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Difference between revisions of "Paulus Hector Mair"

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! <p><includeonly><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:85%;">&#91;{{edit|Paulus Hector Mair/Jousting|edit}}&#93;</span> &nbsp; </includeonly>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich Version]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|C}}<br/>by [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna II Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10826)}}</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393 II)}}</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna II Transcription]] [Latin] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10826)}}</p>
 
! <p>[[Jörg Breu Draftbook (Cod.I.6.2º.4)|Draftbook Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Jörg Breu Draftbook (Cod.I.6.2º.4)}}<br/>by [[Dierk Hagedorn]]</p>
 
 
|-
 
|
 
|
 
| <p>'''The various old and new noble and knightly German forms and Disciplines of jousting or ”tilt”, as they call it nowadays.'''</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|095r|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
|
 
| <p>'''Title and dedication'''</p>
 
 
<p>To the eternal memory of the late Roman Emperor Maximilian, I have here gathered these jousting or tilt games, and put them in order. The late emperor Maximilian himself devoted himself and exercized himself in them, and he even invented many of them as well. Therefore lest this honourable and sportly exercise of the nobility would to perish, I have here given them to posterity, especially for the eternal praise to those who still devote themselves and love it, which can be understood here, how to do that they have before their eyes, so that they be able to reconstruct each and everyone of them.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|095v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 01.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[1] Here they both go forth to the jousting field, and descend into the arena in the old armour that the Germans call "high" (in dem alten hohen Teutschen zeug).</p>
 
 
<p>Old jousting, or tilting as it is called today in old high armour (German: Im hohen zeug), where both break their lances, they enter the field (German: auf die pan), or the arena. The rider himself wears a common jousting armour, he has small rings<ref>Coronels?</ref> with a vamplate. He sits on an old high jousting saddle. The horse’s chest guard is stuffed with straw, and padded under the silk caparison. The chanfron is made out of steel, as can be seen in the picture here.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|096r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|097v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 02.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[2] Here they both ride towards each other in said old high armour.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|096v|jpg|lbl=096v97r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 03.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[3] Here they both enter into the arena with shields that the Germans call "die geschifften dartschen".</p>
 
 
<p>The commonly practised sportly jousting, that the Germans call "das geschifften Tarschen Rennen", is performed as follows: the rider is clad in field armour, and an old helmet with a steel beard attached to it, that flies off at first contact with the lance. His boots and thighs are covered in armour, and the horse has a caparison. The lance has a large movable vamplate, that covers half the rider’s arm, as can be seen on the picture.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|098r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|099v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 04.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[4] Then they engage each other in this manner with said shields.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|098v|jpg|lbl=098v99r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 05.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[5] Here they both proceed to the arena to compete in field jousting with plate armour that the Germans call "das Stechlin geliger".</p>
 
 
<p>In field jousting, where all armour must be plate armour, that the Germans call "den Bund in stechlin geliger", is done thusly: the man himself is completely covered by a full field armour, and an old helmet covers his head, to which a metal beard is attached which flies off at first contact with the lance. The lance has a vamplate. Furthermore the horse is equipped with armour that Germans call "das Creutz geliger", as can be seen in this picture.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|101v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 06.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[6] Here they both engage each other in said jousting with plate armour, as mentioned.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=100v01r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 07.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[7] In this manner the jousters enter the arena.<ref>Illustrations 7 and 8, with their captions, are placed after 12 in the manuscript. In this presentation, they've been moved to their numeric sequence.</ref></p>
 
 
<p>Jousting either in ernest or for sport, is performed thus: the rider wears an armour that in German is called "den geschifften küriss". The lance has a vamplate. The horse is equipped with a caparison made out of leather. The mane and neck of the horse is covered in steel armour, as well as the chanfron, as the picture clearly shows.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|102r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|103v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 08.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[8] Here they engage each other, either for sport or in ernest.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=102v03r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 09.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[9] This way the two combatants proceed to the arena in steel leg armour.</p>
 
