 |
The index of masters is currently only complete up through the end of the 16th Century. |
Fencing master sounds like a lofty title today, but historically it was used quite commonly and simply describes any recognized fencing teacher. They come in many different flavors, including itinerant duelling teachers who trained people to fight for their lives (or sometimes acted as champions in their places), court fencing masters in charge of educating young nobles, masters who operated their own schools and taught students (typically craftsmen and merchants from the middle class). Some masters received certifications from national or international authorities like the fencing guilds or government offices, but for many masters we have no indication of a higher authority than their own expertise in teaching fencing.
In common parlance in the community, we typically use the term "master" in an even broader sense than this, and apply the title to many authors who do not describe themselves that way, nor would they have been described that way by others in their time. "The masters" is code for the entire corpus of fencing teachings that we can access. But in this sense, we are maybe striking closer to the derivation of the term master, which simply means "one who teaches".
14th Century Masters
15th Century Masters
16th Century Masters
17th Century Masters
18th Century Masters
19th Century Masters
