The Cotton MS Titus A ⅹⅹⅴ is a British compilation manuscript containing a brief fencing manual created between 1450 and 1465.[citation needed] The original currently rests in the Titus section of Cotton Library at the British Library in London, United Kingdom.[1] The manuscript consists of three major sections which were compiled together by Robert Cotton in the 17th century; of these, the second section (ff 94-105) is that which contains a few brief notes on fencing. Along with the Man yt Wol and the Ledall manuscript, this is one of only three extant Medieval English writings on swordsmanship.
Provenance
The known provenance of the Cotton MS Titus A ⅹⅹⅴ is:[1]
- each segment created separately during the 13th to 15th centuries; The time frame for the fencing work has been further narrowed down to 1450 - 1465.
- before 1631 - acquired and bound together by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) and placed in the Titus section of his collection.
- 1631-1662 - owned by Sir Thomas Cotton (d.1662).
- 1662-1702 - owned by Sir John Cotton (d.1702).
- 1702 - donated to the British people, confirmed by Act of Parliament (12 & 13 William III, c. 7).
- 1753 - added to the newly-formed British Museum.
- 1973 - moved to the newly-formed British Library.
Contents
This is the official table of contents provided by the museum.[1] As the manuscript has not been digitized for study, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed beyond that fact.
| 2r - 35v
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Chronicle of Boyle Abbey, AM 335–AD 1257[2]
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| 36r - 71v
|
Historia trium regum by John of Hildesheim[3]
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| 72r - 93v
|
De itinere by Ludolphus[4] (imperfect)
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| 94r - 104v
|
Prophecy of John of Bridlington
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| 105r
|
Draft Modernization 
by Jon Pellett
|
Transcription
by Mark Ryan Geldof
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Strokes of the Two-handed Sword
First a round for the waste single with a foin, Also a quarter with a foin. A rake single with a foin. A double round a double rake with an awk, a quarter and a rake and a wipe with a spring voiding with the left hand In a quarter with a foin skipping with a wipe. Then a quarter and break a foin at the right shoulder with a robecke.
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[105r][5] Strokez off ij hand swerde
ffyrste a rownde for the waste sengyll with a fune[6] Also a quarter[7] with a fune A rake[8] sengyll[9] with a fune A dowbull[10] rownde[11] a dowbyll rake with a nawke[12] A quarter & a rake & a wype with a spryng vydyng[13] with the lyfte hand with a quarter with a fune skypyng[14] with a wype Than a quarter & byeke[15] a fune atte þe ryght shulder with a robecke[16]
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Then the chase First a double round with a back foin And a fore foin running with a robecke and then rounds Voiding with a rest and then a back foin to the one A fore foin to the other with a back foin to the foin with a an awk suying' [falling, following?] and ever the foot the hand the eye and the heart to accord.
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[17]Than þe chase ffyrst a dowbyll rownde with a bakke fune and a fore[18]fune rennyng with a robekke þa þa[19] rowndez viydyng with a reste a[20] þa a bakke fune to the tome a fore fune to the tother[21] with a bakke fune to þe fune with a nawke [sw]yng And on þe fote þe hand the hye[22] & the herte to accorde
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| 105v
|
Draft Modernization
by Jon Pellett
|
Transcription
by Mark Ryan Geldof
|
Strokes at the Two-handed Staff
The first point is a flourish about the Finger. The next flourish is about the hand And then 3 quarters and a round and 2 rakes and 2 foins 3 quarters closed that a round ware him that arms behind and then 2 awks for the wrong side and then a foin for him in the other side and the heart the foot and the eye to accord etc.
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[105v] Stroekez atte þe ij hand staffe
The fyrst pointe is a florysh about the fynger þe nexte floryse is aboute þe hande And thanne iij quarteres And a rownde and ii rakes in þe rownes iij quarteres closed [23] A j rounde war hym your armes be hynde[24] & than ij hawkes[25] for þe wrong syde [bryng] A fune for hym in þe tother syde And þe herte þe fote þe Eye to accorde et cet
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| 106r - 117v
|
Historia regum Britannie by Geoffrey of Monmouth[26] (imperfect)
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| 118r - 139v
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Collection of documents[27]
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Gallery
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.
- Bradak, Benjamin 'Casper'; Brandon Heslop (2010). Lessons on the English Longsword. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-734-5.
- Gaite, Pierre (2018). "Exercises in Arms: the Physical and Mental Combat Training of Men-at-Arms in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries." Journal of Medieval Military History XVI. Ed. by Kelly DeVries; John France; Clifford J. Rogers. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 9781783273102.
- Geldof, Mark Ryan (2011). Þe Herte Þe Fote Þe Eye to Accorde: Procedural Writing and Three Middle English Manuscripts of Martial Instruction [Unpublished MA dissertation]. University of Saskatchewan. http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-2011-08-77
- Geldof, Mark Ryan (2011). "Strokez off ij hand swerde: A Brief Instruction in the Use of Personal Arms." Opuscula: Short Texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance 1(2): 97-106. http://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/opuscula/article/view/36307
- Geldof, Mark Ryan (2014). "Forewarned and Forearmed: Contents of BL, Cotton MS. Titus A. XXV, ff. 94-105." Electronic British Library Journal 2014. doi:10.23636/1072.
- Hester, James (2006). 'The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde': The English Fight Manual of MS Harley 3542 (A Critical Edition) [Unpublished thesis]. University of York.
- Hester, James (2009). "Real Men Read Poetry: Instructional Verse in 14th-century Fight Manuals." Arms & Armour 6(2): 175-183. doi:10.1179/174962609X417590.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Explore Archives and Manuscripts". British Library. Retrieved 08 August 2016.
- ↑ Annales monasterii de Buellio in Hibernia ("Annals of Monastery of Boyle in Ireland"); partly in Latin and partly in Irish.
- ↑ The Manner of Seeking and Offering, and Also of the Bearing and Translations of the Three Holy Kings of Coleyn.
- ↑ Via nova deiversarum regionum proprietatum declarativa, dispositio terrae sanctae, per Ludolphum, qui Palaestinam adiit A.D. 1336, et per quinquennium ibi moratus est ("Declaration of a New Way of Properties of Different Regions, the Disposition of the Holy Land, by Ludolphum, Who Visited Palestine, A. D. 1336, and Remained There for Five Years").
- ↑ There is a tiny marginal “a” here, where a bracket begins, extending down to line 7.
- ↑ A thrust, likely from the French foine.
- ↑ This term appears in MS Harley 3542 and Additional 39564. James Hester suggests it refers to one of the four quarters of the body, as it is often depicted in illustrated fight-texts. However, there is no corresponding indication in this text as to which quarter is meant. It may refer, in this case, to a specific movement of the student, either with the body or the feet. See James Hester, “‘The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde’: The English Fight Manual of MS Harley 3542 (A Critical Edition),” (MA dissertation, York: University of York, 2006).
- ↑ This term appears in the Gresley dance choreography and is interpreted by Nevile as a lateral movement of the feet. “Dance Steps and Music in the Gresley Manuscript,” 5. Hester defines it as a type of cut, “‘The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde,’” 19.
- ↑ This is identified, by Nevile, with the French dance term semibreve and refers to a specific movement of the feet. Nevile, 5-6.
- ↑ Appears in the Gresely dance choreography, where Nevile equates it with the French breve, a movement of the feet. Nevile, 5-6.
- ↑ This may modify the movement of the dowbull in line 3, or it could be a separate movement of the weapon in relation to the feet. It has no cognates outside English fight-texts. Hutton glosses rownis in MS Harley 3542 as a “circular cut,” Hutton, 36. Hester defines it as a “cut using a wide swing to gather strength,” Hester, “‘The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde,’” 18.
- ↑ This appears in MS Harley 3542 as hauke where Hutton and Hester define it as a blow or a cut: Hutton, 36; Hester, “‘The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde,’” 18.
- ↑ “voiding.” Its specific function here is unclear.
- ↑ “skipping.”
- ↑ See also bakke in lines 10 and 11. This may be a contraction of “backward.”
- ↑ This term appears in MS Harley 3542 as rabetis (plural) and in MS Additional 39564 as rabett. Hester interprets this as a metaphor for a “vertical cut,” Hester, “‘The Vse of the Two Hand Sworde,’” 22. However, the French rabatir, used to describe a parry or block, appears in a description of axe combat by Olivier de la Marche in his sixteenth-century memoirs, and may be a more appropriate reading in this context. See Sydney Anglo, “Le Jeu de la Hache: A Fifteenth-Century Treatise on the Technique of Chivalric Axe Combat,” Archaeologia 109 (1991), 127, n.28.
- ↑ A second tiny marginal “a” is placed here at the head of a second bracket, extending to the foot of the leaf.
- ↑ Likely a contraction of “forward.”
- ↑ This is a construction in Old English that is read as “then the.” My thanks to Dr. Maren Clegg Hyer, Valdosta State University, for pointing out that this is a deliberate word choice and not a scribal mistake.
- ↑ The “a” here is clearly legible, although it may be a scribal mistake where a reading of “and” would make more sense.
- ↑ “other”
- ↑ “eyes”
- ↑ The word staffe appears in the margin on this line, outside a bracket that runs down the side of the text from line 14.
- ↑ “behind”
- ↑ Alternate spelling of awke from lines 3 and 12.
- ↑ Historia de regibus vetustis Britannorum, à rege Arthuro ad Cadwalladrum ("Background of the Ancient Kings of the Britons, from King Arthur to the Cadwalladrum").
- ↑ Formulae obligationum, acquietantiarum & testamentorum, &c ("Formula of Obligations, Acquiescence and Covenants, etc."); in French and Latin.
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
