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Pseudo-Hans Döbringer

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Here begins Master Liechtenauer's art of fencing
Hie hebt sich an meister lichtenawers kunst des fechtens
Author(s) Unknown
Ascribed to Pseudo-Hans Döbringer
Date before 1495
Genre
Language Early New High German
Manuscript(s) MS 3227a
First Printed
English Edition
Żabiński, 2008
Translations

"Pseudo-Hans Döbringer" is a nickname given to an anonymous 15th century German fencing master.[1] At some point in the 15th century (or possibly the last decade of the 14th), he dictated a gloss on and expansion of the teachings of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer, including the only biographical details of the master yet discovered; it is even speculated that he was personally acquainted with Liechtenauer, who was still alive at the time of the writing.[2] These comments were written into MS 3227a, a commonplace book, by an equally unknown scribe.

Textual History

The writings of Pseudo-Hans Döbringer were never completed and exists in only one manuscript. It is the work of a single scribe, and Ondřej Vodička indicates that it was probably dictated directly to the scribe by the (anonymous) author.

It was written in at least three distinct phases. First, the author dictated the Recital, and the scribe left blank pages between each segment for commentary (ranging from a half page to five and half); this pass probably included most of the extra verses that he added to Liechtenauer's Recital. In the second pass, the author commented on about half of the verses in the long sword gloss. He also dictated the initial paragraph of each of the other weapon sections in the first or second phase. In the third phase, the author went back and began revising the commentary that he'd already written (for unknown reasons), inserting extra notes and dramatically expanding the common lesson. He also expanded messer, dagger, and wrestling sections.

At this point, the manuscript was apparently abandoned in its half-finished state and the scribe filled the remaining blank pages with unrelated writings. He didn't fill in the gaps inside the fencing sections, though, so perhaps there was an expectation that the author would return to it.

Modern HEMA

The first transcription of the fencing sections in MS 3227a were completed in 2001 by Grzegorz Żabiński and posted on ARMA-PL. This was the foundation of the first translations.

In 2005, David Lindholm ("and friends") completed the first English translation of the long sword and posted in on the ARMA site. A second English translation, including all fencing sections this time, was completed in 2006 by Thomas Stoeppler; he intended to contribute it to a never-realized book with a complete translation of MS 3227a and thus never released it publicly until he donated it to Wiktenauer in 2013. The first Spanish translation of the long sword was also completed in 2006 by Francisco Uribe (based on Lindholm's English) and posted on esgrimahistorica.cl; the first French translation of the long sword was completed in 2007 by an anonymous author and posted on the ARDAMHE site.

In 2008, Żabiński's English translation of the long sword was published by Paladin Press, along with his transcription, as “Unarmored Longsword Combat by Master Liechtenauer via Priest Döbringer” in Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts. 2008 also saw a new transcription of the fencing teachings in 3227a by Dierk Hagedorn for his site Hammaborg, and a German modernization of the long sword by Bertram Koch which was posted on Lupi-venaritis. Hagedorn's transcription formed the basis of Francesco Lanza's subsequent Italian translation, which he posted on a blog called “Hanko Döbringer in Italiano” from 2009-11.

A fourth, highly-experimental English translation was self-published by Jay Acutt in 2010 (under the pen name James Wallhausen) as Knightly Martial Arts: An Introduction to Medieval Combat Systems.

Since Stoeppler's translation was missing the sword and buckler and staff sections, they were filled in by Michael Chidester and Betsy Winslow (respectively) in 2013. In 2017, Christian Trosclair authored a fifth translation of the long sword (as part of his ongoing project to translate the entire Liechtenauer tradition) which he donated it to Wiktenauer.

The first Polish translation was authored by Maciej Hammer and submitted to the Uniwersytet Jagielloński as part of his master's thesis in 2015. In 2018, Diniz Cabrera completed the first Portuguese translation, which was published by AGEA Editora in Há Uma Única Arte da Espada (GNM HS 3227a). That same year, Ondřej Vodička released a third transcription of the fencing portions of 3227a.

