can see from our Historical Manuals section, there are a number of extant medieval and Renaissance fechtbucher ("fight books") detailing the various ways one may kill his opponent. Entire European martial systems were methodically fleshed out, complete with illustrations, but their ultimate goal was to inflict maximum damage, not win prizes. Even the manuals on German ringen (wrestling), such as the Codex Wallerstein, were combat-oriented.

Thus I assume that by your statement that there is "more info around about traditional martial arts from Japan and China than from Europe's own tradition", you are talking about the sporting arts at post-Renaissance fairs. Because they were forms of entertainment, I would not lump them in the same category as European fighting arts.

That having been said, the Journal of Manly Arts is a good place for you to start. It covers European and Colonial Combatives from 1776 - 1914, including sporting arts.

[John_Clements]

See the articles here on Pinder's Prive and look at Hutton's Old Swordplay for some accounts.