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Difference between revisions of "Paulus Hector Mair"

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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images</p>
 
! <p>Images</p>
! <p>{{rating|B}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version I]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version I]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]<br/>by [[Anton Kohutovič]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]<br/>by [[Anton Kohutovič]]</p>
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images</p>
 
! <p>Images</p>
! <p>{{rating}}</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Eric Mains]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version I]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version I]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]</p>
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| [[file:Mair mixed 01.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 01.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[1] The Javelin against the Sword'''</p>
'''[1] '''
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Present yourself like so in this piece with the javelin: Stand with your left foot ahead and hold it with both hands on your right side, your front end or point toward the man. If he then also stands with his left foot toward you and holds his sword overhead in a high cut against you, and he wishes to cut in at your head, then quickly stab at his body. If he stabs at you like this, then step backwards with your left leg and cut with your sword to the left side of the shaft of his javelin with the Zwerch so that you take his thrust away with it. If he cuts opposing you like this and takes your thrust away from you, then follow in after with your right leg and thrust at him with the front end of your javelin toward the right side of his body. With this, step back from him.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|227r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|227r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 02.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 02.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[2] The Halberd against the Sword'''</p>
'''[2] '''
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 +
When you both are coming together, then present yourself like so in this piece with your halberd: Stand with your left foot forward and hold your halberd extended in front of your face with your right hand on the back end, pointed toward the man, your left at the middle, high on your left side. At that moment quickly cut toward his head. If he cuts from above at you like this and you also stand with left foot toward him, and you hold your sword on your right shoulder, the pommel in your left hand and pointed toward the man, then cut to his halberd with the long edge. Thus you take his cut away with it. At the same moment step in a triangle and cut to the left side of his head with the long edge. If he cuts from above at you like this, then step twice with a chasing and stab him twice from below and above as you step away from him with it.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|227v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|227v|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 03.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 03.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[3] The Longspear against the Sword'''</p>
'''[3] '''
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 +
Hold yourself like this with this piece: When you are both closing together, stand with your left foot in front and hold your spear on your right side with your left hand ahead toward the man, your right behind your right leg on your spear. At that moment quickly stab at him toward his face. If he stabs high at you like that, and you stand with your right foot toward him and you hold your sword in the Change on your left side, the point toward the ground, then go up with your sword out of the Change and with that strike to his spear. Thus you take away his thrust on your right side. If he has cut at your spear like this, then pull your spear downwards. In that moment, go up again so that you have your spear well out front in the middle and stab him through the left side of his body. If he has stabbed you through your body, then cut strongly to him with your long edge toward his head, and this strike must be done quickly or else it is wasted.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|228r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|228r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 04.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 04.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[4] The Halberd against the Sword'''</p>
'''[4] '''
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 +
If you are both going together, then hold yourself like this in this piece: Stand with your right foot forward and hold your halberd with your right hand on the lower end at your right hip, your left in the middle toward the man, the point up. At that moment, stab him in his face with your forward end. If he stabs you high like this, and you also stand with your left foot toward him, well in the balance, and you hold your sword with both hands on the haft on your left side, the point toward the man, then plant your long edge on his halberd and set him aside with it. In that moment, step in with your right leg and go up over your head with your sword with crossed arms and cut high to his head with your long edge. If he cuts high at you like this, then wind your halberd behind your head and back around and strike him with the blade of your halberd toward his head.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|228v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|228v|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 05.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 05.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[5] The Dussack against the Sword'''</p>
'''[5] '''
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 +
Conduct yourself like this in this piece: When you are closing with each other, stand with your right foot in front and hold your dussack in your right hand toward the man, your left hand on your left hip. In that moment, quickly cut toward his head. If he cuts high at you like this, and you are standing with your left foot toward him, then oppose his dussack with crossed arms, restraining his cut with yours, away to your right side. At that moment, follow in with your right leg and let your sword quickly overrun and cut toward the left side of his head. If he cuts high at you like this, then take that away with your dussack on your left side. In that moment, leap to his right side with your left foot and cut to his right arm. If he cuts to your right arm like this, then hang well to your right side and parry his cut with your sword. In that moment, step in there with your left leg and cut to his forward leg.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|229r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|229r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 06.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 06.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[6] More of the Dussack against the Sword'''</p>
'''[6] '''
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 +
When the two of you are coming together, then present yourself like so in this piece: Stand with your right foot forward and hold your sword on your right side with both hands on your hilt. At that moment, cut to his head with your long edge. If he cuts from above at you like this, and you stand with your left foot toward him, and you hold your dussack on your left arm with your right hand on your grip in the air behind your head, your long edge wound upward, the point toward the man, then take that away on your left side. In that moment, step in there with your right leg and cut to the left side of his head. If he cuts at you from above like this, then hang your sword on your left side so that the long edge is turned upwards and parry his cut with it. In that moment, cut to his left leg with your long edge and step back away from him with it.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|229v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|229v|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 07.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 07.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[7] The Dagger against the Sword'''</p>
'''[7] '''
+
 