Michael Chidester released a sixth English translation as a free download on Wiktenauer in 2020. Then in 2021, revised versions of Dierk Hagedorn's transcription and Michael Chidester's translation were published by HEMA Bookshelf as “The Foundation and Core of All the Arts of Fighting”: The Long Sword Gloss of GNM Manuscript 3227a; an abbreviated edition containing only the translation was also published. This translation was donated to Wiktenauer in 2022.

Most recently, Christian Henry Tobler's English translation of the wrestling section was published by Freelance Academy Press in Lance, Spear, Sword, & Messer: A German Medieval Martial Arts Miscellany in 2022.

Treatise

Note: This article includes a version of Michael Chidester's translation. It was also released published by HEMA Bookshelf in 2021 as The Long Sword Gloss of GNM Manuscript 3227a. It can be purchased in hardcover, softcover, and ebook.

Select one or more fencing styles using the checkboxes below to view the associated treatises.

The number in brackets at the beginning of each translation box is a paragraph number assigned by Wiktenauer; clicking it will take you to the translation page. The numbers in brackets in the transcription with an "r" or "v" are manuscript folio numbers; clicking them will take you to original page scan with the transcription alongside for comparison.

Introduction

Long Sword

Summary of the Long Sword

Sword and Buckler

Staff

Messer

Dagger

Grappling

Introduction

Long Sword Gloss

Summary of the Long Sword

Sword and Shield/Buckler

Staff

Messer

Dagger

Grappling

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.

