Cluny Fechtbuch (Cl. 23842)

Gladiatoria
MS Cl. 23842, Musée National du Moyen Age Paris, France
ff 194v - 195r
Hagedorn Leng 38.2.3 38.6.2
Wierschin 3 Hils 14
Type	Fencing manual Wrestling manual
Date	after 1495
Language(s)	Early New High German
Author(s)	Unknown
Compiler	Unknown
Material	Paper, with a contemporary wood and leather binding
Size	212 folia
Format	Double-sided; one illustration per side, with occasional captions
Script	Bastarda
Treatise scans	Digital scans (450x625)

The MS Cl. 23842 is a German fencing manual created some time after 1495. The original currently rests in the holdings of the Musée National du Moyen Age in Paris, France. This manuscript is a compilation work; it seems to consist of three distinct sections, illustrated by at least two different artists, and several pages have been shuffled since it was created. The first section consists of mounted and foot combat after the style of Johannes Liechtenauer, probably based on the writings of Paulus Kal and Peter Faulkner. The second section covers various forms of judicial combat, and might be related to Jörg Wilhalm Hutter's later works in the 1520s. The third section is a fragment of the Gladiatoria treatise. The Cl. 23842 seems to have much in common with the Codex Guelf 78.2 August 2°, which may also have been a source, and like that manuscript, it is generally lacking descriptive text.

Provenance

The known provenance of the Cl. 23842 is:

• Created no earlier than the 1490s based on the watermarks on the paper, and before the 1520s due to the connection to Jörg Wilhalm Hutter.
• pre-1800s-1980s - in the Fürstenberg library at the castle at Donaueschingen. Possibly acquired by Graf Wolfgang von Fürstenberg (1465-1509), the founder of the library. Listed as MS 862 in a Fürstliche Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek catalogue in the 1800s and stamped by the library at each end (sold privately, 1980s).
• 1980s-2005 - the private collection of Ian Woodner (1903-1990) of New York (sold London, Sotheby's, 2008)
• 2008 - purchased by the Musée National du Moyen Age.

Contents

As this manuscript is not currently available for study, the accuracy of this table of contents cannot be confirmed.

Folio	Section
1r - 11v	Blank pages
12r - 57v	Illustrations of longsword
60r - 69v	Illustrations of messer without armor
72r - 87v, 194r	Illustrations of dagger without armor
95r - 114v	Illustrations of grappling without armor
118r - 131v	Illustrations of sword and buckler without armor
133v - 148r	Illustrations of mounted fencing in armor
149r - 178v	Illustrations of longsword in armor
180r - 181v	Illustrations of longshield with and without armor
183r - 191v	Illustrations of pole weapons without armor
194r	Illustration of navaja
194v	Illustration of a duel between a man and a woman
195r - 212v	Illustrations of longsword in armor from the Gladiatoria group
213r - 224v	Blank pages

Gallery

Images hosted by the musée national du Moyen Âge. Only a handful of low-resolution scans are currently available.

Folio 32v

Folio 33r

Folio 39r

Folio 47r

Folio 50r

Folio ??

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Folio 64r

Folio 75r

Folio 84r

Folio 101r

Folio ??v

Folio ??r

Folio 112r

Folio 114v

Folio 118v

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Folio 127r

Folio 133v

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Folio 140r

Folio 140v

Folio 145v

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Folio ??v

Folio ??r

Folio 157v

Folio 175v

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Folio 191r

Folio 194r

Folio 194v

Folio 195r

Folio 198r