 
<p>Jousting in steel leg armour, as well as leather caparison, i.e. horse cover, is this: the rider wears field armour and a metal helmet. On his left side he carries a shield. He sits on a high knight saddle, the lance is made with a vamplate, whereas the horse is covered with a leather caparison, as is shown in the picture.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|104r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|105v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 10.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[10] Then they run towards and engage each other in metal leg armour.</p>
 
|
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=104v05r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
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| [[File:Mair's tournament 11.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[11] Thus they enter the arena, in common German jousting, or tilt.</p>
 
 
<p>Common German jousting is done thus: the rider wears a common jousting armour, and in the lance he has coronells and a vamplate. He sits on a cushion, without saddle. The horse has covered eyes, as well as ears. The caparison is wholly made out of silk. Furthermore, the rider has large enough bundles of straw on the chest under the caparison, as is illustrated on the picture.</p>
 
|
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|106r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|107v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 12.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[12] Thus they run at each other in said common German jousting.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=106v07r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 13.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[13] Here the combatants enter the arena to compete with linen bindles, or "in Wulsten" as Germans use to call it.</p>
 
 
<p>Jousting with linen bindles, that Germans call "das rennen mit dem Wulst", is performed thus: the rider has a large linen bindle on his head, and apart from that completely without armour. He carries a metal beard hanging from his neck, with a large hook that supports the lance, and this hook is the only thing aimed at by the lance hit. Furthermore, he has armour plate protection over his knees. The lance has a vamplate, that covers half the man’s arm. He sits on a pillow. The horse is covered and blindfolded by a silk caparison, as you can see in the picture.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|108r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|109v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 14.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[14] Here they ride together with said linen bindles.</p>
 
|
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=108v09r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 15.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[15] This way they enter the arena to compete over the tilt barrier.</p>
 
 
<p>Italian jousting over the tilt barrier is done thus: the rider is equipped with a field armour that we in German call "ain geschifften feldküriss". He wears a helmet suitable for this sort of jousting, and on his left side he carries a shield with a grill. He sits on a high knight's saddle. The hit, or strike is on the shield. The horse is covered with a silk caparison, and its forehead is protected by a steel chanfron, as the picture shows.</p>
 
|
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|110r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|111v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 16.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[16] This is the way jousting over the tilt barrier is done the Italian way.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=110v11r}}
 
|
 
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|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 17.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[17] Thus they enter the arena to compete with discs, that the Germans call "die geschifften scheuben".</p>
 
 
<p>Jousting in articulated armour, in German called "das geschifft scheuben rennen", ie with movable discs, is done thus: the rider is fully covered in armour, and an old helmet. Furthermore he has a disc, and a steel beard attached, that by the contact or hit of the lance, flies off. He sits on a knight saddle. The lance has vamplate, that covers half the man’s arm. The horse is blindfolded and covered by a silk caparison, and its forehead is protected by a steel chanfron as shown in this picture.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|112r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|113v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 18.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[18] Here they engage each other with said discs.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=112v13r}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|
 
| [[File:Mair's tournament 19.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[19] Thus the combatants enter the arena to compete in Italian Armentin.</p>
 
 
<p>Italian jousting in armentin, as they call it, is done thus: the rider wears an articulatedly-attached field armour, and a has a sleeve/shirt in a knightly fashion. Furthermore, he sits on a high saddle. The lance has vamplates. The horse is blindfolded and covered with a silk caparison, and wears a steel chanfron, as you see in the picture.</p>
 
|
 
|
 
| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|114r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|115v|jpg}}
 
|
 
|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 20.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[20] Then they ride towards each other in said Italian armentin.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=114v15r}}
 
|
 
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|-
 
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| [[File:Mair's tournament 21.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[21] Thus they enter the arena to compete in strifing jousting, called "der schwaiff" in German.</p>
 