References

  1. This name stems from the false assumption of many 20th century writers identifying him with Hans Döbringer. It has been argued that this name is inappropriate because the treatise attributed to pseudo-Döbringer (and also pseudo-Peter von Danzig) are not true pseudepigrapha—they are internally anonymous. However, many Ancient and Medieval pseudepigraphic texts were originally anonymous and were assigned their false attributions by later readers, and this is also the case with these two glosses in our fledgling tradition.
  2. The manuscript uniformly lacks the typical prayer for the dead when mentioning his name.
  3. Here the author seems to be referring to (and disagreeing with) an earlier writing about Liechtenauer which stated that he invented the art of fencing. There’s no way to know what writing this is referring to, but the glosses of Sigmund Ainringck, Pseudo-Peter von Danzig, and Nicolaus all make this claim, and it is therefore likely to have come from the original ur-gloss of that tradition. If that is what the author is referring to, it is yet another sign that this gloss was written in the 15th century (and also evidence that the author had access to those teachings, even though he didn’t incorporate them into his gloss).
  4. Leichmeister is a pun that I can’t capture in English: leich means a dance or other rhythmic movement, and leiche means corpse. Leichmeister seem to be masters who teach fencing that is more like dancing than fighting, and get their students killed if they ever have to fight a duel. "Masters of the deadly dance" might capture the double meaning, but it makes them sound awesome which is hardly the intent. Alternatively, the pseudo-Danzig gloss makes reference to leichtfertigen schirmaister ("careless/frivolous fencing masters"), and leichmeister could be read as a shortening of that epithet.
  5. False masters
  6. Place of combat
  7. Jump up to: 7.0 7.1 7.2 Leychmeistere
  8. Vorschlag
  9. Liechtenauer’s
  10. the steps or movements
  11. The silver "soon" was added later above the line
  12. This folio, containing two poems and a lesson on continual motion, marks the beginning of the second quire. It's made of parchment and is a remnant of the cover that the quire had when it was a separate booklet (prior to being bound into the manuscript). Since they're written on the cover and no other quire had its cover written on, it's possible that these writings were added after the rest of the text was written.
  13. lit: entirely finished sword
  14. lit: verses
  15. Vor
  16. Nach
  17. Weich
  18. Hart
  19. Indes
  20. Stossen; Jeffrey Hull made the suggestion that Stossen might also refer to pushing someones body, either away or to the side. This is also a possible interpretation.
  21. This final quatrain is taken from the Recital, verses 40-41 and 100-101.
  22. Motus
  23. Jump up to: 23.0 23.1 Latin
  24. The following part has proven as untranslatable so far and here I can only guess the meaning! "And this should fool him prior I even have to move." – I guess this is about the concealed quality of the strikes, but I am not sure.
  25. Frequens motus
  26. Nachschlag
  27. The original version of the rhyming translation of the Recital, which I based the one used here on, was composed by Harrison Ridgeway.
  28. Possibly: "If one cannot flee, then do something cunning, that is my advice."
  29. blossfechten
  30. I believe Döbringer is referring to strikes. But it might also be opponents
  31. Text is blacked out.
  32. Wechsler
  33. Jump up to: 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Czucken
  34. Jump up to: 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 34.7 Indes
  35. Jump up to: 35.00 35.01 35.02 35.03 35.04 35.05 35.06 35.07 35.08 35.09 35.10 35.11 35.12 35.13 35.14 35.15 35.16 35.17 Winden
  36. Hawende
  37. Stechende
  38. Sneydende
  39. Abe und czutreten
  40. Umbeschreiten
  41. Springen
  42. Ort
  43. Sneiden
  44. Jump up to: 44.0 44.1 44.2 Gehilcze
  45. Klos
  46. Verse 9.
  47. the opponent
  48. Liechtenauer
  49. In front of the words “denne” and “her” there are oblique insertion marks, which indicate a reverse order – as shown here.
  50. Verse 17.
  51. Harnusche
  52. Blos
  53. Verse 6.
  54. Verses 40-41 (also 100-101).
  55. Jump up to: 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 55.5 Vorschlag
  56. Jump up to: 56.0 56.1 Abweisest or Abeleitest
  57. Jump up to: 57.0 57.1 57.2 Nachschlag
  58. The text beginning with this paragraph and going to the end of the section is written on an extra bifolium (double-page) inserted into the book late in the creation process.
  59. This paragraph is somewhat ambiguous about who is who, and some other translators interpret it as saying that *you* can always deliver a following strike faster than your opponent. This is an equally valid read language-wise, but I don't think it makes as much sense with the overall thrust of the teachings.
  60. Liechtenauer
  61. Jump up to: 61.00 61.01 61.02 61.03 61.04 61.05 61.06 61.07 61.08 61.09 61.10 61.11 61.12 61.13 61.14 Twerhaw
