Lienhart Sollinger

Lienhart Sollinger
Born	before ca.1540 Sollingen, Germany
Died	after 1587
Occupation	Knife smith Freifechter
Genres	Fencing manual
Language	Early New High German
Manuscript(s)	Cgm 3712 (1556) Cod.I.6.2º.2 (ca. 1564) Cod.Guelf.38.21 Aug.2º (ca. 1588)
Signature

Lienhart Sollinger (Lienhartt Sollinger, Dollinger, Zollinger) was a 16th century German Freifechter. Only a few details of his life are currently known. He was married, and his wife also practiced fencing.^{[citation needed]} Paulus Hector Mair notes that in 1559 he donated a sword as the prize for a tournament, and in 1561 he performed a sword dance for Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria. The Strassbourg Chronicles mention that in 1587, he came to Strasbourg with his wife and performed some sort of swordsmanship exhibition.^{[citation needed]}

Sollinger was an avid collector (or possibly dealer) of fencing manuals, and at least four extant manuscripts passed through his collection before being sold to fellow collector Paulus Hector Mair: the Codex I.6.4º.5 (1522), the Codex I.6.2º.3 (1522), part A of the Codex I.6.2º.2 (1523), and the MS E.1939.65.354 (1533). All four of these manuscripts include treatises by Augsburg master Jörg Wilhalm Hutter, a coincidence that has lead some researchers to speculate that they were personally acquainted.^{[citation needed]} His collection may also have included the MS German Quarto 2020, though there are no records confirming his possession of it.

In addition, Sollinger left three known fencing manuscripts in his own hand. In 1556, he produced the Cgm 3712, an anthology of treatises by members of the Society of Liechtenauer and other masters who may have followed the tradition of the grand master. This text was largely copied from the Codex I.6.2º.3 and the MS E.1939.65.354, but there are also other contents whose origin manuscripts are unknown. His second manuscript, written in 1564, was a nearly complete copy of Andre Paurñfeyndt's printed book Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey, with several pages of additional content copied from the MS German Quarto 2020. This currently forms part B of the Codex I.6.2º.2. Finally, some time in or before 1588 he created the Cod.Guelf.38.21 Aug.2°, another copy of the Codex I.6.2º.3 to which he added his own treatise on the use of the Messer.

Treatise

Messer 

No Translation	Wolfenbüttel Version A (ca. 1588) by James Wallhausen	Wolfenbüttel Version B (ca. 1588)