 +
Conduct yourself like so in this piece: If two of you are coming together, then stand with your left foot forward and hold your sword in front of your face toward the man. In that moment, cut to his head. If he cuts from above at you like this, and you stand with your left foot toward him, then quickly step in there with your right leg and parry his cut with your dagger on your right arm, close to the grip on his blade. In that moment, catch hold of his right arm with your left hand, (going) inside over his handle. Pull him to your left side and stab at his face. If he thrusts high at you like this, then let your left hand loose from the pommel of your sword, take hold of his left and shove it upward. Thus you take away his thrust. At that moment, step back with your left leg, yank your right hand to you, and take hold of your pommel again with your left. In that moment, cut to his head and step back away from him with it.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|230r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|230r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 08.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 08.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[8] One More Piece with the Dagger against the Sword'''</p>
'''[8] '''
+
 
 +
If you are both coming together, then conduct yourself like so in this piece: Stand with your left foot in front and hold your sword with crossed arms, so your grip is on your right side and the point is toward the man. At that moment, turn your point with a thrust to his chest. If you stand with your right foot toward him, and you hold your dagger in your right hand along the inside of your right arm, your left hand on your left hip, and he thrusts at you like this, then fall upon his sword with your dagger and push it firmly away from you on your right<ref>The illustration suggests that this action should be done to your left side, rather than to your right.</ref> side, thus taking away his thrust. In that same moment, follow in with your left leg and catch his right hand with your left and stab him in the throat. If he stabs high at you like this, then seize his right with your left hand and take it away to your left side. In the same instant, step back away from him and quickly wrench your right hand toward you and cut to his head.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|230v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|230v|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 09.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 09.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[9] The Dagger against the Dussack'''</p>
'''[9] '''
+
 
 +
Present yourself like this in this piece: If you are both coming together, stand with your right foot ahead and hold your dussack in a low cut against the man. In that moment cut from below to his right arm. If he cuts from below like this at you have your right foot toward him as well, then take his cut away with your dagger on the outside of your right arm. In the same moment, grab the outside of his right arm with your left hand and step behind his right with your left leg and stab him in his face or the chest. If he thrusts at you like this, then snatch hold of his right with your left hand and shove it to your left side away from you, thus you take his thrust away. In the same moment, cut to his nearest opening just as soon as you find that opening, and step back away from him.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|231r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|231r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 10.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 10.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[10] One More with the Dagger against the Dussack'''</p>
'''[10] '''
+
 
 +
When you both are coming together, then present yourself like so in this piece: Stand with your right foot forward and hold your dussack in the air over your head with your right hand. If he stands with his right foot toward you and holds his dagger on the outside of his right arm to parry, then step in there with your left leg and grab hold of his right arm with your left hand, catching his dagger’s blade and his arm together. At that moment, strongly cut at his head with your dussack. If he cuts at you from above like this, then go inside of his right arm with your left hand and push him strongly to your right side away from you. At that moment, go with your dagger in front of your head as you take his cut away. Now, step in there with your left leg and take hold of his right hand with your left and shove it well upwards and stab him in the face or the chest. Pull yourself back away from him with this.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|231v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|231v|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 11.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 11.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[11] The Boar-spear against the Halberd'''</p>
'''[11] '''
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 +
Conduct yourself like so in this piece: When you are both coming together, stand with your left foot forward and hold your spear toward the man with your right hand on your right side, your left in the middle on the shaft. At that moment, stab toward the left side of his body. If he thrusts at you like this, and you stand with your right foot toward him, and you support your halberd with your right hand by the back end on your right side, your blade toward the man, then take his thrust away with your blade on your left side. In that moment, follow in after with your left leg and stab him in his nuts. If he thrusts low at you like this, then step back with your left leg and take his thrust away on your left side with the forward part of your spear. If he has taken you away like this, then cut to his head with the blade of your halberd. If he cuts high at you like this, then move towards his cut and stab over his left arm through his neck, then you may plant him to the ground.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|232r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|232r|png}}
 
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| [[file:Mair mixed 12.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair mixed 12.jpg|300x300px|center]]
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| <p>'''[12] More with the Boar-spear against the Halberd'''</p>
'''[12] '''
+
 
 +
When you both are coming together, then conduct yourself like so in this piece: Stand with your left foot forward and hold your spear in the air in front of your face with your right hand on the back end, your left at the middle. At that moment, cut to his head. If he cuts from above at you like this, and you also stand with your left foot toward him, and you are supporting your halberd with your right hand at the back end behind your head, your left toward the man on the shaft by the blade, then take away his cut on your right side with your blade. In that moment, stab him in the chest with your front end. If he thrusts at you like this, then take it away on your right side with your spear. In that moment, step in there with your right foot and let your spear fall. Then grab him with your left hand around behind his neck on his right shoulder and your right hand to his left leg. Lift him strongly upwards so that you throw him on his face. Once you have thrown him like this, you may easily take hold of your spear again and proceed with cuts or thrusts as you wish.
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|232v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.93|232v|png}}
 
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| <p>'''[13] '''</p>
'''[13] '''
 
 
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| <p>'''[14] '''</p>
'''[14] '''
 
 
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| <p>'''[15] '''</p>
'''[15] '''
 
 
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich Version]]</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich Version]]</p>
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Kendra Brown]], [[Rebecca Garber]], [[Mark Millman]],<br/>[[Jon Reynolds]], and [[Amy West]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating}}</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version II]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version II]] (1550s)<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]<br/>by [[Dieter Bachmann]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna Version I]] (1550s) [German]<br/>by [[Dieter Bachmann]]</p>
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  | work        = Translation
 
  | work        = Translation
 
  | authors    = [[Eric Mains]]
 
  | authors    = [[Eric Mains]]
  | source link = https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzihua89FAOWYklReTYwNnNjQ2c/edit
+
  | source link =  
| source title= Document circulated online
+
| source title= Documents circulated online: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzihua89FAOWYklReTYwNnNjQ2c/edit] [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzihua89FAOWOTFPV0thbEItS3c/view]
 
  | license    = noncommercial
 
  | license    = noncommercial
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 19:59, 1 December 2014

Paulus Hector Mair

"Mair", Cod.icon. 312b f 64r
Born 1517
Augsburg, Germany
Died 10 Dec 1579 (age 62)
Augsburg, Germany
Occupation
  • Civil servant
  • Historian
Nationality German
Movement
Influences
Genres
Language
Notable work(s) Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica
Manuscript(s)
First printed
english edition
Knight and Hunt, 2008
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations Traduction française
Signature Paulus Hector Mair Sig.png

Paulus Hector Mair (1517 – 1579) was a 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.

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.

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 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.

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 the Younger to create the art for the text, and according to Hils Mair also hired two fencing masters to pose for the illustrations.[citation needed] 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.

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 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.

Treatise

In addition to the three manuscripts that Mair commissioner personally detailed below, Mair is known to have collected the following during his life:

Manuscripts

Books

Personal Compendiums

Additional Resources

  • Hunt, Brian. "Paulus Hector Mair: Peasant Staff and Flail." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts. Ed. Jeffrey Hull. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3
  • Knight, David James, and Hunt, Brian. The Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-644-7

