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Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (Joachim Meyer)

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Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens
A Foundational Description of the Art of Fencing
Meyer 1570 Longsword F (color).jpg
Image F from the 1570 edition, with color added by a modern artist
Full title A Thorough Description of the Free, Knightly and Noble Art of Fencing, Showing Various Customary Defenses, Affected and Put Forth with Many Handsome and Useful Drawings
Author(s)
Illustrated by
Dedicated to Count Palatine Johann Casimir
Place of origin Strasbourg, Germany
Language Early New High German
Genre(s)
Sources MS A.4°.2 (1560)
Publisher Thiebolt Berger
Publication date 1570, 1590, 1600, 1610, 1660
Pages 379
Treatise scans

Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens ("A Foundational Description of the Art of Fencing") is a German fencing manual written by Joachim Meÿer and printed in 1570. Building on his earlier 1560 manuscript, the MS A.4°.2, it is a complex, multiweapon treatise that represents a significant evolution of the art that Johannes Liechtenauer taught two centuries earlier.

Publication History

The first edition of Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens was printed in Strasbourg in 1570, some months before Meÿer's death; it may have been reprinted there in 1590.[citation needed] A second edition was printed in Augsburg in 1600, possibly arranged by his widow and her family. According to some sources, there were additional editions printed in 1610 and in 1660.[1][2] Unfortunately, only copies of the 1570 and 1600 editions are currently known to exist.

In 2006, Meÿer's treatise was translated into English by Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng and published in New York under the title The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570.

Contents

The pagination in this text resets at the beginning of books 2 and 4, so there is little point in referencing page numbers in this table of contents.

Page Section
Book 1 Longsword by Joachim Meÿer
Book 2 Dussack by Joachim Meÿer
Book 3 Side sword by Joachim Meÿer
Book 4 Dagger by Joachim Meÿer
Book 5 Staff by Joachim Meÿer

Gallery

Cover (1570 edition)
Meyer 1570 Cover.png
Johan Casimir's crest
Meyer 1570 Crest.png
Longsword A
Meyer 1570 Sword A.png
Longsword B
Meyer 1570 Sword B.png
Longsword C
Meyer 1570 Sword C.png
Longsword D
Meyer 1570 Sword D.png
Longsword E
Meyer 1570 Sword E.png
Longsword F
Meyer 1570 Sword F.png
Longsword G
Meyer 1570 Sword G.png
Longsword H
Meyer 1570 Sword H.png
Longsword I
Meyer 1570 Sword I.png
Longsword K
Meyer 1570 Sword K.png
Longsword L
Meyer 1570 Sword L.png
Longsword M
Meyer 1570 Sword M.png
Longsword N
Meyer 1570 Sword N.png
Longsword O
Meyer 1570 Sword O.png
Cutting Diagram 1
Meyer 1570 Sword Cuts.png
Cutting Diagram 2
Meyer 1570 Sword Segno.png
Dussack A
Meyer 1570 Dussack A.png
Dussack B
Meyer 1570 Dussack B.png
Dussack C
Meyer 1570 Dussack C.png
Dussack D
Meyer 1570 Dussack D.png
Dussack E
Dussack F
Meyer 1570 Dussack F.png
Dussack G
Meyer 1570 Dussack G.png
Dussack H
Meyer 1570 Dussack H.png
Dussack I
Meyer 1570 Dussack I.png
Dussack K
Meyer 1570 Dussack K.png
Dussack L
Meyer 1570 Dussack L.png
Dussack M
Meyer 1570 Dussack M.png
Dussack N
Meyer 1570 Dussack N.png
Dussack O
Meyer 1570 Dussack O.png
Dussack P
Meyer 1570 Dussack P.png
Meyer Portrait 1
Meyer 1570 Portrait 1.png
Meyer Portrait 2
Meyer 1570 Rapier Cutting Lines.png
Meyer Portrait 3
Meyer 1570 Portrait 2.png
Meyer Portrait 4
Meyer 1570 Portrait 3.png
Side Sword A
Meyer 1570 Rapier A.png
Side Sword B
Meyer 1570 Rapier B.png
Side Sword C
Meyer 1570 Rapier C.png
Side Sword D
Meyer 1570 Rapier D.png
Side Sword E
Meyer 1570 Rapier E.png
Side Sword F
Meyer 1570 Rapier F.png
Side Sword G
Meyer 1570 Rapier G.png
Side Sword G'
Meyer 1570 Rapier G2.png
Side Sword H
Meyer 1570 Rapier H.png
Side Sword I
Meyer 1570 Rapier I.png
Dagger A
Meyer 1570 Dagger A.png
Dagger A'
Dagger B
Meyer 1570 Dagger B.png
Dagger C
Meyer 1570 Dagger C.png
Dagger D
Meyer 1570 Dagger D.png
Dagger E
Dagger F
Meyer 1570 Dagger F.png
Staff A
Meyer 1570 Staff A.png
Staff B
Meyer 1570 Staff B.png
Staff C
Meyer 1570 Staff C.png
Staff D
Meyer 1570 Staff D.png
Staff E
Meyer 1570 Staff E.png
Staff F
Meyer 1570 Staff F.png
Staff G
Meyer 1570 Staff G.png
Staff H
Meyer 1570 Staff H.png
Staff I
Meyer 1570 Staff I.png
Staff K
Meyer 1570 Staff K.png
Staff L
Meyer 1570 Staff L.png
Staff M
Meyer 1570 Staff M.png

Additional Resources

  • Kiermayer, Alexander. Joachim Meyers Kunst Des Fechtens. Gründtliche Beschreibung des Fechtens, 1570. Arts Of Mars Books, 2012. ISBN 978-3981162738
  • Meÿer, Joachim. The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570. Translated by Jeffrey L. Forgeng. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

References

  1. Schaer, Alfred. Die altdeutschen fechter und spielleute: Ein beitrag zur deutschen culturgeschichte. K.J. Trübner, 1901. p 76.
  2. Pollock, W. H., Grove, F. C., and Prévost, C. Fencing. London and Bombay: Longmans, Green, and co, 1897. pp 267-268.