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Jörg Wilhalm Hutter
Born 15th century
Died 16th century
Occupation
Citizenship Augsburg, Germany
Movement Augsburg tradition
Influences
Influenced
Genres Fencing manual
Language Early New High German
Notable work(s) Jörg Wilhalm Hutters kunst zu
Augspurg
Archetype(s)
Manuscript(s)
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Signature Jörg Wilhalm sig.jpg

Jörg Wilhalm Hutter was a 16th century German fencing master. In addition to his fencing practice, his surname signifies that he was a hatter by trade, a fact that is confirmed in the tax records of Augsburg, Germany in 1501, 1504, and 1516.

Four works are commonly attributed to Hutter: on unarmored longsword fencing in the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, on armored and mounted dueling that appear to be based on those of the early 15th century (relying on armor designs that were obsolete by the 1520s), and a series of 32 uncaptioned illustrations portraying scenes of judicial combat. However, it is unclear if Hutter authored all of these works or, like Lienhart Sollinger and Paulus Hector Mair after him, merely compiled existing works together and placed his name on them as an owner's mark. The development of the armored dueling treatises can be traced through a draftbook and rough early annotated copy, but the same is not true of the unarmored longsword, which appears to be based on the MS Cl. 23842 from the 1490s and is accompanied by a version of the pseudo-Peter von Danzig gloss that Gregor Erhart attributes to one Nicolaüs and dates to 1489.

There are three extant manuscripts of Hutter's treatises created between 1522 and 1523, all now residing in Augsburg (along with most of the rest of Paulus Hector Mair's collection). The apparent oldest of Hutter's manuscripts, Cod.I.6.4º.5, consists of numbered but uncaptioned illustrations of armored dueling on horse and on foot, and is dated to 1522. The same year saw the completion of the Cod.I.6.2º.3, which includes the same illustrations but adds written instructions to the plays; for this reason, Hils assumed the former was the draftbook used to develop the latter. In 1523, Hutter seems to have created an accompanying longsword treatise, preserved in the Cod.I.6.2º.2.

Some time soon after this, all three of Hutter's prior works, along a new series of 32 uncaptioned illustrations of dueling, were compiled into the Cgm 3711. This manuscript has some oddities not found in the others, including carnival costumes on some of the fighters and a pretzel salesman appearing in the illustration on folio 11r. It's currently unclear whether Hutter was involved in the creation of this manuscript or not, but it appears to be a presentation copy of the collected works and includes content unique to each of the three earlier manuscripts. Hutter's longsword treatise was also copied by sculptor Gregor Erhart into the MS E.1939.65.354 in 1533, though it's currently unclear which source he based it on.

Most copies of Hutter's treatises were eventually acquired by Freifechter and collector Lienhart Sollinger. Cgm 3711 was a source for his Cgm 3712 (1556) and Cod.Guelf.38.21 Aug.2º (1588), and the former also seems to have drawn heavily from MS E.1939.65.354. Sollinger, in turn, sold several of these works to Paulus Hector Mair: the Cod.I.6.2º.2 in 1544, the Cod.I.6.4º.5 in 1552, the MS E.1939.65.354 in 1560, and the Cod.I.6.2º.3 in 1561. Hutter's draftbook in particular was apparently used as the primary source for Mair's writings on armored dueling (preserved in three manuscripts in the 1540s and 50s); owing to its lack of text, Mair inserted his own descriptions of the plays—descriptions which diverge noticeably from Hutter's own explanations.

A final set of three copies of Hutter's work, including Cod.Guelf.1.6.3 Aug.2º, Cod.Guelf.79.2 Aug.2º, and MS KK5247, were prepared by Jeremias Schemel von Augsburg at the end of the 16th century as part of a massive compilation of treatises on horsemanship which also included discussion of riding, dressage, and jousting. These manuscripts contain Hutter's original text (unlike Mair's version), but the elaborate artwork includes details from multiple prior versions of Hutter's work, suggesting that Schemel's source manuscript may remain to be discovered.

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