  62. Jump up to: 62.00 62.01 62.02 62.03 62.04 62.05 62.06 62.07 62.08 62.09 62.10 Twer
  63. Here the writing is cut off by manuscript trimming.
  64. Jump up to: 64.0 64.1 64.2 64.3 64.4 64.5 64.6 Wind
  65. his
  66. Veste
  67. Weich
  68. "On Interpretation", the second section of Aristotle's Organon. This, along with "Categories" (the first section), was the only work by Aristotle known to Western Europeans during most of the Middle Ages, and only through a 6th-century Latin translation by Boethius. These works nevertheless formed an important foundation of Scholasticism. By the time of Liechtenauer, though, many other writings of Aristotle had been rediscovered in the Middle East and made widely available across Europe.
  69. This passage does not seem to appear in the Organon, but Kendra Brown discovered that it does match a passage from Problemata, another Aristotelian work which returned from Arabia during the later Middle Ages, and specifically the Latin translation by Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274). For slightly more information and further references, see Renana Bartal (2014). "Repetition, Opposition, and Invention in an Illuminated Meditationes vitae Christi: Oxford, Corpus Christi College, MS 410." Gesta 53(2): 163. doi:10.1086/677347.
  70. conflicting
  71. pushes you aside
  72. Verse 78.
  73. Verse 99.
  74. Alternative interpretation: keep your blade on top of his.
  75. Verse 12.
  76. Limpf
  77. Masse
  78. Verse 22 is omitted for unknown reasons.
  79. Jump up to: 79.0 79.1 79.2 Alber
  80. Jump up to: 80.0 80.1 80.2 Vorsetzen
  81. Zuckt
  82. When the manuscript was being written, the scribe included small guide letters to tell the rubricator what large red initial letters to add. In this case, the rubricator was careless and changed the word Wer to Der.
  83. Jump up to: 83.0 83.1 83.2 83.3 83.4 83.5 83.6 83.7 Keren.
  84. Maciej Talaga reads this as "when they cut over you".
  85. "Wisely" inferred from the summary
  86. Wrath strike
  87. Thrust exchange from the bind
  88. striking the wrist and arms
  89. point
  90. Strike from above
  91. Zornhaw
  92. or slide?
  93. Oberhaw
  94. Supplemented according to fol. 29v.
  95. Verse 27.
  96. strike from above
  97. strike from below
  98. the next sentence is unfinished
  99. The two words “hewe” and “ander” are interchanged in the manuscript, as indicated by corresponding insertion characters.
  100. At this point there is an ink stain which might hide an original “g” (which can only be seen indistinctly).
  101. Jump up to: 101.0 101.1 101.2 101.3 101.4 101.5 101.6 101.7 Wenden.
  102. Literally "half an ell"; the length of a Medieval ell varied by city and region, but is generally based on either the length someone's elbow to fingertips, or six times the width of someone's hand. I find the hand-breadth measure to be easier to visualize.
  103. first strike
  104. turning-off
  105. roughly 30 cm
  106. Vorreben?
  107. Jump up to: 107.0 107.1 107.2 107.3 Wenden
  108. 30–40cm
  109. Note that Medieval people generally wore their belts at the top of their waists, meaning at their navels or just below their ribs.
  110. Blossen
  111. Duplier
  112. Mutier
  113. "With your" and "their sword" are inserted over the deletions and seem intended to replace them. However, the deletions describe the typical teaching of the curved cut, whereas the insertions seem to represent a unique idea or teaching. For this reason, unlike other instances of deletion, both the original and the replacement text are translated here for comparison.
  114. to the side, apart, sideways
  115. Jump up to: 115.0 115.1 115.2 Krumphaw
  116. Jump up to: 116.0 116.1 116.2 116.3 116.4 116.5 Krum
  117. the other
  118. feint
  119. Jump up to: 119.0 119.1 Veller
  120. feint
  121. inverse strike
  122. feint
  123. Cut to the hands and then cut the throat
  124. The page is clipped. only 'cut' remains. This manuscript spells 'haupte' as 'cutpte'
  125. transversal strike
  126. from above; the high guard
  127. upper opening
  128. lower opening
  129. crossing strikes
  130. Jump up to: 130.0 130.1 130.2 Pflug
  131. Ochsen
  132. von dem tage
  133. "Hew" is inserted in the margin.
  134. Jump up to: 134.0 134.1 134.2 134.3 134.4 134.5 134.6 Abwenden.
  135. first strike
  136. i.e. for your life
  137. Jump up to: 137.0 137.1 137.2 137.3 137.4 Abwenden
  138. Twerhaw
  139. Jump up to: 139.0 139.1 139.2 Ochs
  140. Verwenden.
  141. Text ends here abruptly.
  142. The comment ends here and remains unfinished
  143. Jump up to: 143.0 143.1 143.2 143.3 143.4 Schilhaw
  144. Jump up to: 144.0 144.1 Schiler
  145. or a fool
  146. Wechsel
  147. Jump up to: 147.0 147.1 147.2 147.3 147.4 Schil
  148. probably the opponent’s right side, but it could be your own as well
  149. schilende
  150. a peasant, that is
