Cluny Fechtbuch (Cl. 23842)

Cluny Fechtbuch
MS Cl. 23842, Musée national du Moyen Âge Paris, France
ff 194v - 195r
Hagedorn P Leng 38.2.3 38.6.2
Wierschin 3 Hils 14
Type	Fencing manual Wrestling manual
Date	1480s-1500s
Language(s)	Early New High German
Author(s)	Unknown
Compiler	Unknown
Material	Paper, with a contemporary wood and leather binding
Size	212 folia (158 mm × 218 mm)
Format	Double-sided; one illustration per side, with occasional text
Previously kept	Donaueschingen
External data	Museum information page
Treatise scans	Digital scans (450x625)

The Cluny Fechtbuch (MS Cl. 23842; sometimes called the Paris Fechtbuch) is a German fencing manual created in the last quarter of the 15th century. The original currently rests in the holdings of the Musée national du Moyen Âge 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, while the second section covers various forms of judicial combat. This material seems to be connected in some way to the 15th century writings of Paulus Kal and Peter Falkner, and the 16th century works of Jörg Wilhalm and Hans Medel, but the nature of these connections is not currently understood. The third section is a fragment of the Gladiatoria treatise.

The Cl. 23842 seems to have much in common with the Wolfenbüttel Picture Book (Codex Guelf 78.2 August 2º), which may also have been a source, and like that manuscript, it is generally lacking descriptive text. Much of the material coheres closely to the written (and generally unillustrated) treatises of various masters of the Liechtenauer tradition. Given the dating and the connections to Peter Falkner in the text and the artwork, it is tempting to associate it with his other works and speculate that it was an unfinished draft of a compendium of fencing manuals, and that text was planned to be added to the blank upper area of each page.

Provenance

The known provenance of the Cl. 23842 is:

• Created no earlier than the 1480s based on the watermarks on the paper, and before the 1520s due to the connection to Jörg Wilhalm.
• 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 Âge.

Contents

1r - 11v	Blank
12r - 57v	Illustrations of long sword pieces
58r - 59v	Blank
60r - 69v	Illustrations of messer pieces
70r - 71v	Blank
72r - 87v	Illustrations of dagger pieces
88r - 94v	Blank
95r - 114v	Illustrations of grappling pieces
115r - 117v	Blank
118r - 131v	Illustrations of sword and buckler pieces
132r - 133r	Blank
133v - 146r	Illustrations of mounted fencing pieces
146v - 148r	Illustrations of mounted vs. foot pieces
148v	Blank
149r - 178v	Illustrations of armored spear and short sword pieces
179rv	Blank
180r - 181v, 187r	Illustrations of long shield pieces
182rv	Blank
183r - 186v, 187v - 189r	Illustrations of pole weapons pieces
189v	Blank
190r - 191v	Illustrations of spear pieces
192r - 193v	Blank
194r	Illustration of piece with curved daggers
194v	Illustration of a duel between a man and a woman
195r - 212v	Illustrations of short sword in armor from the Gladiatoria group
213r - 223v	Blank

Gallery

Images hosted by the Musée national du Moyen Âge. More images are available for a thumbnail gallery.

Ff 12 - 57v

Folio 12r

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Additional Resources

The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.

• Chidester, Michael; Dierk Hagedorn (2024). Pieces of Ringeck: The Definitive Edition of the Gloss of Sigmund Ainring. Medford: HEMA Bookshelf. ISBN 978-1-953683-41-0.

Copyright and License Summary

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

Work	Author(s)	Source	License
Images	Musée national du Moyen Âge	la Réunion des Musées nationaux
Transcription	Dierk Hagedorn	Index:Cluny Fechtbuch (Cl. 23842)