Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer)

Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens
A Foundational Description of the Art of Fencing
Image F from the 1570 edition, with color added by a modern artist
Full title	A Thorough Description of the Free, Knightly and Noble Art of Fencing, Showing Various Customary Defenses, Affected and Put Forth with Many Handsome and Useful Drawings
Author(s)	Johannes Liechtenauer Joachim Meÿer
Illustrated by	Tobias Stimmer’s workshop (inc. Hans Christoffel Stimmer)
Dedicated to	Count Palatine Johann Casimir
Place of origin	Strasbourg, Germany
Language	Early New High German
Genre(s)	Fencing manual Wrestling manual
Sources	MS A.4°.2 (1560s)
Publisher	Thiebolt Berger
Publication date	1570, 1590, 1600, 1610, 1660
Pages	379
Treatise scans	Digital scans (1570) Digital scans (1570) Digital scans (1600) Black and white photocopy (1600)

The title of this article contains the characters ü and ÿ. Where they are unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Gruendtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer).

Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens ("A Foundational Description of the Art of Fencing") is a German fencing manual written by Joachim Meÿer and printed in 1570. Building on his earlier 1560s manuscript, the MS A.4°.2, it is a complex, multiweapon treatise that represents a significant evolution of the art that Johannes Liechtenauer taught two centuries earlier.

Publication History

The first edition of Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens was printed in Strasbourg by Thiebolt Berger in 1570, some months before Meÿer's death; it may have been reprinted there in 1590.^{[citation needed]} A second edition was printed in Augsburg in 1600, possibly arranged by his widow and her family. According to some sources, there were additional editions printed in 1610 and in 1660. Unfortunately, only copies of the 1570 and 1600 editions are currently known to exist.

In 2006, Meÿer's treatise was translated into English by Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng and published in New York and London under the title The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570. A second edition was released in 2014.

Contents

A1r - B4v	Preface by Joachim Meÿer
1.1r - 1.64v	Part 1 - Longsword by Joachim Meÿer
2.1r - 2.49v	Part 2 - Dussack by Joachim Meÿer
2.50r - 2.107v	Part 3 - Side sword by Joachim Meÿer
3.1r - 3.15v	Part 4 - Dagger by Joachim Meÿer
3.16r - 3.47r	Part 5 - Staff by Joachim Meÿer
3.47v	Corrections

Gallery

Cover (1570 edition)

Johan Casimir's crest

Longsword A

Longsword B

Longsword C

Longsword D

Longsword E

Longsword F

Longsword G

Longsword H

Longsword I

Longsword K

Longsword L

Longsword M

Longsword N

Longsword O

Cutting Diagram 1

Cutting Diagram 2

Dussack A

Dussack B

Dussack C

Dussack D

Dussack E

Dussack F

Dussack G

Dussack H

Dussack I

Dussack K

Dussack L

Dussack M

Dussack N

Dussack O

Dussack P

Meyer Portrait 1

Meyer Portrait 2

Meyer Portrait 3

Meyer Portrait 4

Side Sword A

Side Sword B

Side Sword C

Side Sword D

Side Sword E

Side Sword F

Side Sword G

Side Sword G'

Side Sword H

Side Sword I

Dagger A

Dagger A'

125x150px

Dagger B

Dagger C

Dagger D

Dagger E

Dagger F

Staff A

Staff B

Staff C

Staff D

Staff E

Staff F

Staff G

Staff H

Staff I

Staff K

Staff L

Staff M

Additional Resources

• Kiermayer, Alex. Joachim Meyers Kunst Des Fechtens. Gründtliche Beschreibung des Fechtens, 1570. Arts Of Mars Books, 2012. ISBN 978-3981162738
• Meÿer, Joachim. The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570. Translated by Jeffrey L. Forgeng. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Copyright and License Summary

For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.

Work	Author(s)	Source	License
Images	Tobias Stimmer	Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Transcription		Index:Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens