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Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020)
Goliath Fechtbuch | |||||
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MS germ. quart. 2020, Biblioteka Jagiellońska Kraków, Poland | |||||
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Also known as | MS 5879 | ||||
Type | |||||
Date | 1535 - 1540 | ||||
Place of origin | Augsburg or Landshut | ||||
Language(s) | Early New High German | ||||
Author(s) | |||||
Compiler | Georg Lemberger | ||||
Scribe(s) | Unknown | ||||
Illustrator(s) | Georg Lemberger | ||||
Patron | Unknown | ||||
Material | Paper, with a modern leather binding | ||||
Size | 285 folia (200 mm × 217 mm) | ||||
Format | Double-sided; text with scattered illustrations | ||||
Treatise scans |
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The Goliath Fechtbuch (MS germ. quart. 2020) is a German fencing manual created between 1535 and 1540,[1] possibly by Georg Lemberger (1495/1500-1540/45).[2] The original currently rests in the holdings of the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Kraków, Poland. It is generally nicknamed "Goliath" due to the depiction of the Biblical confrontation between David and the giant Goliath on the inside cover. The reason for the inclusion of this painting is entirely unclear, though it may simply come down to the popularity of the story in this period as an example of a righteous single combat. (It may also be an allusion to the size of the swords depicted in the illustrations of unarmored fencing.)
Goliath is a compilation text consisting of treatises on a variety of martial topics by several different masters, most of whom who stood in the tradition of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer. There appears to be a single illustrator throughout, and potentially a single scribe as well, despite the number of different scripts employed.[3] The first several sections include elaborately painted illustrations, but the illustrations cease abruptly toward the beginning of the section on armored fencing, with the final few illustrations being merely rough line drawings. This, in addition to the presence of blank spaces through the rest of the manuscript, seems to suggest that additional illustrations were planned but never completed (perhaps due to Lemberger's death some time after 1537).
Zabinski assumes that the date on the cover is correct and speculates based on a number of factors that Goliath was commissioned for Maximilian Ⅰ (1459-1519), a well-known aficionado of military texts.[4] Welle, however, rejects this hypothesis and date, and arrives at a date in the latter 1530s based on handwriting and watermark analysis.[5]
Contents
Provenance
The known provenance of the MS German Quarto 2020 is:[6]
- Created between 1535 and 1540 in southern Germany by Georg Lemberger.
- before 1564 – partially copied by Lienhart Sollinger into a manuscript included in the Cod. Ⅰ.6.2º.2.
- before 1923 – owned by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1807-1878) and Jean Louis Burckhardt (1883-1943). The terms of ownership of both men are unknown; sold 1923.
- 1923-1938 – held by Fischer Gallery and Kunsthandel A.-G. Böhler & Steinmeyer in Luzern, Germany (sold to the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, 1938). Offered to Robert Lyons Scott several times in 1935, but no sale took place.
- 1938-1946 – held by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin in Berlin, Germany; moved to Fürstenstein Castle in 1941, and then Grüssau monastery in 1944. Transferred to Kraków after World War Ⅱ.
- 1946-present – held by the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Kraków, Poland.
Contents
Ⅰr - Ⅱv |
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1r - 7r | Recital on long sword fencing by Johannes Liechtenauer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7v - 73v | Gloss of Liechtenauer's Recital on long sword fencing by Pseudo-Peter von Danzig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
75r - 84v | Pole weapons by Andre Paurenfeyndt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
85r - 86r | Pole weapons by Peter Falkner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
89r - 97v |
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98r - 102v | Dagger by Andre Lignitzer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
103r - 110v | Dagger by Martin Huntsfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
111r - 128r, 157v - 159r |
Anonymous grappling teachings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
130v - 147v | Grappling by Ott Jud | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
148r - 157r | Grappling by Andre Lignitzer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
163r - 166r | Recital and figures on mounted fencing by Johannes Liechtenauer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
166v - 192r | Gloss of Liechtenauer's Recital on mounted fencing by Pseudo-Peter von Danzig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
192v - 196r | Mounted fencing by Martin Huntsfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
199r - 251v | Gloss of Liechtenauer's Recital on short sword fencing by Pseudo-Peter von Danzig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
252r - 271v | Short sword fencing by Andre Lignitzer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
272r - 281v | Short sword fencing by Martin Huntsfeld |
Gallery
Scans hosted on Wiktenauer with permission from the Biblioteka Jagiellońska.
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.
- Hull, Jeffrey; Grzegorz Żabiński; Monika Maziarz (2007). Knightly Dueling: The Fighting Arts of German Chivalry. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-581606744.
- Jaquet, Daniel; Bartłomiej Walczak (2014). "Liegnitzer, Hundsfeld or Lew? The question of authorship of popular Medieval fighting teachings." Acta Periodica Duellatorum 2(1): 105-148. doi:10.1515/apd-2015-0015.
- Minkowski, Helmut (1963). Das Ringen im Grüblein: eine spätmittelalterliche Form des deutschen Leibringens. Stuttgart: K. Hofmann.
- Walczak, Bartłomiej (2022). "Bauman Dagger Techniques and the Augsburg Group." Bauman's Fight Book: Augsburg University Library Ⅰ.6.4º 2: 103-128. Ed. by Michael Chidester. Medford, MA: HEMA Bookshelf. ISBN 978-1-953683-27-4.
- Wassmannsdorff, Karl (1871). Das um das Jahr 1500 gedruckte erste deutsche Turnbuch. Heidelberg: Groos.
- Welle, Rainer (1993). '…und wisse das alle höbischeit kompt von deme ringen'. Der Ringkampf als adelige Kunst im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus-Verlagsgesellschaft. ISBN 3-89085-755-8.
- Welle, Rainer (2017). "Ein unvollendetes Meisterwerk der Fecht- und Ringkampfliteratur des 16. Jahrhunderts sucht seinen Autor: der Landshuter Holzschneider und Maler Georg Lemberger als Fecht- und Ringbuchillustrator?." Codices manuscripti & impressi S12. Purkersdorf: Verlag Brüder Hollinek. ISBN 0379-3621.
- Żabiński, Grzegorz (2010). The Longsword Teachings of Master Liechtenauer. The Early Sixteenth Century Swordsmanship Comments in the 'Goliath' Manuscript. Poland: Adam Marshall. ISBN 978-83-7611-662-4.
References
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
Work | Author(s) | Source | License |
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Scans | Biblioteka Jagiellońska | Biblioteka Jagiellońska | |
Translation | Kirk Siemsen | Private communication | |
Transcription | Michael Chidester, Olivier Dupuis, Jens P. Kleinau, Monika Maziarz, Bartłomiej Walczak, Grzegorz Żabiński | Index:Goliath Fechtbuch (MS Germ.Quart.2020) |