 
<p>The common strifing joust or tilt called "der schwaiff"<ref>Schweiff means to strife, drift or to sweep by. So, in a sense, horse drifting. Or maybe not.</ref> by the Germans, is to be performed as follows: the rider wears shoulder and chest armour that must be equipped with a large hook. On his head he wears an old helmet with a long steel beard hanging from it, that immediately flies off at lance contact. The arms are unprotected, and on his knees he is protected by the armour called "streiffteschen" in German. The lances have moveable vamplates that cover half the man’s arm. The horse is blindfolded by his silk caparison, as you may discern from this picture.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|116r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|117v|jpg}}
 
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|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 22.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[22] Then they ride towards each other in said strifing jousting.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=116v17r}}
 
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|-
 
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| [[File:Mair's tournament 23.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[23] In this manner they enter the arena to the joust in what the Germans call "den bund".</p>
 
 
<p>Jousting called ”den Bund” in German is performed thus: the rider himself wears a helmet that we in German call "ain Rennhuet", and a harness equipped with a large hook. Furthermore he wears a metal beard, that flies off at first contact with the lance. On the arms there is no armour, but on the other hand his knees must be protected with what is called "die straiffteschen". No saddle is to be used. The lance has a movable vamplate, that covers half the man’s arm. The horse is covered in a silk caparison, and blindfolded by it, as you may understand from this picture.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|118r|jpg}}
 
 
{{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|119v|jpg}}
 
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|
 
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 24.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[24] Here they ride at each other, in said sportly joust.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=118v19r}}
 
|
 
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|-
 
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| [[File:Mair's tournament 25.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>[25] Thus they enter the arena to compete in jousting with pans, called "in der pfannen" in German.<ref>Curious little bugger, ain't ya?</ref></p>
 
 
<p>Pan jousting, or in German "das pfannen rennen", is performed in this manner: the rider has no armour at all, on his chest he has a large shield with a steel grill, in which the lance is stuck, and must keep it there. He sits on the horse without any saddle. The horse itself is covered and blindfolded by a silk caparison, as is clearly displayed in this picture.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|120r|jpg}}
 
 
{{section|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II 121v.jpg|1|lbl=121v}}
 
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|-
 
| colspan="2" | [[File:Mair's tournament 26.png|800px|center]]
 
| <p>[26] Then they run at each other in said pan joust.</p>
 
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| {{paget|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II|100v|jpg|lbl=120v21r}}
 
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|-
 
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| [[File:Mair's tournament 27.png|400x400px|center]]
 
| <p>The end.</p>
 
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| {{section|Page:Cod.icon. 393 II 121v.jpg|2|lbl=-}}
 
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Revision as of 15:23, 14 January 2019

Paulus Hector Mair

"Mair", Cod.icon. 312b f 64r
Born 1517
Augsburg, Germany
Died 10 Dec 1579 (age 62)
Augsburg, Germany
Occupation
  • Civil servant
  • Historian
Movement
Influences
Genres
Language
Manuscript(s)
First printed
english edition
Knight and Hunt, 2008
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations Traduction française
Signature Paulus Hector Mair Sig.png

Paulus Hector Mair (Paulsen Hektor Mair, Paulus Hector Meyer; 1517 – 1579) was a 16th century German aristocrat, civil servant, and fencer. He was born in 1517 to a wealthy and influential Augsburg patrician family. In his youth, he likely received training in fencing and grappling from the masters of Augsburg fencing guild, and early on developed a deep fascination with fencing treatises. He began his civil service as a secretary to the Augsburg City Council; by 1541, Mair was the City Treasurer, and in 1545 he also took on the office of Master of Rations.

