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Die Blume des Kampfes
| “Die Blume des Kampfes” | |
|---|---|
| The Flower of Battle | |
| Author(s) |
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| Ascribed to |
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| Illustrated by | Unknown |
| Date | before 1420s |
| Genre | |
| Language | Early New High German |
| State of Existence | Original hypothetical; multiple incomplete copies exist |
| Manuscript(s) |
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| Concordance by | Michael Chidester |
Die Blume des Kampfes (“The Flower of Battle”) is a nickname given to a group of three German manuscripts that share a common technical syllabus and set of illustrations. It might be based on the tradition of 14th century Italian master Fiore de'i Liberi, from whose treatise Fior di Battaglia it derives its nickname, given that his works include considerable technical overlap. It is equally likely, though, that they represent an earlier German tradition of which Fiore was himself an initiate. Fiore mentions in his prefaces that he owned books on the art and he also names two older masters in his tradition, Johane Suveno and Nicholai de Toblem; it is possible that either or both of those masters authored texts which inspired both this tradition as well as Fiore's own writings.
The oldest manuscript in the Blume des Kampfes group is the Cod. 5278, which dates to the late 1420s and contains only crude line drawings somewhat reminiscent of the art of Fiore de'i Liberi, though lacking many signature characteristics such as garters and crowns and generally less organized than the Friulian master's work. The second entry was completed in ca. 1500 by Ludwig VI von Eyb, and contains a significant degree of overlap with the 5278 but also a wealth of new material. While the artwork, though colored, is of similar quality, Eyb's treatise also improves on its predecessor by including detailed descriptions of the devices in most of its sections. The final manuscript, Cod. 10799, dates to 1623 and is again textless. Unlike its fellows, though, it is illustrated with watercolors of high quality; it is also the most extensive of the three by far, encompassing nearly every device from both works as well as a number of unique devices that suggest that it was either not derived directly from the other two known manuscripts or that it used additional sources currently lost to us.
Like Fior di Battaglia, die Blume des Kampfes treats grappling, dagger (including dagger against sword), sword both armored and unarmored, poleaxe/halberd, spear, and mounted fencing; it also includes unique content such as armored sword and shield and dueling with longshields. In comparison to its Italic counterpart, the Germanic works place a much greater emphasis on armored fencing, doubling or tripling the number of devices, and dwarfs Fiore's own brief treatment of unarmored grappling. The dagger, sword, and polearm material is all more or less consistent, and where available the text, though unconnected to that of Fiore, demonstrates a similar understanding of the techniques. The two older manuscripts also include war books derived from Konrad Kyeser's famous treatise on siege warfare Bellifortis, and the copyist of the 10799 also included the few plates from Bellifortis that seem to portray knights and soldiers, perhaps indicating that he did not understand what he was copying.
There is a fourth Germanic manuscript potentially connected to this tradition, the Cod.Guelf.78.2 Aug.2º. This manuscript, dating to between 1465 and 1480, includes a version of Johannes Liechtenauer's record, a complete set of illustrations from Gladiatoria, and a brief excerpt from Bellifortis. Tucked away amidst these treatises are illustrations of fencing with sword, spear, axe, and dagger that parallel the teachings of the Blume des Kampfes but only occasionally replicate them exactly. While this may simply be a case of an overambitious artist reinterpreting the manuscript art he was copying, the differences are too many to include the manuscript in the concordance below.
