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<small>49</small>
+
<poem><small>49</small>
  
 
<small>50</small>
 
<small>50</small>
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<small>62</small></poem>
 
<small>62</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|The Squinting Stroke}}
 
| {{red|b=1|The Squinting Stroke}}
<poem>The Squinter breaks into
+
<poem>The Squinter breaks into<br/>&emsp;whatever a buffalo strikes or thrusts.
&emsp;whatever a buffalo strikes or thrusts.
+
Who threatens to change through,<br/>&emsp;the Squinter robs him of it.
Who threatens to change through,
+
Squint when he is short against you,<br/>&emsp;changing through defeats him.
&emsp;the Squinter robs him of it.
+
Squint to the point,<br/>&emsp;and take the throat without fear.
Squint when he is short against you,
+
Squint to the head above<br/>&emsp;if you want to damage the hands.</poem>
&emsp;changing through defeats him.
 
Squint to the point,
 
&emsp;and take the throat without fear.
 
Squint to the head above
 
&emsp;if you want to damage the hands.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|1|lbl=19v}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|1|lbl=19v}}
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<small>67</small></poem>
 
<small>67</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|The Scalp Cut}}
 
| {{red|b=1|The Scalp Cut}}
<poem>The Scalper
+
<poem>The Scalper<br/>&emsp;is a danger to the face,
&emsp;is a danger to the face,
+
with its turn,<br/>&emsp;very dangerous to the breast.
with its turn,
+
Whatever comes from him,<br/>&emsp;the Crown will take it.
&emsp;very dangerous to the breast.
+
Slice through the Crown,<br/>&emsp;thus you will break it hard through.
Whatever comes from him,
+
Press the strokes,<br/>&emsp;with slices pull them away.</poem>
&emsp;the Crown will take it.
 
Slice through the Crown,
 
&emsp;thus you will break it hard through.
 
Press the strokes,
 
&emsp;with slices pull them away.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|2|lbl=-}}
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<small>69</small></poem>
 
<small>69</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|The Four Guards}}
 
| {{red|b=1|The Four Guards}}
<poem>Four guards alone hold;
+
<poem>Four guards alone hold;<br/>&emsp;And disdain the common.
&emsp;And disdain the common.
+
Ox, Plow, Fool,<br/>&emsp;From the Roof should not be unknown to you.</poem>
Ox, Plow, Fool,
 
&emsp;From the Roof should not be unknown to you.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|3|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|3|lbl=-}}
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<small>74</small></poem>
 
<small>74</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|The Four Oppositions}}
 
| {{red|b=1|The Four Oppositions}}
<poem>Four are the oppositions
+
<poem>Four are the oppositions<br/>&emsp;that hurt the four guards very much.  
&emsp;that hurt the four guards very much.  
+
Beware of parrying.<br/>&emsp;If it happens to you, it troubles you greatly.
Beware of parrying.
+
If you are parried<br/>&emsp;and when that has happened,
&emsp;If it happens to you, it troubles you greatly.
+
hear what I advise to you:<br/>&emsp;Tear away and strike quickly with surprise.
If you are parried
+
Set upon the four ends.<br/>&emsp;Stay upon them, learn if you want to bring it to an end.</poem>
&emsp;and when that has happened,
 
hear what I advise to you:
 
&emsp;Tear away and strike quickly with surprise.
 
Set upon the four ends.
 
&emsp;Stay upon them, learn if you want to bring it to an end.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|4|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|4|lbl=-}}
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<small>79</small></poem>
 
<small>79</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Chasing}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Chasing}}
<poem>Learn the chasing
+
<poem>Learn the chasing<br/>&emsp;twice, or slice into the weapon.
&emsp;twice, or slice into the weapon.
+
Two outer intentions.<br/>&emsp;The work after that begins.
Two outer intentions.
+
And test the attacks<br/>&emsp;if they are soft or hard.
&emsp;The work after that begins.
+
Learn the feeling.<br/>&emsp;The word Instantly slices sharply.
And test the attacks
+
Chase twice,<br/>&emsp;if you hit, do the Ancient Slice as well.</poem>
&emsp;if they are soft or hard.
 
Learn the feeling.
 
&emsp;The word Instantly slices sharply.
 