Mair's martial background is unknown, but as a citizen of a free city he would have had military obligations whenever the city went to war, and as a member of a patrician family he likely served in the cavalry. He was also an avid collector of fencing treatises and other literature on military history. Like his contemporary Joachim Meÿer, Mair believed that the Medieval martial arts were being forgotten, and he saw this as a tragedy, idealizing the arts of fencing as a civilizing and character-building influence on men. Where Meÿer sought to update the traditional fencing systems and apply them to contemporary weapons of war and defense, Mair was more interested in preserving historical teachings intact. Thus, some time in the latter part of the 1540s he commissioned what would become the most extensive compendium of German fencing treatises ever made, a massive two-volume manuscript compiling virtually every fencing treatise he could access. He retained Jörg Breu the Younger to create the illustrations for the text,[1] and hired two Augsburg fencers to pose for the illustrations.[2] This project was extraordinarily expensive and took at least four years to complete. Ultimately, three copies of this compendium were produced, each more extensive than the last; the first (MSS Dresden C.93/C.94) was written in Early New High German, the second and most artistically ambitious (Cod.icon. 393) in New Latin, and the rougher third version (Cod. 10825/10826) incorporated both languages.

Beginning in the 1540s, Mair began purchasing older fencing manuscripts, some from fellow collector Lienhart Sollinger (a Freifechter who lived in Augsburg for many years) and others from auctions. Perhaps most significant of all of his acquisitions was the partially-completed treatise of Antonius Rast, a Master of the Long Sword and three-time Captain of the Marxbrüder fencing guild. The venerable master left it incomplete when he died in 1549, and Mair ultimately produced a complete fencing manual (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82) based on his notes. Ultimately, he owned over a dozen fencing manuscripts over the course of his life, including the following:

He also used several printed books as source material for his compendia, and presumably owned copies, including Der Altenn Fechter anfengliche kunst (compiled by Christian Egenolff), Opera Nova by Achille Marozzo, and Ringer Kunst by Fabian von Auerswald.

Mair not only spent incredible sums of money on his fencing interests, but generally lead a lavish lifestyle and maintained his political influence with expensive parties and other entertainments for the burghers and patricians of Augsburg. This habit of living far beyond his means for decades exhausted his family's wealth, eventually leading him to sell the Latin version of his fencing manuscript (netting the princely sum of 800 florins) and finally to begin embezzling money from the Augsburg city coffers. This embezzlement was not discovered for many years (or perhaps was overlooked due to the favor his parties garnered), until finally in 1579 a disgruntled assistant reported him to the Augsburg City Council and provoked an audit of his books. Mair was arrested, tried, and hanged as a thief at the age of 62. After Mair's death, his effects (including his library) were sold at auction to recoup some of the funds he had embezzled.

Whether viewed as an unwise scholar who paid the ultimate price for his art or an ignoble thief who violated his city's trust, Mair remains one of the most influential figures in the history of Kunst des Fechtens. By completing the fencing manual of Antonius Rast, Mair gave us valuable insight into the Nuremberg fencing tradition; his own works are impressive on both an artistic and practical level, and his extensive commentary on the uncaptioned treatises in his collection serves to make potentially useful training aids out of what would otherwise be mere curiosities. Finally, in purchasing so many important fencing treatises he succeeded in preserving them for future generations; they were purchased by the fabulously wealthy Fugger family after his death and ultimately passed to the Augsburg University Library, where they remain to this day.

Treatise

Much of Mair's content represents his revision and expansion of the older treatises listed above, including adding descriptive content to uncaptioned images. Where available, these images are displayed in the left-most column, labeled "Source Images", for comparison purposes. Mair's own illustrations appear in the second image column, alongside the translation.

The Dresden version contains the fewest devices and artwork most reminiscent of Breu's style, and appears therefore to be the original copy. The Munich adds additional plays and sections on top of the Dresden's contents, and the Vienna likewise augments the Munich, suggesting that this is likely order of creation; conversely, the Dresden has no unique content, and the only unique plays in the Munich are in the section on jousting. To give a visual sense of this evolution of the work, the Dresden illustrations are used wherever possible; the Munich illustrations appear only in those plays that are omitted from the Dresden, and the Vienna in those that are unique to that work.

