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Masters of Defence
In England at the end of the Middle Ages and beginning
of the Renaissance, certain influential masters of
personal combat became famous as the “Masters of
Defence.” Of common birth, they apprenticed themselves
to skilled martial artists and studied all of the period’s military
and civilian weapons, truly earning the title “master.”
At times they even had a royal charter for their activities.
They acted as fight instructors for noble and commoner
alike, and were occasionally stand-ins during legal
duels – a practice sometimes legal, often not.
During the Elizabethan period, instructors from overseas
began to challenge the Masters indirectly. In particular,
Italian rapier masters taught their skills to the wealthy
and noble. Masters of Defence such as George Silver
issued challenges to these newcomers and wrote pamphlets
and even books denigrating their teachings, but
their rivals dismissed them as social inferiors – the
Masters weren’t nobility. The fencing masters likely saw
no reason to accept: defeating a commoner in a no-holdsbarred
competition would do little to impress patrons and
students, and failure (or less than total success) could
mean ignominy or even death.
Regardless of the relative efficacy of the competing
styles, it was fashion that undid the Masters’ dominance
over English martial arts. Broadswords, polearms, and
staves were not stylish accessories, while rapiers became
such. Much as in Japan during the Tokugawa era, the
decline of real combat tests meant that instructors of
questionable skill – making dubious claims – could flourish
and surpass those with true ability.
For more on the Masters’ skills, see Masters of Defence
Weapon Training (p. 182).
Fechtbücher and
Traveling Masters
Two facets of Renaissance martial arts merit special
discussion: fechtbücher and traveling masters.
Fechtbücher
The fechtbuch (plural: fechtbücher), or “book of fighting,”
represents an important historical resource. Masters
would pen fechtbücher to illustrate their techniques –
mainly armed but also unarmed striking and grappling
(often using holds that modern readers would consider
“low” or “dirty”). These works varied greatly in
quality. Some were poorly illustrated, badly written
pamphlets full of common techniques. Others had
excellent art – in one case, by Albrecht Dürer – and
clear text. Many fechtbücher survive to this day, giving
the modern student a glimpse of the incredible
depth of the martial-arts training of an earlier time.
The purpose of fechtbücher wasn’t selfinstruction.
Students were supposed to refer to
them while training under the master. As a result,
many fechtbücher and their instructions were
intentionally unclear. A notable example was the
14th-century fechtbuch of Johannes Liechtenauer.
It had excellent illustrations but deliberately cryptic
instructions. Liechtenauer gave only his students
the key to his mnemonic devices. Armed with this,
they could profit from the book while others would
be stymied. It wasn’t until the 15th century that a
student, Sigmund Ringeck, broke ranks and
explained Liechtenauer’s writings.
Books of this type weren’t unique to Germany or
even Europe. Virtually every culture had some form
of written, inscribed, or painted combat manual.
Some of these were straightforward texts on fencing,
others were books of military strategy reputed to contain
hidden lessons in swordplay (or vice versa), and yet
others were scrolls that illustrated fighting techniques but
gave only cryptic descriptions. Perhaps the earliest “fechtbuch”
was Egyptian: a set of tomb paintings that depicted
wrestling moves that are still in common use.
Traveling Masters
Germany’s martial-arts masters were similar to
England’s Masters of Defence: commoners who trained
until they attained master status through grueling public
duels. Like the Masters of Defence, they knew how to put
on a show. Groups of masters – accompanied by their
journeymen, apprentices, and inevitable camp-followers
– would travel around Germany demonstrating their
skills at festivals. They would conduct tests for mastery,
stage mock combats to show off their proficiency, and
collect money from spectators. In a historical campaign,
such an eclectic group of combat-trained wanderers
would be an ideal party of PCs!
HISTORY 17