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chronicon Abbatis Urspergensis, the Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg (13th century), printed in Augsburg 1515.
  2. The amphitheatre of Fidenae (the modern Borgata Fidena, a suburb of Rome), endowed by a freed slave named Atilius, collapsed in 27 BC under the weight of a large crowd of spectators, apparently due to faults in construction. According to the (likely exaggerated) account by Tacitus (Annales, 4.63), a total of 50,000 people died in the collapse.
  3. The preceding three paragraphs are missing in the Dresden version.
  4. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 71 – ca. 135), author of De vita Caesarum (ca. AD 120).
  5. Dresden version: four hundred.
  6. Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (225 – 244), Marcus Iulius Philippus (ca. 204 - 249)
  7. Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (AD 131 – 201)
  8. This may be in reference to 2 Timothy 2:4, rendered by Luther (1522) as: Niemant streyttet vnnd flicht sich ynn der narung geschefft, auff das er gefalle dem, der yhn zum streytter auffgenomen hat "None who would fight does meddle in the business of sustenance, so that he may please him who employed him as a fighter". Now Luthers narung "sustenance, nutrition, food" offers itself to an interpretation of "gluttony; carnal pleasure", but it translates pragmateiai biou, meaning "the pragmatics of life", i.e. "everyday business". c.f. Tyndale (1526), who has "No man that warreth, entangleth himself with worldly business, and that because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier"; Dresden has "temporal" (zeitlich) rather than "transient" (zergenglich).
  9. This is a reference to Pliny, Nat. Hist. 30.32: "When a freedman of Nero was giving a gladiatorial show at Antium, the public porticoes were covered with paintings, so we are told, containing life-like portraits of all the gladiators and assistants. This portraiture of gladiators has been the highest interest in art for many centuries now, but it was Gaius Terentius who began the practice of having pictures made of gladiatorial shows and exhibited in public; in honour of his grandfather who had adopted him he provided thirty pairs of Gladiators in the Forum for three consecutive days, and exhibited a picture of the matches in the Grove of Diana."
  10. Anacharsis the Scythian, according to Herodotus (4.46, 76 f.) brother of the Scythian king Saulinos; attributed to him are inventions such as the anchor, bellows and pottery wheel. He was slain by his brother after he returned from a journey to Greece and began to advocate Greek culture to his countrymen. He is sometimes counted as one of the Seven Sages of Athens. Among a number of letters attributed to him is one addressed to the Lydian king Croesus.
  11. Johannes Aventinus (Johann Georg Turmair von Abensberg, 1477–1534), historiographer at the Bavarian court.
  12. Gampar is the seventh king in the (fictional) genealogy of the kings of the ancient Germans going back to the Great Flood in Aventinus' Annales (1522). Aventinus gives Gampar's regnal years as 1711–1667 BC.
  13. Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 275 – 339)
  14. Pittakos of Mitylene (Lesbos), 7th c. BC, one of the Seven Sages. He led the Mitylenians against the Athenians and arranged a duel with Phrynon, an Olympic champion in pankration, by which to settle the war. He defeated Phrynon by trapping him in a net. The greater Ajay met Hector in place of Achilles (Iliad 7.181), the fight lasted the entire day and Hector was lightly wounded, and the heroes then parted with mutual respect. Porus, "king of India" was defeated by Alexander in the battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. I have so far failed to identify Pyrechmen and Degmemnus.
  15. Mair gives more detail on this judicial duel of 1409 in the second volume. According to this account, the combatants were Wilhelm Marschalk von Dornsberg and Theodor Haschenacker, and the shields of the combatants were preserved in St. Leonard's church outside of the city until the tower of this church was demolished on 3 November 1542.
  16. Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata ("Sayings of kings and emperors") in Plutarch's Moralia.
  17. Vienna: mit schaden "with damage", Dresden: mit schanden "with dishonour/ignominy".
  18. Tacitus' Germania was unknown during the medieval period; rediscovered in 1455, the text was popularized in German humanism only from c. 1500; it is summarized by Aventinus, who is Mair's source, in his Annales ducum Boiariae (1522), the German-language edition of which (Bairische Chronik 1533) was just about ten years old when Mair wrote his text.
