The title of this article contains the character º. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Codex Wallerstein (Cod.I.6.4o.2).
Codex Wallerstein (or Cod. Ⅰ.6.4º.2) is a German fencing manual compiled by Paulus Hector Mair in 1556.[1] The original currently rests in the holdings of the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg in Augsburg, Germany. It consists of two (or possibly three) distinct treatises, based on the art style and the handwriting; the first two sections likely date to the 1470s, while the third is much older, from perhaps the 1420s.[citation needed] The label "Vom Baumans" appears at the beginning of the first treatise, leading Hils to speculate that an Augsburg mercenary named Michael von Baumann owned the treatise,[2] along with the date 1549. The first two sections seem to have been used by Albrecht Dürer as a reference for his own fencing manual.[3]
Codex Wallerstein is interesting in that its teachings do not seem to fall into the tradition of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer. Part A, which treats long sword, messer, and dagger, and Part B, which treats grappling, are the first entries in a series of manuscripts known as the Augsburg group, which originate from that area and seem to document a local martial tradition. Part C, on the other hand, is the first entry in a complex of treatises known as pseudo-Gladiatoria due to its uncertain relationship to the Gladiatoria group[citation needed] (another tradition not dependent on Liechtenauer). Ps-Gladiatoria covers the same sorts of dueling as the Gladiatoria group and has some 16 plays in common, but the differences are too extensive to classify them as versions of the same treatise.
Provenance
Contents
Gallery
A collation diagram for this manuscript is available on the
index page.
Note that parts A and B are nested together in the current configuration of the manuscript.
Part A
Part B
Part C
Additional Resources
- Dörnhöffer, Friedrich (in German). Albrecht Dürers Fechtbuch. Vienna: F. Tempsky, 1909.
- Dürer, Albrecht and Wassmannsdorff, Karl (in German). Die Ringkunst des deutschen Mittelalters. Liepzig: Priber, 1870.
- Welle, Rainer. …vnd mit der rechten faust ein mordstuck - Baumanns Fecht- und Ringkampfhandschrift. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag, 2014. ISBN 978-3831643776
- Żabiński, Grzegorz and Walczak, Bartłomiej. Codex Wallerstein: A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2002. ISBN 978-1-58160-585-3
References
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
