 |
You are not currently logged in. Are you accessing the unsecure (http) portal? Click here to switch to the secure portal. |
Joachim Köppe
| Joachim Köppe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1582 or 1584 (?) Bahrendorf |
| Died | after 1638 (?) Magdeburg (?) |
| Relative(s) | Jacob Köppe |
| Occupation | Physician, Fencing master |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | Doctor of philosophy and of medicine |
| Alma mater | University of Wittenberg, University of Frankfurt an der Oder |
| Influences | Heinrich Beler from Bautzen, Salvator Fabris |
| Genres | Fencing manual |
| Language | Early New High German |
| Notable work(s) | Newer Discůrs Von der Rittermeszigen und Weitberůmbten Kůnst des Fechtens (1619) |
Joachim Köppe was a 17th century German fencing master, originally from Bahrendorf in the Sülze Valley, about ten miles outside Magdeburg. A remark in a 1619 book documenting a theological spat with a Magdeburg pastor implies that his father was a Dorfpfarrer—a [Lutheran] village pastor.
He and his brother Jacob enrolled at the University of Wittenberg on May 1, 1596. A note in the Album Academiae Vitebergensis [Ältere Reihe] mentions that “hi propter aestatum non iuravunt"—that "because of their [young] age" they did not swear the academic oath. This would place his birth date around 1582-84.
A number of published medical disputations place him at Wittenberg from 1601 to 1609, both as a student of medicine and an examiner. In 1606, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Frankfurt an der Oder. Between 1609 and 1610, he was at Paris, where he met Salvator Fabris and received a copy of Fabris' 1606 book from the master. On April 2, 1610, Magister Köppe appears in the Matrikel of the new University of Giessen, contemporary with Heinrich von und zum Velde.
At Wittenberg, Köppe studied fencing under his praeceptor Heinrich Beler from Bautzen (a town in in Saxony), as well as at least one other instructor, a German who appears to have been in the tradition of the old Fechtergesellschaften. After he left Wittenberg, he went on to become a physician and, later, Bürger in Magdeburg. In 1619, he published his own treatise on rapier fencing titled Newer Discůrs Von der Rittermeszigen und Weitberůmbten Kůnst des Fechtens ("New Discourse on the Knightly and World Renowned Art of Fencing"). This was conceived as the first of at least three volumes, however, only this one volume was ever printed (albeit in four editions).
A “Köppe, Joachimus” appears from 1631 to 1638 in the Bürgerrolle der Alten Stadt Magdeburg. This would indicate that he survived the complete destruction of the city in 1631.
Köppe is probably the most erudite and best-educated fencer of his time, who was as comfortable publishing on theological questions as well as astronomy. It should be noted that he was primarily an enthusiastic amateur, stating that he “von Jugendt auff / von Natur eine sonderliche inclination zu der FechtKunst bey [sich] befunden” ("from childhood on had found in his nature a special inclination for the art of fencing"). He was analytical, experienced and eclectic fencer who had learned, acquired and understood fundamentals and skills from the methods of several local and international masters to a degree that he could formulate a coherent, systematic theory of his own. But he was not a professional instructor or Fechtmeister: Indeed, he expressly rejects the notion that, by publishing his book, he was abandoning his Beruff, i.e., his avocation as a physician. Köppe’s personal method was an amalgam of various influences whose skills he had encountered.
Contents
Treatise
Illustrations |
Transcription | |
|---|---|---|
| Text to copy over |
For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.
| Work | Author(s) | Source | License |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrations |  |
||
| Translation |  |
||
| Transcription | Reinier van Noort | Ense et Mente |  |
Additional Resources
The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.
- Köppe, Joachim (2018). New Discourse on the Art of Fencing. Trans. by Reinier van Noort. Self-published.