Temporary Division

Additional Resources

  • Hunt, Brian. "Paulus Hector Mair: Peasant Staff and Flail." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts. Ed. Jeffrey Hull. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3
  • Knight, David James, and Hunt, Brian. The Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-644-7
  • Welle, Rainer. "…und wisse das alle höbischeit kompt von deme ringen". Der Ringkampf als adelige Kunst im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus-Verlagsgesellschaft, 1993. ISBN 3-89085-755-8

References

  1. Breu is not listed in the Augsburg tax records in 1542-3; given Mair's youth, he most likely hired Breu between his return in 1544 and his death in 1547.
  2. Hils 1985, pp 197-201.
  3. Further, incidentally.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Chronicon Abbatis Urspergensis, the Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg (13th century), printed in Augsburg 1515.
  5. The amphitheatre of Fidenae (the modern Borgata Fidena, a suburb of Rome), endowed by a freed slave named Atilius, collapsed in 27 BC under the weight of a large crowd of spectators, apparently due to faults in construction. According to the (likely exaggerated) account by Tacitus (Annales, 4.63), a total of 50,000 people died in the collapse.
  6. wohl Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus (starb 47 n. Chr.)
  7. The preceding three paragraphs are missing in the Dresden version.
  8. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 71 – ca. 135), author of De vita Caesarum (ca. AD 120).
  9. Dresden version: four hundred.
  10. Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (225 – 244), Marcus Iulius Philippus (ca. 204 - 249)
  11. Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (AD 131 – 201)
  12. This may be in reference to 2 Timothy 2:4, rendered by Luther (1522) as: Niemant streyttet vnnd flicht sich ynn der narung geschefft, auff das er gefalle dem, der yhn zum streytter auffgenomen hat "None who would fight does meddle in the business of sustenance, so that he may please him who employed him as a fighter". Now Luthers narung "sustenance, nutrition, food" offers itself to an interpretation of "gluttony; carnal pleasure", but it translates pragmateiai biou, meaning "the pragmatics of life", i.e. "everyday business". c.f. Tyndale (1526), who has "No man that warreth, entangleth himself with worldly business, and that because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier"; Dresden has "temporal" (zeitlich) rather than "transient" (zergenglich).
  13. This is a reference to Pliny, Nat. Hist. 30.32: "When a freedman of Nero was giving a gladiatorial show at Antium, the public porticoes were covered with paintings, so we are told, containing life-like portraits of all the gladiators and assistants. This portraiture of gladiators has been the highest interest in art for many centuries now, but it was Gaius Terentius who began the practice of having pictures made of gladiatorial shows and exhibited in public; in honour of his grandfather who had adopted him he provided thirty pairs of Gladiators in the Forum for three consecutive days, and exhibited a picture of the matches in the Grove of Diana."
  14. Anacharsis the Scythian, according to Herodotus (4.46, 76 f.) brother of the Scythian king Saulinos; attributed to him are inventions such as the anchor, bellows and pottery wheel. He was slain by his brother after he returned from a journey to Greece and began to advocate Greek culture to his countrymen. He is sometimes counted as one of the Seven Sages of Athens. Among a number of letters attributed to him is one addressed to the Lydian king Croesus.
  15. Johannes Aventinus (Johann Georg Turmair von Abensberg, 1477–1534), historiographer at the Bavarian court.
  16. Gampar is the seventh king in the (fictional) genealogy of the kings of the ancient Germans going back to the Great Flood in Aventinus' Annales (1522). Aventinus gives Gampar's regnal years as 1711–1667 BC.
  17. Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 275 – 339)
