Walpurgis Fechtbuch (MS I.33)

From Wiktenauer

Walpurgis Fechtbuch
MS I.33, Royal Armouries Leeds, United Kingdom
ff 31v-32r, including St. Walpurga in her ward
Hils' catalog	30
Leng's catalog	38.9.8
Also known as	The Tower Manuscript British Museum No. 14 E iii, No. 20
Type	Fencing manual
Date	ca. 1320s
Place of origin	Franconia
Language(s)	Medieval Latin (German influence)
Scribe(s)	Unknown
Author(s)	Clerus Lutegerus (?)
Illustrated by	Unknown
Material	Parchment, in a modern binding
Size	34 folia
Format	Double-sided; two illustrations per side with descriptive text above and below
Script	Bastarda
External link	Museum data sheet

The MS I.33 is a German fencing manual thought to have been created in the 1320s.^[1] It currently rests in the holdings of the Royal Armouries at Leeds, England. The earliest extant writing on Medieval martial arts, it is an extensive and fully-illustrated treatise on the use of the sword and buckler. It appears to have been devised by a monk, possibly the Lutegerus ("Liutger") mentioned in the text.^[2] it was the work of three scribes and potentially as many as 17 illustrators.^[3]

The current manuscript consists of three quires, and it is likely that the third (ff 17r - 32v) has been shuffled at some point in its history.^[3] There are also indications that several folia are missing from the current composition of the manuscript,^[3] and these are likely the source for the derivative plays in the Libri Picture A.83, the Codex I.6.2°.4, and the CGM 3712.

Contents 1 Provenance 2 Contents 3 Gallery 4 Additional Resources 5 References

Provenance

The known provenance of the MS I.33 is:

• Written in the 1320s, possibly by one Clerus Lutegerus; owned by Franconian monks until the 1500s.
• 1400s – Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II; 1405-1464) inscribed the couplet at the top of f 1r.^{[citation needed]}
• before 1510s – at least 8 folia containing thirty plays were removed from the manuscript; these plays were duplicated several times in other manuscripts.
• 1552 or 53 – discovered in a Franconian monastery by Johannes Herbart von Würzburg,^[4][3] fencing master to the dukes of Sachsen-Gotha, who inscribed his name on f 7r.
• before 1579 – duplicated by Heinrich von Gunterrodt^[4] (this copy has been lost).
• late 1500s-1945 – owned by the dukes of Sachsen-Gotha; listed in an 18th century library catalog.^[3] The second device on f 26r was copied into the Codex Guelf 125.16.Extrav. in the 1600s by a scribe who couldn't decipher the text.^[5] (Lost during World War II.)
• 1945-1950 – location unknown (sold London, Sotheby's, 1950)
• 1950 – held by the Royal Armouries at Leeds

Contents

Folio	Section
1r - 32v	Sword and buckler, possibly by "Clerus Lutegerus"

Gallery

Images hosted by the Royal Armouries.

	Folio 1r	Folio 1v	Folio 2r	Folio 2v	Folio 3r
Folio 3v	Folio 4r	Folio 4v	Folio 5r	Folio 5v	Folio 6r
Folio 6v	Folio 7r	Folio 7v	Folio 8r	Folio 8v	Folio 9r
Folio 9v	Folio 10r	Folio 10v	Folio 11r	Folio 11v	Folio 12r
Folio 12v	Folio 13r	Folio 13v	Folio 14r	Folio 14v	Folio 15r
Folio 15v	Folio 16r	Folio 16v	Folio 17r	Folio 17v	Folio 18r
Folio 18v	Folio 19r	Folio 19v	Folio 20r	Folio 20v	Folio 21r
Folio 21v	Folio 22r	Folio 22v	Folio 23r	Folio 23v	Folio 24r
Folio 24v	Folio 25r	Folio 25v	Folio 26r	Folio 26v	Folio 27r
Folio 27v	Folio 28r	Folio 28v	Folio 29r	Folio 29v	Folio 30r
Folio 30v	Folio 31r	Folio 31v	Folio 32r	Folio 32v

Additional Resources

• Cinato, Franck and Surprenant, André. Le Livre de l'art du Combat: Liber de arte dimicatoria. Édition critique du Royal Armouries MS. I.33, collection Sources d'Histoire Médiévale n°39. Paris: CNRS Editions, 2009. ISBN 978-2-271-06757-9
• Forgeng, Dr. Jeffrey L. The Illuminated Fightbook Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33. Extraordinary Editions, 2012.
• Forgeng, Dr. Jeffrey L. The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship: A Facsimile & Translation of Europe's Oldest Personal Combat Treatise, Royal Armouries MS I.33 (Royal Armouries Monograph). Chivalry Bookshelf, 2003. ISBN 1-891448-38-2
• Morini, Andrea and Rudilosso, Riccardo. Manoscritto I.33 Rome: Il Cerchio Iniziative Editoriali, 2012.

References