  19. pafese read for gafese (i.e. pavese, the infantry shields comparable to the Roman rectangular shields of the early imperial period)
  20. Tuisto is the primeval god of the Germanic peoples according to Tacitus. Aventinus euhemerizes him as the grandson of Noah and first king of the Germans (r. 2214–2038 BC). Herman here is not the historical Arminius, but the fifth king in Aventinus' list (r. 1820–1757 BC), founder of the Herminones or continental Germans.
  21. Mair's source is the Turnierbuch of Georg Rüxner (c. 1490), edited in Augsburg by Marx Würsung (1518). Rüxner describes a series of 36 "imperial tournaments" (Reichs-Turniere) between 938 and 1487, beginning with a legendary tournament held in Magdeburg during what Rüxner makes out as the reign of Henry I the Fowler.
  22. the successive Habsburg emperors Frederick III, Maximilian I and Charles V, spanning the period since the supposed disestablishment of the knightly tournament and the establishment of the Brotherhood of St. Mark or Marxbrüder. The Freifechter denounced by Mair seem to represent an early form of the guild later known as Federfechter (unless the term still has a generic meaning, frei as in "unincorporated").
  23. Schlaraffenland is the German adaptation of Coquaigne (Cucania), first encountered in the 15th century (as schlauraff, schluderaffe) and popularised by Hans Sachs (1558). The name seems to originate as an (unattested) medieval slur meaning "lazy idler", schlu(de)r-affe, lit. "drooping ape".
  24. Ninus: the legendary founder of Nineveh according to Ctesias (Persica, ca. 400 BC); Ctesias' Sardanapolus corresponds to Ashurbanipal (669 - 627 BC); Ctesias is a rather unreliable source by comparison with Herodotus and the Ptolemaic king list; but in any case knowledge on the Assyrian empire was very limited before the decipherment of cuneiform in the 1850s.
  25. Gideon: Judges 7:4-7; David: Psalm 144:1: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" (KJV).
  26. 'Long edge' is not listed in ty.
  27. sic : beide
  28. Marginalie unleserlich
  29. ”streck dein leyb und deine armen wol”
  30. sic : seinem ?
  31. The words are marked with numbers above. Probably it is to keep track of word order.
  32. sic : hinndersich
  33. sic : widerumb
  34. sic : seinem
  35. sic : schniten
  36. sic : seinnen ?
  37. 21r
  38. The illustration suggests that this action should be done to your left side, rather than to your right.
  39. Literally: put
  40. Literally: pull back the left foot
  41. German: his
  42. German: grab with your left hand from below outside over his right arm
  43. rechten
  44. Barred, or bolted.
  45. Pliers, or fire-tongs.
  46. Wrestlers wear a leather collar? Hmmm...
  47. Comb, carder?
  48. A variant on the o-goshi in judo.
  49. sic : Im mit
  50. »sst« oberhalb der Zeile korrigiert aus »fft«
  51. A technique for putting the opponent down head first with his feet in the air.
  52. Dagger pommel?! I have actually no idea what he is thinking here. My only guess is that it was late on Friday afternoon, and must have mistaken ”kopff” with ”knopff”.
  53. Which is what?
  54. Note: Change of grip required, or the illustration does not match.
  55. Dagger transfer necessary at this point.
  56. Note: person on left side starts with the dagger in the left hand according to the illustration.
  57. Note: push down, not out
  58. Arbait - technical term: work, force, struggle
  59. Vienna and Munich MS Latin: right.
  60. read: locitur
  61. Latin: snatch up.
  62. Note: the illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  63. "You will lick it!" Not pleasant if the dagger is lying on it. Especially in cold weather.
  64. May not represent the changing though described.
  65. Note illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  66. Note: left is corrected from a right. Left is correct.
  67. This seems to imply both parallel action and simultaneity.
  68. Reib - strong twisting, bending, rotating motion.
  69. Image shows left.
  70. From the inner side.
  71. From the Latin text
  72. Correct from underich.
  73. Could also mean immediately
  74. Only in the Latin.
  75. Inn - unclear whether directional or locational.
  76. The one in the left hand?
  77. Only in the Latin.
  78. Possible abbreviation of gegen – geg.
  79. Odd squiggle in the middle—f from previous line?
  80. Scribal error for pungito?
  81. Strange squiggle above the c.
  82. Squiggle – looks like the Munich MS symbol for us?
  83. Error for interim?
  84. Written as “in Clinando”
  85. NB, likely scribal error for “laevam”
  86. Second u has three dots almost like ǜ.
  87. Error for dextrum?
  88. sic : verborgnen