Speyer is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lies 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and 21 km south-west of Heidelberg. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer Cathedral, a number of other churches and the Altpörtel dominate the Speyer landscape. In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.
Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 is the earliest known surviving European fechtbuch, and one of the oldest surviving martial arts manuals dealing with armed combat worldwide. I.33 is also known as the Walpurgis manuscript, after a figure named Walpurgis shown in the last sequence of the manuscript, and "the Tower manuscript" because it was kept in the Tower of London during 1950-1996; also referred to as British Museum No. 14 E iii, No. 20, D. vi.
A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry. Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely ranked formations.
Hans Talhoffer was a German fencing master. His martial lineage is unknown, but his writings make it clear that he had some connection to the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, the grand master of a well-known Medieval German school of fencing. Talhoffer was a well-educated man who took interest in astrology, mathematics, onomastics, and the auctoritas and the ratio. He authored at least five fencing manuals during the course of his career, and appears to have made his living teaching, including training people for trial by combat.
Johannes Liechtenauer was a German fencing master who had a great level of influence on the German fencing tradition in the 14th century.
Langort is a position in the German School of historical fencing. In the Langort position, the point of the sword is extended. The term appears first in Royal Armouries Ms. I.33.
Codex 3227a of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is a manuscript of 169 folia, dated to the close of the 14th century. Its text is written in Latin and German. The German portions have been identified as in East Central German dialect.
Martial arts manuals are instructions, with or without illustrations, specifically designed to be learnt from a book. Many books detailing specific techniques of martial arts are often erroneously called manuals but were written as treatises.
The German school of fencing is a system of combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire during the Late Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern periods, as described in the contemporary Fechtbücher written at the time. The geographical center of this tradition was in what is now Southern Germany. During the period in which it was taught, it was known as the Kunst des Fechtens, or the "Art of Fencing". Though the German school of fencing focuses primarily on the use of the two-handed longsword, it also describes the use of many other weapons, including polearms, daggers, messers, and the staff, as well as describing mounted combat and unarmed grappling.
Sigmund Schining ein Ringeck was a 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-western Germany. He is named in the text of his treatise as Schirmaister to one Duke 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. Ringeck seems to have authored one of the few complete glosses of the epitome of the grand master Johannes Liechtenauer, making him one of the most important German fencing masters of the 15th century.
Paulus Kal was a 15th-century German fencing master. According to his own testimony, he was the student of one Hans Stettner, who was in turn an initiate of the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer. He served as fencing master at three different courts in his career, serving in various military capacities including commanding men in at least three campaigns. Perhaps his most significant legacy is an honor role of deceased masters included in the Bologna and Munich versions of his treatise, which he styled the Society of Liechtenauer. While several of these masters remain unknown, the majority wrote treatises of their own and Kal's list stands as an independent confirmation of their connection to the grand master. Kal's treatise is also interesting in that it represents the first attempt to give pictorial illustrations for parts of Liechtenauer's tradition of fencing.
Cod. 44 A 8 also known as MS 1449, Bibliotheca dell'Academica Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, is a Fechtbuch compiled by Peter von Danzig in 1452. Danzig was a 15th-century German fencing master. He was counted among the 17 members of the "society of Johannes Liechtenauer".
The Gladiatoria Group is a series of several 15th Century German manuscripts that share the same art style and cover the same material—various types of armored combat. These are interesting texts in that they seem to be contemporary with the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, but not directly influenced by it. Gladiatoria is thus one of very few glimpses into the characteristics of a potentially independent German martial tradition.
The so-called Codex Wallerstein or Vonn Baumanns Fechtbuch is a 16th-century convolution of three 15th-century fechtbuch manuscripts, with a total of 221 pages.
The Cgm 558, or Codex germanicus monacensis is a convolution of two 15th-century manuscripts with a total of 176 folia, bound together in the 16th century. It is kept at the Bavarian library in Munich. The first manuscript contains two chronicles composed by one Otmar Gassow in 1462, one concerned with Zürich, the other with the Toggenburg, and a copy of the 13th century Schwabenspiegel law codex.
Hans Folz was a German author of the late medieval or early Renaissance period.
Eberhard I of Württemberg. From 1459 to 1495 he was Count Eberhard V, and from July 1495 he was the first Duke of Württemberg. He is also known as Eberhard im Bart.
The Cologne Fechtbuch is a historical martial arts manual, formerly kept at the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne . It was lost, presumably destroyed, in the collapse of the building on 3 March 2009.
The Glasgow Fechtbuch is a combat manual of the German school of fencing, dated to 1505. Consisting of 105 folia, it combines the instructions of various masters of the 15th century who stood in the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, presumably based on a previous compilation made by fencing master Sigmund Schining ein Ringeck.
The Luther Monument is a group of statues that was erected in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, to commemorate the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. It was designed and partly made by Ernst Rietschel, and unveiled on 25 June 1868. The monument consists of a group of bronze statues on stone plinths centred on a statue of Luther, surrounded by statues of related individuals and allegorical statues representing related towns. The elements are arranged in the shape of a castle, recalling Luther's hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott". It is one of the largest Luther Monuments, and shaped views of the reformer. Copies of the central Luther statue are located in Europe and the United States, including the Luther Monument in Washington, D.C. (1884).