Chase twice,
 
&emsp;if you hit, do the Ancient Slice as well.</poem>
 
 
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|  
 
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| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 019v.jpg|5|lbl=-}}
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<small>82</small></poem>
 
<small>82</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Overrunning}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Overrunning}}
<poem>Who wants to strike below,
+
<poem>Who wants to strike below,<br/>&emsp;overrun him, and he will be shamed.
&emsp;overrun him, and he will be shamed.
+
When it clashes above,<br/>&emsp;then strengthen: this I truly do praise.
When it clashes above,
+
Do your work,<br/>&emsp;or press hard twice.</poem>
&emsp;then strengthen: this I truly do praise.
 
Do your work,
 
&emsp;or press hard twice.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|1|lbl=20r}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|1|lbl=20r}}
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<small>85</small></poem>
 
<small>85</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Setting Aside}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Setting Aside}}
<poem>Learn to set aside,
+
<poem>Learn to set aside,<br/>&emsp;To skillfully hinder stroke and thrust.
&emsp;To skillfully hinder stroke and thrust.
+
Who thrusts at you,<br/>&emsp;your point hits and counters his.
Who thrusts at you,
+
From both sides<br/>&emsp;hit every time if you want to step.</poem>
&emsp;your point hits and counters his.
 
From both sides
 
&emsp;hit every time if you want to step.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| <p><br/></p>
 
| <p><br/></p>
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| {{red|b=1|Changing Through}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Changing Through}}
  
Learn the changing through<br/>
+
Learn the changing through<br/>&emsp;from both sides, thrust with intent.<br/>
&emsp;from both sides, thrust with intent.<br/>
+
Whoever binds to you,<br/>&emsp;changing through will find him indeed.
Whoever binds to you,<br/>
 
&emsp;changing through will find him indeed.
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
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| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|3|lbl=-}}
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<small>90</small></poem>
 
<small>90</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Pulling}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Pulling}}
<poem>Step close in binding.  
+
<poem>Step close in binding.<br/>&emsp;The pulling provides good finds.  
&emsp;The pulling provides good finds.  
+
Pull—if he meets, pull more.<br/>&emsp;Find the work that will hurt him.  
Pull—if he meets, pull more.  
+
Pull in all encounters<br/>&emsp;against the Masters, if you want to fool them.</poem>
&emsp;Find the work that will hurt him.  
 
Pull in all encounters
 
&emsp;against the Masters, if you want to fool them.</poem>
 
 
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|  
 
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| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|4|lbl=-}}
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<small>92</small></poem>
 
<small>92</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Running Through}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Running Through}}
<poem>Run through, let hang  
+
<poem>Run through, let hang<br/>&emsp;with the pommel. Grasp if you want to wrestle.
&emsp;with the pommel. Grasp if you want to wrestle.
+
Who comes strongly at you,<br/>&emsp;the running through then remember.</poem>
Who comes strongly at you,
 
&emsp;the running through then remember.</poem>
 
 
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|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|5|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|5|lbl=-}}
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<small>94</small></poem>
 
<small>94</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Slicing Off}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Slicing Off}}
<poem>Slice off the hard ones,
+
<poem>Slice off the hard ones,<br/>&emsp;from below in both attacks.
&emsp;from below in both attacks.
+
Four are the slices:<br/>&emsp;two below and two above.</poem>
Four are the slices:
 
&emsp;two below and two above.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
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| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|6|lbl=-}}
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<poem><small>95</small></poem>
 
<poem><small>95</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Pressing Hands}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Pressing Hands}}
<poem>Turn your edge,
+
<poem>Turn your edge,<br/>&emsp;press the hands to the flats.</poem>
&emsp;press the hands to the flats.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|7|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|7|lbl=-}}
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<small>97</small></poem>
 
<small>97</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|Two Hangings}}
 
| {{red|b=1|Two Hangings}}
<poem>There are two hangings
+
<poem>There are two hangings<br/>&emsp;from one side from the ground.
&emsp;from one side from the ground.
+
In all attacks<br/>&emsp;strike, thrust, posture—soft or hard.</poem>
In all attacks
 
&emsp;strike, thrust, posture—soft or hard.</poem>
 
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|8|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020r.jpg|8|lbl=-}}
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<small>101</small></poem>
 