  18. Pittakos of Mitylene (Lesbos), 7th c. BC, one of the Seven Sages. He led the Mitylenians against the Athenians and arranged a duel with Phrynon, an Olympic champion in pankration, by which to settle the war. He defeated Phrynon by trapping him in a net. The greater Ajay met Hector in place of Achilles (Iliad 7.181), the fight lasted the entire day and Hector was lightly wounded, and the heroes then parted with mutual respect. Porus, "king of India" was defeated by Alexander in the battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. I have so far failed to identify Pyrechmen and Degmemnus.
  19. Mair gives more detail on this judicial duel of 1409 in the second volume. According to this account, the combatants were Wilhelm Marschalk von Dornsberg and Theodor Haschenacker, and the shields of the combatants were preserved in St. Leonard's church outside of the city until the tower of this church was demolished on 3 November 1542.
  20. Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata ("Sayings of kings and emperors") in Plutarch's Moralia.
  21. Vienna: mit schaden "with damage", Dresden: mit schanden "with dishonour/ignominy".
  22. Tacitus' Germania was unknown during the medieval period; rediscovered in 1455, the text was popularized in German humanism only from c. 1500; it is summarized by Aventinus, who is Mair's source, in his Annales ducum Boiariae (1522), the German-language edition of which (Bairische Chronik 1533) was just about ten years old when Mair wrote his text.
  23. pafese read for gafese (i.e. pavese, the infantry shields comparable to the Roman rectangular shields of the early imperial period)
  24. Tuisto is the primeval god of the Germanic peoples according to Tacitus. Aventinus euhemerizes him as the grandson of Noah and first king of the Germans (r. 2214–2038 BC). Herman here is not the historical Arminius, but the fifth king in Aventinus' list (r. 1820–1757 BC), founder of the Herminones or continental Germans.
  25. Mair's source is the Turnierbuch of Georg Rüxner (c. 1490), edited in Augsburg by Marx Würsung (1518). Rüxner describes a series of 36 "imperial tournaments" (Reichs-Turniere) between 938 and 1487, beginning with a legendary tournament held in Magdeburg during what Rüxner makes out as the reign of Henry I the Fowler.
  26. the successive Habsburg emperors Frederick III, Maximilian I and Charles V, spanning the period since the supposed disestablishment of the knightly tournament and the establishment of the Brotherhood of St. Mark or Marxbrüder. The Freifechter denounced by Mair seem to represent an early form of the guild later known as Federfechter (unless the term still has a generic meaning, frei as in "unincorporated").
  27. Schlaraffenland is the German adaptation of Coquaigne (Cucania), first encountered in the 15th century (as schlauraff, schluderaffe) and popularised by Hans Sachs (1558). The name seems to originate as an (unattested) medieval slur meaning "lazy idler", schlu(de)r-affe, lit. "drooping ape".
  28. Ligatura non sequitur.
  29. Non sequitur.
  30. Ninus: the legendary founder of Nineveh according to Ctesias (Persica, ca. 400 BC); Ctesias' Sardanapolus corresponds to Ashurbanipal (669 - 627 BC); Ctesias is a rather unreliable source by comparison with Herodotus and the Ptolemaic king list; but in any case knowledge on the Assyrian empire was very limited before the decipherment of cuneiform in the 1850s.
  31. Gideon: Judges 7:4-7; David: Psalm 144:1: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" (KJV).
  32. Mair writes “Kunstfechtbuch”; “art of fencing” would be “Fechtkunst”. It is not clear whether this is just a question of usage or a deliberate difference.
  33. Welsch” refers to neighbouring peoples speaking a romance language, so it could mean French, Italian, Spanish or Romansh.
  34. German rappier, Latin ensibus Hispanis
  35. The Cod. icon. 393 text translates to “Fencing on foot, in which we use round shields and Spanish swords, in the fashion of the Italians, is 56 plays”).
