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The following concordance tables include only those texts that quote Liechtenauer's Recital in an unglossed form.<ref>The figures are often given as a preamble for the [[gloss]] of [[Lew]], and a fragment of the short sword to the teachings of [[Martin Huntsfeld]], but those instances will not be included below and instead treated as part of those treatises.</ref> Most manuscripts present the Recital as prose, and those have had the text separated out into the original verses to offer a consistent view. For ease of use, this page breaks the general Wiktenauer rule that column format remain consistent across all tables on a page; the sheer number of Liechtenauer sources made this convention entirely unworkable, with more columns empty than filled, so instead the long sword table uses one layout, the mounted and short sword tables use another, and the figures use a third.
 
The following concordance tables include only those texts that quote Liechtenauer's Recital in an unglossed form.<ref>The figures are often given as a preamble for the [[gloss]] of [[Lew]], and a fragment of the short sword to the teachings of [[Martin Huntsfeld]], but those instances will not be included below and instead treated as part of those treatises.</ref> Most manuscripts present the Recital as prose, and those have had the text separated out into the original verses to offer a consistent view. For ease of use, this page breaks the general Wiktenauer rule that column format remain consistent across all tables on a page; the sheer number of Liechtenauer sources made this convention entirely unworkable, with more columns empty than filled, so instead the long sword table uses one layout, the mounted and short sword tables use another, and the figures use a third.
  
''Note: This article includes a prior (2010) version of Christian Tobler's translation. A revised version of the translation was published in 2021 by Freelance Academy Press as part of ''The Peter von Danzig Fight Book''; it can be purchased in [http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/ThePetervonDanzigFightBook.aspx hardcover].''
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''Note: This article includes a version of Christian Tobler's translation. It was also published in 2021 by Freelance Academy Press as part of ''The Peter von Danzig Fight Book''; it can be purchased in [http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/ThePetervonDanzigFightBook.aspx hardcover].''
  
 
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! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)|Rome Version]]</p>
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  <th class="FImages0"><p>Images<br/>from the [[Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)|Rome Version]]</p></th>
! <p>{{rating|A|Featured Translation (from the Rome)}}<br/>by [[Christian Tobler]]</p>
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  <th class="FTobler0"><p>{{rating|A|Featured Translation (from the Rome)}}<br/>by [[Christian Tobler]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Pol Hausbuch (MS 3227a)|Nuremberg Version]] (ca. 1400)<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p>
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  <th class="FNuremberg0"><p>[[Pol Hausbuch (MS 3227a)|Nuremberg Version]] (ca. 1400)<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Talhoffer Fechtbuch (MS Chart.A.558)|Gotha Version]] (1448){{edit index|Talhoffer Fechtbuch (MS Chart.A.558)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p>
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  <th class="FGotha0"><p>[[Talhoffer Fechtbuch (MS Chart.A.558)|Gotha Version]] (1448){{edit index|Talhoffer Fechtbuch (MS Chart.A.558)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)|Rome Version]] (1452){{edit index|Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p>
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  <th class="FRome0"><p>[[Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)|Rome Version]] (1452){{edit index|Starhemberg Fechtbuch (Cod.44.A.8)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341)|Glasgow Version]] (1508){{edit index|Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p>
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  <th class="FGlasgow0"><p>[[Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341)|Glasgow Version]] (1508){{edit index|Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020)|Krakow Version]] (1535-40){{edit index|Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
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  <th class="FKrakow0"><p>[[Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020)|Krakow Version]] (1535-40){{edit index|Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p></th>
! <p>[[Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)|Augsburg Ⅱ Version]] (1553){{edit index|Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Werner Ueberschär]]</p>
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  <th class="FAugsburgb0"><p>[[Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)|Augsburg Ⅱ Version]] (1553){{edit index|Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82)}}<br/>Transcribed by [[Werner Ueberschär]]</p></th>
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Revision as of 04:19, 12 June 2025

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 Early New High German
Archetype(s) Hypothetical
Principal
Manuscript(s)
Manuscript(s)
First Printed
English Edition
Tobler, 2010
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations

Johannes Liechtenauer (Hans Lichtenauer, Lichtnawer) was a late-14th century German fencing master. The only account of his life was written by the anonymous author of the Pol Hausbuch, arguably the earliest text in the tradition, and he may have been alive at that time.[1] The text reads:

First and foremost, you should notice and remember that there's only one art of the sword, and it was discovered and developed hundreds of years ago, and it's the foundation and core of all fencing arts. Master Liechtenauer understood and practiced this art completely and correctly; he did not discover or invent it himself (as has been written previously), but rather traveled through many lands and searched for the true and correct art for the sake of experiencing and knowing it.[2]

Liechtenauer was described by many later masters as the "high master" or "grand master" of the art, and authored a long poem called the Zettel ("Recital"). 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 Pol 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.[3] However, given that the Pol Hausbuch may date as late as 1494 and the earliest records of the identifiable members of his tradition appear in the mid 1400s, it seems more probable that Liechtenauer's career occurred toward the beginning of the 15th century. Ignoring the Pol Hausbuch as being of indeterminate date, the oldest version of the Recital that is attributed to Liechtenauer was recorded by Hans Talhoffer in the MS Chart.A.558 (ca. 1448), which further supports this timeline.[4]

Treatise

Liechtenauer's teachings are preserved in a long poem of rhyming couplets called the Zettel ("Recital"), covering fencing with the "long" or extended sword (i.e. with both hands at one end of the sword), the "short" or withdrawn sword (i.e. with one hand at either end), and on horseback. These "obscure and cryptic words" were designed 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 Lew wrote extensive glosses that sought to clarify and expand upon these teachings.

In addition to the verses on mounted fencing, several treatises in the Liechtenauer tradition include a group of twenty-six "figures" (figuren)—phrases that are shorter than Liechtenauer's couplets and often arranged into the format of a Medieval tree diagram. These figures seem to encode the same teachings as the verses of the mounted fencing, and both are quoted in the mounted glosses. However, figures follow a very different structure than the Zettel does, and seem to present an alternative sequence for studying Liechtenauer's techniques. It is not known why the mounted fencing is the only section of the Recital to receive figures in addition to verse.

Seventeen manuscripts contain a presentation of at least one section of the Recital as a distinct (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 actually found in one of these glosses, that of Pseudo-Hans Döbringer, which contains almost twice as many verses as any other; however, given that the additional verses tend to either be 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 original 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 much shorter version attributed to H. Beringer (which is also included in the writings of Hans Folz).

The following concordance tables include only those texts that quote Liechtenauer's Recital in an unglossed form.[5] Most manuscripts present the Recital as prose, and those have had the text separated out into the original verses to offer a consistent view. For ease of use, this page breaks the general Wiktenauer rule that column format remain consistent across all tables on a page; the sheer number of Liechtenauer sources made this convention entirely unworkable, with more columns empty than filled, so instead the long sword table uses one layout, the mounted and short sword tables use another, and the figures use a third.

Note: This article includes a version of Christian Tobler's translation. It was also published in 2021 by Freelance Academy Press as part of The Peter von Danzig Fight Book; it can be purchased in hardcover.

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.

