Masters of Defence

Masters of Defence or Masters of Fencing is a widespread guild of teachers specializing in close combat military techniques with weapons, civilian fighting skills, and unarmed combat. The title was coined during the medieval period, and referred to men who were particularly skilled at the art of fighting.^[1][2]

A. Salzmann - Épée de Godefroy de Bouillon - Jerusalem

Beginning

The first Master known to history, at least according to this article, is Master Roger (known as le Skirmisour) of 1311 London.^[3]

The Masters of Defence within Germany were the first to organize themselves into guilds, such as the 1480 Marxbrüder. Other guilds included the Company of St Luke (Luxbrueder) and the Federfechter.^[1][4]

Later

Organisation

Prior to the year 1540, Henry VIII of England, established the Corporation of the Masters of Defence. During 1540, an order was given to nine Masters of Fence and eleven provosts to seek out other individuals acting as instructors who were of lower-standing and ill-repute, which included details of the rules of expected behavior and right conduct for those so-called Masters. In addition, fencing schools were already made party to the rules of law during the same time-period. At about 1570, the ruler of the nation of France recognized the first association of fencing masters of his country.^[2][4][5]

During the late nineteenth century and twentieth century, there were a number of masters originating in the countries of Belgium, France, Italy, and Hungary, who migrated to the United States of America.^[6]

Personages

Fencing Masters known to history were Captain Caizo (circa sometime a little prior to July 1547), teacher of Le Sieur de Jarnac (who famously fought Lord Chastaigneraie in a duel); the 16th century Italian masters Agrippa, (Rocco Bonetti c.1570), Capo ferro, Di Grassi, Fabris, Giganti, Marozzo, and Viggiani; Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603, French); Wilhelm Kreussler father of the Kreussler dynasty, Wernesson de Liancour (c.1686); Sir William Hope (1660-1729); Henry Blackwell; James Figg (champion of the Corporation of Masters of Defence); Heinrich Wilhelm Kreussler a member of Germany's most important master fencing dynasties and teacher of Anthon Friedrich Kahn (18th century); Domenico Angelo; La Boiëssière père and Joseph Boulogne, joint inventors of the fencing mask (c.18th century); Sainct Didier, the supposed father of modern fencing; and General Franz Siegel, the master of the first fencing school in the USA at the New York turnverein (circa.1851).^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][4][14][5][6][15]}

Publications

Between the 13th and 17th centuries, there were more than one hundred manuals of martial defense created by these Masters.^[1]

Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603) was the first of France's modern masters to publish.^[14]

There is a 1711 publication by Zach Wylde on the subject.^[16]

Amongst others, Egerton Castle wrote a text entitled Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century.^[3]

See also

Royal Armouries Ms. I.33

References

1. John Clements (2001). Martial Arts of the World: R-Z. ABC-CLIO. p. 317. ISBN 1576071502. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
2. I. Borden (2006). Inside Shakespeare: Essays on the Blackfriars Stage. Susquehanna University Press. p. 132. ISBN 1575910772. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
3. Egerton Castle (2012). Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century. Dover. ISBN 978-0486138756. Retrieved 2015-07-27. (Master Roger le Skirmisour of 1311 - p.17)
4. Levinson, David; Christensen, Karen (1999). Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present. Oxford University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0195131959. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
5. Turner, C.; Soper, A. (1990). Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay. SIU Press. ISBN 0809315629. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
6. Maxwell R. Garret; Emmanuil G. Kaidanov; Gil A. Pezza (1994). Foil, Saber, and Épée Fencing: Skills, Safety, Operations, and Responsibilities. Penn State Press. ISBN 0271010193.
7. Alfred Hutton (2012). The Sword Through the Centuries. Courier Corporation. p. 48. ISBN 978-0486149721. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
8. Nadi, aldo; Gallico, Paul (2005). Nadi on Fencing. Courier Corporation. p. 17. ISBN 0486443752. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
9. Adolphe Corthey (translated by C. Slee) (2015-07-08). Fencing Through the Ages. LongEdge Press. ISBN 978-0994359001. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
10. David Glasser - Article entitled Fencing Masters published by Northern Arizona University also source:explicitly for personal use only [Retrieved 2015-07-28]
11. The National Fencing Museum of Britain - The fencing museum:16-18_century [Retrieved 2015-07-24]
12. Alfred Hutton (2012). Old Sword Play: Techniques of the Great Masters. Courier Corporation. p. 63. ISBN 978-0486140896. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
13. Donald J. LaRocca (1998). The Academy of the Sword: Illustrated Fencing Books, 1500-1800, Books 1500-1800. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 17. ISBN 0870998943. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
14. N. Evangelista (1995). The Encyclopedia of the Sword. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 301. ISBN 0313278962. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
15. Harvard University. History of Fencing. Harvard Computer Society. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
16. Zach Wylde - English Master of Defence Wyvern Media, ISBN 1446693708 [Retrieved 2015-07-27]