  36. Mair here uses “die Wag” (pl. “Wagen”), which I am assuming refers to “balance scale” (die Waage, pl. Waagen), and by extension the structure providing for the balance. It could also be derived from “wagen” (to dare), but the derivation is not convincing. A derivation from “der Wagen” (cart, carriage) is linguistically not supported. The other two MS do not contain this passage, so a comparison is not possible.
  37. 'Long edge' is not listed in ty.
  38. sic : beide
  39. Marginalie unleserlich
  40. ”streck dein leyb und deine armen wol”
  41. sic : seinem ?
  42. The words are marked with numbers above. Probably it is to keep track of word order.
  43. sic : hinndersich
  44. sic : widerumb
  45. sic : seinem
  46. sic : schniten
  47. sic : seinnen ?
  48. 21r
  49. The illustration suggests that this action should be done to your left side, rather than to your right.
  50. Literally: put
  51. Literally: pull back the left foot
  52. German: his
  53. German: grab with your left hand from below outside over his right arm
  54. rechten
  55. Note: Change of grip required, or the illustration does not match.
  56. Dagger transfer necessary at this point.
  57. Note: person on left side starts with the dagger in the left hand according to the illustration.
  58. Note: push down, not out
  59. Arbait - technical term: work, force, struggle
  60. Vienna and Munich MS Latin: right.
  61. read: locitur
  62. Latin: snatch up.
  63. Note: the illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  64. "You will lick it!" Not pleasant if the dagger is lying on it. Especially in cold weather.
  65. May not represent the changing though described.
  66. Note illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  67. Note: left is corrected from a right. Left is correct.
  68. This seems to imply both parallel action and simultaneity.
  69. Reib - strong twisting, bending, rotating motion.
  70. Image shows left.
  71. From the inner side.
  72. From the Latin text
  73. Correct from underich.
  74. Could also mean immediately
  75. zucken; Latin – to withdraw
  76. Only in the Latin.
  77. Inn - unclear whether directional or locational.
  78. The one in the left hand?
  79. Only in the Latin.
  80. ge..nen/ge..ch?; tibia in Latin
  81. weakness, hardship, trouble, difficulty, vulnerability, out of balance
  82. Possible abbreviation of gegen – geg.
  83. Odd squiggle in the middle—f from previous line?
  84. Scribal error for pungito?
  85. Strange squiggle above the c.
  86. Squiggle – looks like the Munich MS symbol for us?
  87. Error for interim?
  88. Written as “in Clinando”
  89. NB, likely scribal error for “laevam”
  90. Second u has three dots almost like ǜ.
  91. Error for dextrum?
  92. Barred, or bolted.
  93. Pliers, or fire-tongs.
  94. Wrestlers wear a leather collar? Hmmm...
  95. Comb, carder?
  96. A variant on the o-goshi in judo.
  97. sic : Im mit
  98. »sst« oberhalb der Zeile korrigiert aus »fft«
  99. A technique for putting the opponent down head first with his feet in the air.
  100. Dagger pommel?! I have actually no idea what he is thinking here. My only guess is that it was late on Friday afternoon, and must have mistaken ”kopff” with ”knopff”.
  101. 101.0 101.1 Choosing to read this as equivalent to modern German einengen. “Trapped” as a translation for eineinden follows from this choice. Buyer beware.
  102. Corrections indicate it should be zu Im hinein
  103. "Not the lower point". Why the awkward construction here? Why not say superiorem mucronem (or proper Latin equivalent)?
  104. sic : verborgnen
  105. While the text is identical, the illustration in the Dresden version is different from that of Munich and Vienna versions.
  106. The text is a bit ambiguous on how this is done, but judging from the picture it seems as the you are already having the pommel on your right side and the strike to the face and the parry is done in the same motion.
  107. In both Latin and German, foot and leg can be the same word.
  108. Tong hold – see wrestling chapter.
  109. One knee on the ground.
  110. "With" is crossed over and replaced with a smaller text "against" in the Latin text. It is most probably "against", as the text reads in the German text.