The title of this article contains the character º. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Bauman Fechtbuch (Cod.I.6.4o.2).
Bauman's Fechtbuch (Cod. Ⅰ.6.4º.2; sometimes called Codex Wallerstein)[1] is a German fencing manual compiled by Paulus Hector Mair in 1556.[2] 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 Baumann owned the treatise,[3] 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.
The Bauman Fechtbuch is interesting in that its teachings do not seem to fall clearly 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] (a 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
The provenance of the Bauman Fechtbuch is:[4]
- ca. 1420 - Part C created in the Upper Rhine region.
- 1465-70 - Part B created in Central or Northern Bavaria, with part A appended to the end of it immediately or soon thereafter.
- ca. 1500 - Parts A and B used by Albrecht Dürer to produce a fencing manuscript (AD).
- before 1549 - All three parts bound together and owned by a Baumann family, probably in Augsburg.
- 1556-1579 - Owned by Paulus Hector Mair and rebound, disturbing the order of quires. (Auctioned after his execution.)
- 1580-1597 - Owned by Markus Fugger.
- 1597-1653 - Owned by Marquart Fugger.
- 1652-1980 - Kept at Castle Öttingen-Wallerstein under the signature "j. h. 10 e 57", and later "Cod. Ⅰ.6.4º.2". Put up for sale in 1935, but not sold. (Sold in 1980 to the state of Bavaria.)
- 1980-present - Kept at the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg; rebound in 1989.
Contents
Gallery
A collation diagram for this manuscript is available on the
index page.
This gallery displays each section in its original arrangement and separated from the others. Part A was originally appended to the end of part B, but we're stuck with those labels so in order to avoid confusion, part A is displayed first. See the collation diagram for the current manuscript configuration.
Front matter
Part A
Part B
Part C
End matter
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.
- Bauman's Fight Book: Augsburg University Library Ⅰ.6.4º 2 (2022). Trans. by Christian Henry Tobler; Jessica Finley. Ed. by Michael Chidester. Medford, MA: HEMA Bookshelf. ISBN 978-1-953683-27-4.
- Dörnhöffer, Friedrich (1909). "Albrecht Dürers Fechtbuch." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses: 300-462. http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/jbksak1907_1909/0306
- Dörnhöffer, Friedrich (1910). Albrecht Dürers Fechtbuch. Vienna: F. Tempsky.
- Hils, Hans-Peter (1991). Fecht- und Ringbuch/Vermischtes Kampfbuch. Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Ⅰ.6.4º2. München: Edition Helga Lengenfelder.
- Wassmannsdorff, Karl (1870). Die Ringkunst des deutschen Mittelalters. Liepzig: Priber.
- Welle, Rainer (2014). …vnd mit der rechten faust ein mordstuck - Baumanns Fecht- und Ringkampfhandschrift. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag. ISBN 978-3831643776.
- Żabiński, Grzegorz; Bartłomiej Walczak (2002). Codex Wallerstein: A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press. ISBN 978-1-58160-585-3.
References
- ↑ This name is common in the HEMA community, and probably stems from a misreading of Friedrich Dörnhöffer's 1909 monograph on Albrecht Dürer. While there were seven fencing manuscripts in the Öttingen-Wallerstein Library (kept at Castle Wallerstein until 1841), Dörnhöffer was only interested in the one that was copied by Dürer; this left him was free to refer to it as "the manuscript from Wallerstein" or just "Codex Wallerstein". This reference was misconstrued as a proper name when Dörnhöffer's photos of the manuscript illustrations were scanned and placed online in ca. 2000. The name was then used by Żabiński and Walczak in their 2002 book, which cemented it in the minds of most.
- ↑ Dated on folio 1r.
- ↑ Hils 1985, pp 28.
- ↑ Welle 2014, p 24; additional details added from elsewhere in the book.
Copyright and License Summary
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
