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{{infobox writer
 
{{infobox writer
| name                = [[name::Paulus Hector Mair]]
+
| name                = [[name::Federico Ghisliero]]
| image                = File:Mair.png
+
| image                = File:Ghisliero portrait.jpg
| imagesize            = 250px
+
| imagesize            = 250px
| caption              = "Mair", Cod.icon. 312b f 64r
+
| caption              =  
| birthdate            = 1517
+
 
| birthplace          = Augsburg, Germany
+
| pseudonym            =
| deathdate            = 10 Dec 1579 (age 62)
+
| birthname            =
| deathplace          = Augsburg, Germany
+
| birthdate            =  
| occupation          = {{plainlist | [[occupation::Civil servant]] | [[occupation::Historian]] }}
+
| birthplace          =  
| language            = {{plainlist | [[language::Early New High German]] | [[language::New Latin]] }}
+
| deathdate            = 1619
| genre                = {{plainlist | [[Fencing manual]] | [[Wrestling manual]] }}
+
| deathplace          = Turino
| notableworks        = ''Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica''
+
| occupation          = [[occupation::Soldier]]  
| manuscript(s)        = {{collapsible list
+
| nationality          =
  | title = List of manuscripts
+
| ethnicity            =  
  | 1    = [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|MSS Dresden C.93/C.94]] (1540s)
+
| citizenship          = Bologna
  | 4    = [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Codex Icon 393 I & II]] (1540s)
+
| education            =
  | 2    = [[Geschlechterbuch der Stadt Augsburg (Cod.icon. 312b)|Codex Icon 312b]] (1548)
+
| alma_mater          =  
  | 3    = [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Codex 10825/10826]] (1550s)
+
| patron              =
  | 5    = [[Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)|Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82]] (1553)
+
 
}}
+
| spouse              =
| wiktenauer compilation by=[[Michael Chidester]]
+
| children            =  
| influences           = {{collapsible list
+
| relatives            =  
  | title = List of influences
+
| period              =  
  | 1    = [[Fabian von Auerswald]]
+
| movement            =  
  | 2    = [[Gregor Erhart]]
+
| influences          = {{plainlist
  | 3    = [[Martin Huntfeltz]]
+
| [[Camillo Agrippa]]
  | 4    = [[Jörg Wilhalm Hutter]]
+
| [[Giovanni dall'Agocchie]] (?)
  | 5    = [[Paulus Kal]]
+
| [[Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza]] (?)
  | 6    = [[Johannes Lecküchner]]
+
}}
  | 7    = [[Jud Lew]]
+
| influenced           =
  | 8    = [[Johannes Liechtenauer]]
+
 
  | 9    = [[Andre Liegniczer]]
+
| genre                = [[Fencing manual]]
  | 10    = [[Ott Jud]]
+
| language            = [[language::Italian]]
}}
+
| notableworks        = ''[[Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii (Federico Ghisliero)|Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii]]'' (1587)
| signature            = [[file:Paulus Hector Mair Sig.png|170px]]
+
| archetype            =  
 +
| manuscript(s)        = M.A.M. Ghisliero MS (1585)
 +
| principal manuscript(s)=
 +
| first printed edition=  
 +
| wiktenauer compilation by=
 +
 
 +
| signature            =  
 +
| translations        =  
 +
| below                =  
 
}}
 
}}
'''Paulus Hector Mair''' (1517 – 1579) was a [[century::16th century]] German civil servant and fencing enthusiast. He was born in Augsburg in 1517 to a wealthy and influential family in the German middle class (Bürger). In his youth, he likely received training in fencing and grappling from the masters of Augsburg fencing guild, and early on developed a deep fascination with fencing manuals. He began his civil service as a secretary to the Augsburg City Council; by 1541, Mair was the Augsburg City Treasurer, and in 1545 he also took on the duty of Master of Rations.  
+
'''Federico Ghisliero''' (Ghislieri; d. 1619) was a Bolognese soldier and fencer. Little is know about his early life, but he came from a Bolognese family and studied fencing under [[Silvio Piccolomini]]. He lead a long military career that included serving under the famous commander Alessandro, Duke of Parma, in Flanders in 1582. He was also a friend of Galileo Galilei and a prolific writer, though unfortunately most of his writings were destroyed in a fire at the University of Turin in 1904.
 +
 
 +
In 1587, he published a fencing treatise called ''[[Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii (Federico Ghisliero)|Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii]]'' ("Rules for Many Knightly Exercises"); two versions of the book exist, and it's unclear which was created first. One is dedicated to Antonio Pio Bonello, a well-known soldier and distant relative of Ghisliero, and the other to Ranuccio Farnese, who was 18 years old at the time and Alessandro's heir.
  
