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(→‎Treatise: Added the rest of the poleaxe devices.)
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]]and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]]Versions</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]]and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]]Versions</p>
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers, 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)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</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)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</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.10825/10826)|Vienna II Transcription]][German] '''(1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10826)}}</p>
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| [[file:Mair side sword 37.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair side sword 37.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[21] '''An Absezen with the Right Foot from which a Throw Proceeds'''
+
[21] '''An Absetzen with the Right Foot from which a Throw Proceeds'''
  
 
It happens like this when you come to the opponent with this technique: step in with your right leg and strike with a doubled Creizhaw to his right arm. If he sets this aside with his Sword, then step in with your left leg and set your Buckler at his blade. With that press away from you to your left side and then immediately thrust from below to his body.
 
It happens like this when you come to the opponent with this technique: step in with your right leg and strike with a doubled Creizhaw to his right arm. If he sets this aside with his Sword, then step in with your left leg and set your Buckler at his blade. With that press away from you to your left side and then immediately thrust from below to his body.
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| [[file:Mair side sword 40.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair side sword 40.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[24] '''An Absezen with the Buckler against an Oberhaw'''
+
[24] '''An Absetzen with the Buckler against an Oberhaw'''
 
When you go together with this technique then hold yourself like this: step in with your left leg and thrust from behind your Buckler forward to his face.
 
When you go together with this technique then hold yourself like this: step in with your left leg and thrust from behind your Buckler forward to his face.
  
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich Version]]</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich Version]]</p>
! <p>{{rating}}</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|start}}<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)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</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)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</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.10825/10826)|Vienna II Transcription]][German] '''(1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10826)}}</p>
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 04.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 04.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[4]'''  
+
[4]'''A twisting in and a pull'''
 +
 
 +
In this device you do thus: step forward with your right foot and hold your poleaxe in good defence turned toward the opponent. Then you step forward with your left foot and strike a death strike to his head with the axe. If your opponent comes at you in the same manner, and you are holding the poleaxe in both hands then grab the upper end of the shaft with your right and the lower with the left, step forward with your right foot and remove his strike to the left with the shaft. Then you step forward with your left foot and direct the back end over both arms, switch grips, and pull your opponent's right hand toward you (above) with the axe blade, and below, with his left hand with your left arm. If your opponent were to do this, then let go with your right hand, grab his left shoulder and push him away from you. Should he do this on the other hand, then you step back with your left foot and direct a thrust with the front point into his chest, and step back from him in good defense.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|165v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|165v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 150v.png|German|lbl=150v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 150v.png|German|lbl=150v}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 05.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 05.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[5]'''  
+
[5]'''A thrust to the groin against a turning in'''
 +
 
 +
this device is performed thus: stand with the left foot forward and hold the axe raised over in front of your face with the right hand on the middle of the shaft and the left on the back end. Then, step forward with the right foot and thrust your opponent in the groin. If he does this to you, and you are standing with your right foot forward, holding your axe before your face with both hands, right hand on the back end and the left by the blade, then parry to your left with the back end and strike hom in the head with the blade. If he parries on the shaft between his hands, you thrust the back end into his face between his both arms. Should he parry this as well, you step back with your left foot and strike him in the right arm with the blade. Then you step away from him while turning the axe around.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|166r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|166r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151ar.png|German|lbl=151r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151ar.png|German|lbl=151r}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 06.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 06.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[6]'''  
+
[6]'''Two pulls followed by a throw'''
 +
 
 +
If you want to be the victor in this device, do as follows: stand with your right foot forward and raise the axe up in front of your face on your left side, and holding the right hand on the back end and the left on the middle of the blade. Then you step forward with your left foot and strike him in the head with the blade. Should he parry between his hands on the shaft, then move down your front end as well as the blade into the back of his right knee, and pull toward you. If he should do this, however, then put your axe blade around his neck, and pull toward you, that way he cannot hurt you. If your opponent pulls you toward him in the same manner, then take a triangle step and parry his strike between both hands on your shaft, and push up, that way you will weaken him above. Then, let go of the axe with your left hand and grab hold of his right leg and lift it up, and you will throw him backwards.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|166v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|166v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151av.png|German|lbl=151v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151av.png|German|lbl=151v}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 07.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 07.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[7]'''  
+
[7]'''A breaking in with the axe'''
 +
 
 +
When you enter before your opponent, then stand straight with your feet together holding your axe raised up with both hands before your face. Step forward with your left foot and strike him in the head with the blade of your axe. If he were to do this to you, then strike against his strike and parry this way. Then you move in the lower end over his right arm and press your opponent's axe and yours together with your right hand. Then, turn to your right and you will pull his axe rather painfully out of his hands. If he breaks in in the same way and wants to take your axe from you, then leg him do so, and grab hold on the outside of his right armpit with your left hand, and push him away forcefully as you grab hold of the axe with the right hand again and step back. Then strike a death strike to his head with the blade.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|167r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|167r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151br.png|German|lbl=151r*}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151br.png|German|lbl=151r*}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 08.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 08.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[8]'''  
+
[8]'''A death strike against a pull'''
 +
 