<small>101</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|The Speaking Window}}
 
| {{red|b=1|The Speaking Window}}
<poem>Do the Speaking Window,  
+
<poem>Do the Speaking Window,<br/>&emsp;stand blithely and look at his actions.  
&emsp;stand blithely and look at his actions.  
+
Strike him until he is defeated.<br/>&emsp;When he withdraws from you,
Strike him until he is defeated.  
+
I say to you truthfully:<br/>&emsp;no one protects himself without danger.
&emsp;When he withdraws from you,
+
If you have learned this,<br/>&emsp;he can scarcely manage to strike.</poem>
I say to you truthfully:
 
&emsp;no one protects himself without danger.
 
If you have learned this,
 
&emsp;he can scarcely manage to strike.</poem>
 
 
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|  
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020v.jpg|1|lbl=20v}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020v.jpg|1|lbl=20v}}
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<small>109</small></poem>
 
<small>109</small></poem>
 
| {{red|b=1|This is the Conclusion of the Epitome}}<br/><br/>
 
| {{red|b=1|This is the Conclusion of the Epitome}}<br/><br/>
<poem>Who conducts well and breaks properly
+
<poem>Who conducts well and breaks properly<br/>&emsp;and finally makes it all right
&emsp;and finally makes it all right
+
And splits particularly<br/>&emsp;everything into three wounders
And splits particularly
+
Who properly well hangs<br/>&emsp;and also executes the windings,
&emsp;everything into three wounders
+
and the eight windings<br/>&emsp;views in a righteous way,
Who properly well hangs
+
and each one of<br/>&emsp;those same winds I consider to be triple  
&emsp;and also executes the windings,
+
so they are<br/>&emsp;twenty-four.  
and the eight windings
+
And count them only, from both sides.<br/>&emsp;Eight windings learn with stepping.
&emsp;views in a righteous way,
+
And test the bind<br/>&emsp;no more than soft or hard.</poem>
and each one of
 
&emsp;those same winds I consider to be triple  
 
so they are  
 
&emsp;twenty-four.  
 
And count them only, from both sides.
 
&emsp;Eight windings learn with stepping.
 
And test the bind
 
&emsp;no more than soft or hard.</poem>
 
 
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| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020v.jpg|2|lbl=-}}
 
| {{section|Page:MS Chart.A.558 020v.jpg|2|lbl=-}}

Revision as of 22:19, 18 April 2017

Die Zettel
The Recital
Johannes Liechtenauer.png
Full Title A Recital on the Chivalric
Art of Fencing
Ascribed to Johannes Liechtenauer
Illustrated by Unknown
Date Fourteenth century (?)
Genre
Language Middle High German
Archetype(s) Hypothetical
Manuscript(s)
First Printed
English Edition
Tobler, 2010
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations

Johannes Liechtenauer (Hans Lichtenauer, Lichtnawer) was a German fencing master in the 14th or 15th century. No direct record of his life or teachings currently exists, and all that we know of both comes from the writings of other masters and scholars. The only account of his life was written by the anonymous author of the Nuremberg Hausbuch, one of the oldest texts in the tradition, who stated that "Master Liechtenauer learnt and mastered the Art in a thorough and rightful way, but he did not invent and put together this Art (as was just stated). Instead, he traveled and searched many countries with the will of learning and mastering this rightful and true Art." He may have been alive at the time of the creation of the fencing treatise contained in the Nuremberg Hausbuch, as that source is the only one to fail to accompany his name with a blessing for the dead.

Liechtenauer was described by many later masters as the "high master" or "grand master" of the art, and a long poem called the Zettel ("Recital") is generally attributed to him by these masters. Later masters in the tradition often wrote extensive glosses (commentaries) on this poem, using it to structure their own martial teachings. Liechtenauer's influence on the German fencing tradition as we currently understand it is almost impossible to overstate. The masters on Paulus Kal's roll of the Fellowship of Liechtenauer were responsible for most of the most significant fencing manuals of the 15th century, and Liechtenauer and his teachings were also the focus of the German fencing guilds that arose in the 15th and 16th centuries, including the Marxbrüder and the Veiterfechter.

