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Sigmund ain Ringeck

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Sigmund Schining ain Ringeck
Born date of birth unknown
Died before 1470
Occupation Fencing master
Nationality German
Patron Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
Movement Society of Liechtenauer
Influences Johannes Liechtenauer
Influenced
Genres Fencing manual
Language Early New High German
Archetype(s) Hypothetical
Manuscript(s)
First printed
english edition
Tobler, 2001
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations

Sigmund Schining ain Ringeck (Sigmund ain Ringeck, Sigmund Amring, Sigmund Einring, Sigmund Schining) was a 14th or 15th century German fencing master. While the meaning of the surname "Schining" is uncertain, the suffix "ain Ringeck" may indicate that he came from the Rhineland region of south-eastern Germany. He is named in the text as Schirmaister[1] to Albrecht, Count Palatine of Rhine and Duke of Bavaria. Other than this, the only thing that can be determined about his life is that his renown as a master was sufficient for Paulus Kal to include him on his memorial to the deceased masters of the Society of Liechtenauer in 1470.[2]

The identity of Ringeck's patron remains unclear, as four men named Albrecht held the title during the fifteenth century. If it is Albrecht I, who reigned from 1353 to 1404, this would signify that Ringeck was likely a direct associate or student of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer. However, it may just as easily have been Albrecht III, who carried the title from 1438 to 1460, making Ringeck potentially a second-generation master carrying on the tradition.[3] Albrecht IV claimed the title in 1460 and thus also could have been Ringeck's patron; this seems somewhat less likely in light of Ringeck's apparent death within that same decade, meaning the master would have had to have penned his treatise in the final few years of his life. In its favor, however, is the fact that Albrecht IV lived until 1508 and so both the Dresden and Glasgow versions of the text were likely created during his reign.

Ringeck is often erroneously credited as the author of the MS Dresd.C.487. While Ringeck was the author of one of the core texts, a complete gloss of Liechtenauer's Recital on unarmored longsword fencing, and perhaps also the anonymous glosses of his armored and mounted fencing, the manuscript contains an assortment of treatises by several different masters in the tradition (not just Ringeck), and it is currently thought to have been composed in the early 16th century[4] (well after the master's lifetime). Regardless, the fact that he authored one of the few glosses of Liechtenauer's verse makes Ringeck one of the most important masters of the 15th century.

While it was not duplicated nearly as often as the more famous gloss of Pseudo-Peter von Danzig, Ringeck's work nevertheless seems to have had a lasting influence. Not only was it reproduced by Joachim Meÿer in his final manuscript (left unifinished at his death in 1571), but in 1539 Hans Medel von Salzburg took it upon himself to create an update and revision of Ringeck's Bloßfechten gloss, integrating his own commentary in many places.

Stemma

Treatise

Additional Resources

  • Lindholm, David and Svard, Peter. Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1-58160-410-8
  • Lindholm, David and Svard, Peter. Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Arts of Combat: Sword-and-Buckler Fighting, Wrestling, and Fighting in Armor. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58160-499-3
  • Tobler, Christian Henry. Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship. Highland Village, TX: Chivalry Bookshelf, 2001. ISBN 1-891448-07-2
  • Żabiński, Grzegorz. The Longsword Teachings of Master Liechtenauer. The Early Sixteenth Century Swordsmanship Comments in the "Goliath" Manuscript. Poland: Adam Marshall, 2010. ISBN 978-83-7611-662-4

References

  1. For possible meanings of this term, see Jens P. Kleinau. "Schirrmeister, Schermeister, Schirmmeister". Hans Talhoffer ~ A Historical Martial Arts blog by Jens P. Kleinau, 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  2. The Society of Liechtenauer is recorded in three versions of Paulus Kal's treatise: MS 1825 (1460s), Cgm 1570 (ca. 1470), and MS KK5126 (1480s).
  3. Christian Henry Tobler. "Chicken and Eggs: Which Master Came First?" In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts. Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press, 2010.
  4. Werner J. Hoffmann. "Mscr.Dresd.C.487: Siegmund am Ringeck, Fechtlehre". Tiefenerschließung und Digitalisierung der deutschsprachigen mittelalterlichen Handschriften der Sächsischen Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (SLUB) Dresden. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  5. The phrase "and pictured" is omitted from the Dresden.
  6. Corrected from »am«.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Line omitted from the Dresden.
  8. darhauen: To chop down, to fell.
  9. Lit: cut the cuts.
  10. D. Zeck: Tick; R. Zeckruhr: Insect bites.
  11. Possibly "strongly desire to execute".
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Note, this is" omitted from the Dresden.
  13. "You shall" omitted from the Rostock.
  14. Lit: "Before the moment he comes with his to you".
  15. wiederhalten: lit. "hold against"; to withstand, resist.
  16. Alternately: weapons.
  17. D. Wer dz wäre: "Whoever defends these".
  18. Alternately: avow, legally promise.
  19. Possibly "wages".
  20. 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 Word omitted from the Dresden.
  21. Lit: "cut other cuts".
  22. "In the same five cuts" omitted from the Rostock.
  23. ober is an adjective, oben is an adverb.
  24. R. "the".
  25. 25.00 25.01 25.02 25.03 25.04 25.05 25.06 25.07 25.08 25.09 25.10 25.11 25.12 25.13 25.14 Clause omitted from the Dresden.
  26. "This is" omitted from the Dresden.
  27. abrucken: "removere" (remove), "absetzen" (set-aside).
  28. D. wider[sic]: "again".
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 D. "the".
  30. D. bind: "bind-in".
  31. R. Jun ger [sic].
  32. R. dem krieg: "the war".
  33. D. hurten: "to rush".
  34. "the cut, or thrust, or slice" omitted from the Dresden.
  35. "nor thrust… slice" omitted from the Rostock.
  36. Sentence omitted from the Rostock.
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 Word omitted from the Rostock.
  38. Alternately: ponder, weigh, calculate, estimate, consider.
  39. Alternately: avenge, take full legal retribution.
  40. Alternately: straight, upright, properly.
  41. D. schüczen, R. behuetẽ.
  42. Rostock cuts off at this point and picks up in the middle of the sixth subsequent play, probably indicating a missing page.
  43. Alternately: part, piece.
  44. aufkrummen: Lat. sursum torquere, twist, turn or bend up; twist, turn, bend, or cast back; avert, deflect .
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Word omitted from the Salzburg.
  46. Sic, lit. "your".
  47. "the opening" omitted from the Salzburg.
  48. S. "the over- or under-cut".
  49. Possibly "it".
  50. S. vß gestreckten: "outstretched".
  51. Sentence omitted from the Salzburg; instead, it nonsensically concludes with the final few lines of the pPvD gloss: wol vff die rechte~ site~ vnd schlag in mit der langen schnide~ vß gekrutzten armen vber sin hende ~, "well on your right side and strike-in with the long edge from crossed arms over his hands".
  52. Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 18v-19r
  53. Likely a scribal error here, omitting a verb.
  54. Rostock begins again at this point.
  55. "Cut" omitted from the Dresden.
  56. D. "above"
  57. S. "so".
  58. "When you… well, and" omitted from the Rostock and the Salzburg.
  59. Clause omitted from the Dresden; this seems to be an abbreviated explanation of the previous play, which is skipped entirely in the Rostock.
  60. R., S. "the crooked-cut".
  61. D. "you".
  62. R., S. "to".
  63. D. "Gloss"; clause omitted from the Salzburg.
  64. S. "guard himself".
  65. "Komp" added below the line in a different hand.
  66. Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 20v-21r
  67. "Stand with… shoulder, and" omitted from the Dresden.
  68. D. "thwart".
  69. 69.0 69.1 Alternately, wiederhalten: to struggle or resist.
  70. Word omitted from the Glasgow, the Rostock, and the Salzburg.
  71. "Or otherwise" omitted from the Salzburg.
  72. "-cut" omitted from the Dresden, the Glasgow, and the Rostock.
  73. Clause omitted from the Dresden; struck out in the Rostock.
  74. Clause omitted from the Dresden and the Rostock.
  75. Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 21v
  76. R. "wind".
  77. "with the over-cut" omitted from the Glasgow.
  78. R. unternn: "lower".
  79. "Next to" omitted from the Rostock.
  80. Glasgow adds albeg: "always, continually".
  81. Or "connects"; alternately: rouses, stirs (ostensibly your opponent).
  82. "This is" omitted from the Glasgow and the Rostock.
  83. G. twerhaw: "thwart-cut".
  84. R. "wind".
  85. "Or left" omitted from the Glasgow.
  86. Everything from "and steal away" to the end of the sentence is omitted from the Dresden.
  87. Alternately: to turn around.
  88. "And strike in" omitted from the Dresden.
  89. Corrected from »seiner«.
  90. 90.0 90.1 Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 28v
  91. 91.0 91.1 Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 31r
  92. Corrected from »dem«.
  93. Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29), ff 33v
  94. Corrected from »dim«.
  95. Corrected from »rechtem«.
  96. Corrected from »sinem«.
  97. Remainder of fragments from Rast Fechtbuch (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82), ff 13r-14v
  98. The word »es« is almost illegible.
  99. Corrected from »ausgerattñ«.
  100. Corrected from »dem«.
  101. Corrected from »dim«.
  102. Corrected from »dinem«.
  103. The text ends here abruptly, in the middle of a play. Since the page isn't full, it's unclear why the scribe stopped at this point. The subsequent folia come from earlier in the manuscript; they were removed and then added back in at the end.