References

  1. When German writers were aware that a person was dead, they would add a formulaic blessing after their name (i.e., "God have mercy on him"); this manuscript doesn't, but 15th century manuscripts do.
  2. See folio 13v, trans. by Michael Chidester.
  3. 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
  4. There is one version of the Recital that predates Talhoffer's, recorded in MS G.B.f.18a (ca. 1418-28) and attributed to an H. Beringer; this also conforms to a 15th century timeline and suggests the possibility that Liechtenauer was himself an inheritor of the teachings contained in the Zettel rather than its original composer (presentations of the Recital that are entirely unattributed exist in other 15th and 16th century manuscripts). Alternatively, the Beringer verse, which includes only portions of the Recital on the Long Sword, may represent just one of the teachings that Liechtenauer received and compiled over the course of the journeys described in the Pol Hausbuch.
  5. The figures are often given as a preamble for the gloss of Lew, and a fragment of the short sword to the teachings of Martin Huntsfeld, but those instances will not be included below and instead treated as part of those treatises.
  6. This couplet might instead have been intended to be combined with the previous one as two very long lines of a single couplet: "ettlich biderman in anden hanten veder ben / kunt er chunst er mocht wol eren erwerb".
  7. Text adds an additional couplet: "kündt er kunst er möcht ere erwerben".
  8. First letter almost illegible.
  9. First letter illegible.
  10. With full extension
  11. This couplet seems to replace the first line of couplet 15, leaving the second line of 15 as an orphan.
  12. Text terminates at this point. The leaves with the rest of the text are missing.
  13. l corrected from t.
  14. kam
  15. deinen
  16. faler
  17. Or “crush”
  18. Or “twirl”
  19. Or “This is the about the Wrath cut, which slices apart.”
  20. Or “wind more broadly”
  21. I.e. to the action described next
  22. 22.0 22.1 remen => räumen, meaning “to make space, clear away, evacuate”.
  23. Text adds an additional couplet: "hastu es vernomen zu kain / schlag mag er komen".
  24. Text adds an additional couplet: "hast dus vernomen / zu kaim schlag mag er komen".
  25. There is no space between "Dupliere" and "doniden", the "D" was possibly added later.
  26. Text adds an additional couplet: "hastu es vernomen / zu kainen schlag mag er komen."
  27. Text adds an additional line: "das son ich vernomen".
  28. Text adds an additional line: "ha das han ich vernomen".
  29. Text adds an additional line: "dz haw ich vermunen??".
  30. Or “to the right”
  31. Or “slow”
  32. Corrected from »Im«.
  33. The text doubles the title of this section.
  34. This line might instead have been intended to be combined with the previous ones as two lines of a single couplet: "den elenbog nym in der waug / und mach den fäler nit träg".
  35. 35.0 35.1 Corrected from »Twir«.
  36. haust
  37. Fehler is the opposite of a Treffer, which is something that hits or succeeds. The Fehler is the losing throw in dice, the missed shot in archery and shooting. It is, however, an action that might hit, but it is assumed that it will miss.
  38. Talhoffer adds an additional couplet: [4r] 
    So machst du in wol betöwben
    Die fallerin kunst berowben
  39. Or “destroy”
  40. Or “skill”
  41. Whatever comes from the Skull cut.
  42. Or “flee”
  43. This line might instead have been intended to be combined with the previous ones as two long lines of a single couplet: "nun lerne in daß / den alten schnit mit macht".
  44. Hier hat der Schreiber offensichtlich ein Häkchen vergessen.
  45. Or “counters”
  46. Or “him”
  47. should be "dreffen"
  48. This section is followed by one titled "Von durchlauffen ab seczen", which repeat the verse on Absetzen.
  49. Text adds an additional couplet: "Das schwertt bind / zu der flöche truckh in die hend".
  50. Text adds an additional couplet: "Das schwertt bind / zu der fleche truck in die hend".
  51. Text adds an additional couplet: "Das schwert binden / zu der flech trukh in die hand"
  52. Or “crushing”
  53. Or “yell”
  54. Text adds an additional couplet: "thutt er sich gegen dir greisen / schlagen das er seisse".
  55. Text adds an additional couplet: "thutt er sich gegen dir greifen / schlagen das er Seise".
  56. Text adds an additional couplet: "thuet er sich gegen dir raisen / schlagen dz er seisse."
  57. Or “spraying”, or possibly “speaking”
  58. Illegible word. Could be read as either ‘zo’ or ‘w’. In the glosses on 37r it says ‘zw’.
  59. A guide letter “w” is visible under the “U” (apparently ignored by the rubricator), making the intended word “Wer”.
  60. Covering a deletion.
  61. Hier ist anscheinend dem Schreiber das Leerzeichen verrutscht.