 +
Excute this device as follows: step forward with your right foot and hold the axe with both hands on the shaft and strike a death strike to his head with the blade. If he comes at you like this, and you are standing with your left foot forward, then turn the front end in between his arms and put the axe on the right side of his neck, and thus you may parry his strike with the back end. Then you pull the opponent toward you with the axe blade. If your opponent does this, on the other hand, then switch hands from below with the right hand on the outside of the axe and this way you press the opponent's axe down and cut him in the left side of his neck with the axe blade. If he uses the same technique, then parry his strike you your right and thrust him in the face with the front end, and move away from him.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|167v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|167v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151bv.png|German|lbl=151v*}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 151bv.png|German|lbl=151v*}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 09.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 09.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[9]'''  
+
[9]'''A strike from above against a thrust'''
 +
When stepping toward each other, stand with your left foot forward and hold your axe raised before your face with both hands. Then step forward with your right foot and strike your opponent in the head with the axe blade. If your opponent comes at you thus, and you are standing with your left foot forward, holding the axe with the left hand on the front end facing the opponent, and the right hand the back end, then parry his strike between your hands on the shaft, and thrust him in the neck with your front end. If your opponent does this, then remove his thrust with the front end to your right, and thrust him over his left arm into his face. If he does this, then parry with the axe blade, step forward with the right foot and thrust him in the chest with the front end between his arms, and move away from him while turning the axe around.
 +
 
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|168r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|168r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 152r.png|German|lbl=152r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 152r.png|German|lbl=152r}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 10.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 10.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[10]'''  
+
[10]'''A chest guard against a parry'''
 +
 
 +
In this device you do as follows: stand with your left foot forward, holding your axe with both hands, front end in the left hand facing the opponent, and the right hand on the back end held against the chest. Then step forward with your right foot and strike a windstrike from your chest at your opponent's head. If your opponent attacks you in this manner, and you are standing with your right foot forward holding the right hand on the back end facing him, and the left hand on the front end to your left, then steo boack with your right foot and parry his strike on the shaft between your hands, and step forward again with your left foot and thrust him in the face with the back end. If your opponent parries on the shaft between his hands then step forward with the left foot and strike a death strike to his head, and then turn your axe around as you step away from him.
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|168v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|168v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 152v.png|German|lbl=152v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 152v.png|German|lbl=152v}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 11.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 11.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[11]'''  
+
[11]'''Two wind-ins with your back ends'''
 +
 
 +
In this device you stand with your right foot forward, right hand holding your back end pointing toward your opponent and left hand by the axe blade, and from here you step forward with your left foot, and thrust your opponent in the ned with the back end between his arms. If he comes at you thus, and you are standing with your feet together then parry his thrust with the back end you your right. Then step forward with your left foot and thrust your opponent in the face with the back end between his arms. If he parries, then swiftly hit him as hard as you can in the head with the axe blade. If he attacks your head in this manner, then parry his strike between your hands on the shaft. Then press his axe down with your axe blade and thrust him with the front end in the face, and then move away from him.
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|169r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|169r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 153r.png|German|lbl=153r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 153r.png|German|lbl=153r}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 12.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 12.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[12]'''  
+
[12]'''A thrust to the chest against a middle strike'''
 +
 
 +
When stepping together, you and your opponent, then do as follows: step toward your opponent with your left foot, and hold your axe with the left hand on the blade facing the opponent, and the right hand on the back end by your head. Then continue forward with your right foot and thrust your opponent in the chest with the front end. If he attacks you thus, and you are standing with your right foot forward, holding the axe with both hands by your left side, then raise the back end, and parry his thrust to your left. Then you step forward with your left foot and strike a middle strike to his right side with your blade. If he does this, you parry with the shaft. Then, press down his axe with your axe blade to your left and thrust him in the chest. If he parries on the shaft between his hands, then strike him with the axe blade in the head, and move away from him.
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|169v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|169v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 153v.png|German|lbl=153v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 153v.png|German|lbl=153v}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 13.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 13.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[13]'''  
+
[13]'''A parry against a strike to the leg'''
 +
 
 +
When engaging your opponent, stand with both feet together, while holding your axe raised over your head with both hands. From this position, step forward with your left foot and direct a strike with the blade from above at your opponent's forward leg. If you are standing with your left foot forward, and he is striking at your leg, then lower your axe and put it in front of your left leg with the front end on the ground, and parry his strike thus. Then you raise the axe, step forward with your right foot, and thrust him in the neck with the front end. If he parries with the blade on his right side, then change through below with the point, and thrust him in the left side. If he tries to do this, then parry with the axe blade to your left, step forward with your right foot and thrust with both points to his face and chest. Then you strike him in the head with the axe blade and step away from him.
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|170r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|170r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 154r.png|German|lbl=154r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 154r.png|German|lbl=154r}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 14.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 14.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[14]'''  
+
[14]'''Cross parry against a thrust to the groin'''
 +
Do as follows: stand with your right foot forward and hold your axe with both hands over your head, front end in the right hand facing the opponent, and the left on the back end. Then, step forward with your left foot and thrust him in the groin with the front end. If he does this to you, and you are standing with your left foot forward, holding the axe with crossed arms facing toward him, left hand by the blade and the right on the shaft, then step back with the left foot and parry his thrust to your left with the back end, then step forward again with your left foot and thrust with the front end from below in his face or chest. If the opponent does this, however, you parry his thrust on the shaft between your hand, step in triangle, hit him in the head with the blade and step away from him.
 +
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|170v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|170v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 154v.png|German|lbl=154v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 154v.png|German|lbl=154v}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 15.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 15.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[15]'''  
+
[15]'''A death strike against a crossed set on as described below'''
 +
 