Mair lead a lavish lifestyle and maintained his political influence with expensive parties and other entertainments for the burghers and city officials of Augsburg. Despite his personal wealth and ample income, Mair spent decades living far beyond his means and taking money from the Augsburg city coffers to cover his expenses. This embezzlement was not discovered until 1579, when a disgruntled assistant reported him to the Augsburg City Council and provoked an audit of his books. Mair was arrested and tried for his crimes, and hanged as a thief at the age of 62.
+
Ghisliero's treatise is notable for his use of geometry in relation to fencing, using concentric circles centered on where the fencer has placed most of their weight (often, but not always, the back foot), and sometimes including multiple versions of each figure in an illustration to show the progression of the movements he describes. He also seems to be the first author to reference the ''Vitruvian Man'' in a fencing treatise. However, his treatise is unique in that it was printed without any illustrations at all, and they had to be drawn in by hand. It's unclear whether this indicates that he intended to have printing plates made but was unable to do so, or that his plan from the start was to have the books vary based on how much art each buyer was willing to pay for.
  
While Mair is not known to have ever certified as a fencing master, he was an avid collector of fencing manuals and other literature on military history, and some portion of his embezzlement was used to fund this hobby. Perhaps most significant of all of his acquisitions was the partially-completed manual of [[Antonius Rast]], a Master of the Longsword and one-time captain of the [[Marxbrüder]] fencing guild. The venerable master died in 1549 without completing it, and Mair ultimately was able to produce the [[Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)|Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82]] based on his notes. In sum, he purchased over a dozen fencing manuscripts over the course of his life, many of them from fellow collector [[Lienhart Sollinger]] (a [[Freifechter]] who lived in Augsburg for many years). After Mair's death, this collection was sold at auction as part of an attempt to recoup some of the funds Mair had appropriated.
+
Ghisliero died in Turino in 1619.
  
Already in Mair's lifetime some of his people's Medieval martial arts were being forgotten; this was tragic to Mair, who viewed the arts of fencing as a civilizing and character-building influence on men. In order to preserve as much of the art as possible, Mair commissioned a massive fencing compendium titled ''Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica'' ("The Greatest Work on the Athletic Arts"), and in it he compiled all of the fencing lore that he could access. He retained famed Augsburg painter [[Jörg Breu|Jörg Breu the Younger]] to create the art for the text, and according to Hils Mair also hired two fencing masters to pose for the illustrations.{{cn}} This project was extraordinarily expensive and took at least four years to complete. Ultimately, three copies of the massive fencing manual—six volumes in all—were produced, the first entirely in [[Early New High German]], another entirely in [[New Latin]], and a third including both languages.
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([[Federico Ghisliero|Read more]]…)
  
Whether viewed as a noble scholar who made the ultimate sacrifice for his art or an ignoble thief who robbed the city that trusted him, Mair remains one of the most influential figures in the history of Kunst des Fechtens. By completing the fencing manual of Antonius Rast, Mair gave us valuable insight into the [[Nuremberg Group|Nuremberg fencing tradition]], and his extensive commentary on the uncaptioned treatises in his collection serves to make useful training aids out of what would otherwise be mere curiosities. Finally, while his collection of manuscripts was dispersed after his death, most been preserved to this day instead of disappearing as did so many others, significantly expanding the corpus of historical European martial arts literature.
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<dl style="clear:right;">
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<dt style="font-size:90%;">Recently Featured:</dt>
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<dd style="font-size:90%;">[[Alfonso Fallopia]]&ensp;–&ensp;[[Hugold Behr]]&ensp;–&ensp;[[Angelo Viggiani]]&ensp;–&ensp;[[Giovanni dall'Agocchie]]&ensp;–&ensp;[[Salvator Fabris]]</dd>
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</dl>

Latest revision as of 00:51, 29 March 2024

Federico Ghisliero
Died 1619
Turino
Occupation Soldier
Citizenship Bologna
Influences
Genres Fencing manual
Language Italian
Notable work(s) Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii (1587)
Manuscript(s) M.A.M. Ghisliero MS (1585)

Federico Ghisliero (Ghislieri; d. 1619) was a Bolognese soldier and fencer. Little is know about his early life, but he came from a Bolognese family and studied fencing under Silvio Piccolomini. He lead a long military career that included serving under the famous commander Alessandro, Duke of Parma, in Flanders in 1582. He was also a friend of Galileo Galilei and a prolific writer, though unfortunately most of his writings were destroyed in a fire at the University of Turin in 1904.

In 1587, he published a fencing treatise called Regole di molti cavagliereschi essercitii ("Rules for Many Knightly Exercises"); two versions of the book exist, and it's unclear which was created first. One is dedicated to Antonio Pio Bonello, a well-known soldier and distant relative of Ghisliero, and the other to Ranuccio Farnese, who was 18 years old at the time and Alessandro's heir.

Ghisliero's treatise is notable for his use of geometry in relation to fencing, using concentric circles centered on where the fencer has placed most of their weight (often, but not always, the back foot), and sometimes including multiple versions of each figure in an illustration to show the progression of the movements he describes. He also seems to be the first author to reference the Vitruvian Man in a fencing treatise. However, his treatise is unique in that it was printed without any illustrations at all, and they had to be drawn in by hand. It's unclear whether this indicates that he intended to have printing plates made but was unable to do so, or that his plan from the start was to have the books vary based on how much art each buyer was willing to pay for.

Ghisliero died in Turino in 1619.

(Read more…)

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