  151. At first glance, this appears to be a poem of the author's own devising, but many of the verses are based on couplets from Liechtenauer's Recital (the ones written in grey ink); the couplets in grey italics are based on those of the Recital on short sword fencing. The lines in black text are original, but several of them appear elsewhere in this text and only three couplets are completely unique.
     This is a fine example of the Medieval practice of using the text of a mnemonic (like the Recital) to teach different, distinct lessons, through paraphrase and reorganization. Here, he seems to have stitched together fragments from those sources in order to present a new teaching: a general lesson on fencing from the draw.
     Because the verses are rarely in their exact normal form, the rhyming translation has not been used and instead they are translated more literally.
  152. In all other extant versions this is "point"
  153. Vorschlag
  154. Nachschlag
  155. Vertex strike
  156. crown displacement technique
  157. Scheitelhaw
  158. Scheitler
  159. Jump up to: 159.0 159.1 Kron
  160. Scheitelhaw
  161. Unlike other places where there are definitely passages originally forgotten and inserted with a caret, such is missing here. Thus, it can be conjectured that this is a later addition or comment.
  162. This proverb doesn't come from the Recital and doesn't appear in any other source in the Liechtenauer tradition.
  163. Guards
  164. Ox
  165. Plough
  166. fool
  167. high guard
  168. Liechtenauer
  169. Leger or Hut
  170. dueling yard
  171. Vier Leger
  172. Jump up to: 172.0 172.1 Vom Tag
  173. Leger or Huten
  174. parrying
  175. Absetzen
  176. Schranckhut
  177. Pforte
  178. Alber
  179. your opponent
  180. Hengen
  181. Nochreizen
  182. This last sentence was added after the rest of the text on the page, in the same ink and script as the text at the top of the page.
  183. High guard
  184. Langen Ort
  185. The text here runs into the destroyed corner of the page, and what remains is ut ptu͞it s. Based on 22v, I read this ut patuit s[upra].
  186. This verse is phrased similarly to 43.
  187. versetzen
  188. that is, when the opponent parries
  189. Illegible deleted character.
  190. Nochvolgen
  191. strike from above
  192. strike from below
  193. This verse is phrased similarly to both 35 and 90.
  194. This verse is phrased similarly to 14.
  195. adhering
  196. Nochreisen
  197. Ewsere nymme
  198. overreaching
  199. Oberlawfen
  200. setting aside
  201. Abesetczen
  202. changing through
  203. with your thrust
  204. Durchwechsel
  205. or with doing the changing through, do it at once
  206. pulling
  207. or perhaps strike at you
  208. Durchlawfen
  209. Rangen
  210. Vorkeren
  211. in this case inverting is also possible
  212. cutting off
  213. adhering
  214. Abschneiden
  215. alone?
  216. a possible meaning is do not waste time stepping when you cut, but do it as a stationary movement
  217. The gap between the verse and the explanation here, along with the lack of a gloss label (which is present in every other section with commentary), makes it questionable whether this text is intended to explain the verses on hand-pressing or to be a separate teaching.
  218. pressing the hands
  219. Hende drucken
  220. you catch the attack
  221. Verses 100-101 (also 40-41).
  222. Verse 17.
  223. hanging
  224. speaking window
  225. lower hanging
  226. upper hanging
  227. high strike and low strike
  228. speaking window
  229. skilled
  230. Hengen
  231. Jump up to: 231.0 231.1 Sprechfenster
  232. Ober
  233. away from his body since he is pushing yours
  234. In motu seist
  235. This is the only place in the treatise where verses from the Recital are presented out of order. Furthermore, verses 102-104 are omitted entirely, as is 109 (though 109 is itself a repetition of verse 77).
  236. This phrase is written in both Latin and German, so I left the Latin untranslated.
  237. Verses 40-41 and 100-101.
  238. marginal insertion. latin: dampno => damno => harm
  239. weak and strong
  240. Verses 8.
  241. The word »Nicht«, which cannot be clearly assigned, is added on the side of the page.
  242. Text cuts off here, and the rest of the page is blank.
  243. Falchion
  244. Latin passage follows; very difficult.
  245. Grzegorz Żabiński offers: ++ rape radices viole et mitte contare tibi hinssis debtem urgre et quocumque tetigeris suas operis
  246. please note that there are only three methods described against the turning-out
  247. Korrigiert aus »sin«.
  248. The next sentence /och me was…/ does not make any sense.
  249. alternate description follows, it hopefully should make the method clearer: If he holds you by the shoulders, and you grab his shoulders from the outside. Then you sling your right arm with the elbow over his left and below his right, and push downwards, so his right arm moves up. Take this arm over your head and secure the grip with your left hand behind your head; and then push against his chest with your right again. This will lead to a painful breaking lock.
  250. this is a partner exercise, similar to one I know in chinese shuai chiao
  251. Elbow/forearm strike
  252. Oder »slosse«? Unleserlich.
  253. buesse