 +
When you engage each other, you do thus: stand with your left foot forward, holding your axe facing the opponent with crossed arms. Then step forward and thrust him with the front end in his left arm to set him on. Now, if you are standing with your left foot forward and he tries to thrust you  in the left arm, then step back with the left foot and parry with the blade to your left. Then step forward again, and hit him in the head with a death strike with the blade. If he comes at you thus, then parry between your hands, step forward with your right foot and thrust with the front end in his face or chest. Should he parry, then step back with the right foot and strike a wind strike to his forward left leg, and then step away from him.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|171r|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|171r|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 155r.png|German|lbl=155r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 155r.png|German|lbl=155r}}
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| [[File:Mair poleaxe 16.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
| [[File:Mair poleaxe 16.jpg|300x300px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[16]'''  
+
[16]'''A double set on with the poleaxe'''
 +
 
 +
Perform this device as follows: step forward with your right foot, and hold your axe lifted up over your head with both hands on the back end. Then continue forward with your left foot and strike him in the right side of his head with an athwart strike. If he tries to do the same, and you are standing with your left foot toward him in scale position, while holding both hands so that the front end is leaning on the ground, then lift the axe and parry his strike between your hands on the shaft. If he parries thus, then put the front end of your axe on his left arm to set him on. If he as set you on in this manner, then parry it with your blade, then lock his axe with your blade and thrust the front end into his chest with a forceful push, and you will thrust him to the ground.
 +
 
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|171v|png}}
 
| {{paget|page:MS Dresd.C.94|171v|png}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 155v.png|German|lbl=155v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10826 155v.png|German|lbl=155v}}

Revision as of 12:47, 25 March 2017

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 famed artist 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 third and final 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 in 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.

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

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. 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”).
  34. 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.
  35. 'Long edge' is not listed in ty.
  36. sic : beide
  37. Marginalie unleserlich
  38. ”streck dein leyb und deine armen wol”
  39. sic : seinem ?
  40. The words are marked with numbers above. Probably it is to keep track of word order.
  41. sic : hinndersich
  42. sic : widerumb
  43. sic : seinem
  44. sic : schniten
  45. sic : seinnen ?
  46. 21r
  47. 47.0 47.1 Choosing to read this as equivalent to modern German einengen. “Trapped” as a translation for eineinden follows from this choice. Buyer beware.
  48. Corrections indicate it should be zu Im hinein
  49. The illustration suggests that this action should be done to your left side, rather than to your right.
  50. "Not the lower point". Why the awkward construction here? Why not say superiorem mucronem (or proper Latin equivalent)?
  51. Literally: put
  52. Literally: pull back the left foot
  53. German: his
  54. German: grab with your left hand from below outside over his right arm
  55. rechten
  56. Barred, or bolted.
  57. Pliers, or fire-tongs.
  58. Wrestlers wear a leather collar? Hmmm...
  59. Comb, carder?
  60. A variant on the o-goshi in judo.
  61. sic : Im mit
  62. »sst« oberhalb der Zeile korrigiert aus »fft«
  63. A technique for putting the opponent down head first with his feet in the air.
  64. 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”.
  65. Which is what?
  66. Note: Change of grip required, or the illustration does not match.
  67. Dagger transfer necessary at this point.
  68. Note: person on left side starts with the dagger in the left hand according to the illustration.
  69. Note: push down, not out
  70. Arbait - technical term: work, force, struggle
  71. Vienna and Munich MS Latin: right.
  72. read: locitur
  73. Latin: snatch up.
  74. Note: the illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  75. "You will lick it!" Not pleasant if the dagger is lying on it. Especially in cold weather.
  76. May not represent the changing though described.
  77. Note illustration shows ice-pick grip.
  78. Note: left is corrected from a right. Left is correct.
  79. This seems to imply both parallel action and simultaneity.
  80. Reib - strong twisting, bending, rotating motion.
  81. Image shows left.
  82. From the inner side.
  83. From the Latin text
  84. Correct from underich.
  85. Could also mean immediately
  86. Only in the Latin.
  87. Inn - unclear whether directional or locational.
  88. The one in the left hand?
  89. Only in the Latin.
  90. Possible abbreviation of gegen – geg.
  91. Odd squiggle in the middle—f from previous line?
  92. Scribal error for pungito?
  93. Strange squiggle above the c.
  94. Squiggle – looks like the Munich MS symbol for us?
  95. Error for interim?
  96. Written as “in Clinando”
  97. NB, likely scribal error for “laevam”
  98. Second u has three dots almost like ǜ.
  99. Error for dextrum?
  100. sic : verborgnen