Additional facts have sometimes been presumed about Liechtenauer based on often-problematic premises. The Nuremberg Hausbuch, often erroneously dated to 1389 and presumed to be written by a direct student of Liechtenauer's, has been treated as evidence placing Liechtenauer's career in the mid-1300s.[1] However, given that the Nuremberg Hausbuch may date as late as 1494 and the earliest records of the identifiable members of his tradition appear in the early 1400s, it seems more probable that Liechtenauer's career occurred toward the beginning of the 15th century. Ignoring the Nuremberg Hausbuch as being of indeterminate date, the oldest version of the Recital appears in the MS G.B.f.18.a, dating to ca. 1418-28 and attributed to an H. Beringer, which both conforms to this timeline and suggests the possibility that Liechtenauer was himself an inheritor of the teaching rather than its original composer (presentations of the Recital that are entirely unattributed exist in other 15th and 16th century manuscripts).

Treatise

Liechtenauer's teachings are preserved in a brief poem of rhyming couplets called the Zettel ("Recital"). These "secret and hidden words" were intentionally cryptic, probably to prevent the uninitiated from learning the techniques they represented; they also seem to have offered a system of mnemonic devices to those who understood their significance. The Recital was treated as the core of the Art by his students, and masters such as Sigmund ain Ringeck, Peter von Danzig zum Ingolstadt, and Jud Lew wrote extensive glosses that sought to clarify and expand upon these teachings.

Twenty-one manuscripts contain a presentation of the Recital as a separate (unglossed) section; there are dozens more presentations of the verse as part of one of the several glosses. The longest version of the Recital by far is found in the gloss from the Nuremberg Hausbuch, which contains almost twice as many verses as any other. However, given that the additional verses tend to either consist of repetitions from elsewhere in the Recital or use a very different style from Liechtenauer's work, they are generally treated as additions by the anonymous author or his instructor rather than being part of the standard Recital. The other surviving versions of the Recital from all periods show a high degree of consistency in both content and organization, excepting only the version attributed to H. Beringer (which is also included in the writings of Hans Folz).

The following tables include only those manuscripts that quote Liechtenauer's Recital in an unglossed form. Note that in the case of Beringer and Folz, the verse is presented in an alternative sequence; they have been reordered to match the others in this rendition, but you can find the original layout in their articles.

In addition to the verses on mounted fencing, several treatises in the Liechtenauer tradition include a group of twenty-six figuren ("figures")—single line abbreviations of the longer couplets, generally drawn in circles, which seem to sum up the most important points. The precise reason for the existence of these figures remains unknown, as does the reason why there are no equivalents for the armored fencing or unarmored fencing verses.

One clue to their significance may be a parallel set of teachings first recorded by Andre Paurñfeyndt in 1516, called the "Twelve Teachings for the Beginning Fencer".[17] These teachings are also generally abbreviations of longer passages in the Bloßfechten, and are similarly repeated in many treatises throughout the 16th century. It may be that the figures are a mnemonic that represent the initial stage of mounted fencing instruction, and that the full verse was taught only afterward.

Additional Resources

References

  1. Christian Henry Tobler. "Chicken and Eggs: Which Master Came First?" In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts. Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press, 2010. p6
  2. Kein eindeutiges z.
  3. The first letter has been corrected so that the word is ambiguous to identify.
  4. Written larger than normal.
  5. In the Bavarian dialect: freien = freuen, a freit = eine Freude.
  6. Gotha inserts the title Das ist der krieck in this position, but no other version separates it in that way.
  7. Between "Dupliere" and "doniden" there is a lack of space, possibly the "d" was added later.
  8. Corrected from »Im«.
  9. There is probably a missing letter here, making it "durchwechseln".
  10. W has been corrected to V.
  11. Talhoffer adds an additional couplet: [4r] Page:Ms.Thott.290.2º 004r.jpg
  12. This appears in place of the Durchwechseln verse.
  13. "oder"
  14. The meaning is unknown, but may be a part of the bridle.
  15. There are dots above the e, but it is not clear whether it really is an umlaut.
  16. "Vecht" (sound shift b→v)
  17. Andre Paurñfeyndt, et al. Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey. Hieronymus Vietor: Vienna, 1516.