Johannes Liechtenauer

From Fechtbuch Project

Johannes Liechtenauer was a fencing master and instructor from the 14th century. Not much is known about the man himself - for example we do not know when he was born or when he died, though verbiage in the Hs. 3227a manuscript suggest that he was dead by the date of its writing, 1389. It is possible that Liechtenauer was from Franconia, now part of Bavaria, though this is only supposition based on his name. What is known is that he was considered a "great master" and traveled extensively, collecting martial information into a solid system of fencing. Hs. 3227a, the first record we have concerning Liechtenauer and his teaches, states unequivocally that Liechtenauer did not "devise... or [think] out what is described, but he travelled and searched through many lands since he wanted to learn and experience this art." ^[1]

Liechtenauer leaves no direct record of his teachings. The first reference we have to them is in the aforementioned Hs. 3227a from 1389. The martial content in this manuscript (the text also includes reference to more mundane topics, even including some alchemical recipes) takes the form of a glosa, or commentary, on Liechtenauer's Zettel - lessons clouded in cryptic verse. These glosa are a typical form for the manuals in the Liechtenauer tradition. We refer to such texts as the primary Liechtenauer texts. Examples of such are Hs. 3227s, Ringeck's, and Peter von Danzig's manuals. Those works that are obviously part of the Liechtenauer, either by technique, terminology, or textual reference, are named as secondary texts. Authors such as Hans Talhoffer fit within this grouping. These secondary texts are no less valuable than the primary texts; the categorization is based solely on being a direct glosa or not.

The Liechtenauer Tradition

Liechtenauer's teachings reach over 250 years of history. His influence reaches as far as the early to mid 1600's, far beyond when some of the weapons so central to his teachings (e.g. the Longsword) have faded from use outside the fencing school. Below is an (incomplete) list of fencing masters and instructors known to be a part of the Liechtenauer Tradition:

• Peter Wildhans von Glass.
• Peter von Danzig
• Hans Schindler von Zwayen
• Lamprecht von Prag
• Hans von Erfurt
• Andres Lignitzer
• Jacob Lignitzer, brother of Andres
• Sigmund Ringeck
• Hartmann von Nürnberg
• Martin Huntzfeld
• Hans Pägnitzer
• Philip Perger
• Virgil von Krakau
• Dietrich Degen von Braunschweig
• Ott Jud, wrestling master of Austria
• Stettner, Paulus Kal's teacher
• Hans Talhoffer
• Paulus Kal
• Joachim Meyer
• Palus Hector Mair
• Jacob Sutor

Teachings

As noted before, Liechtenauer's teachings are written down as merkeverse, a form of cryptic verse designed most probably to act as both a meneomnomic device to assist retention while at the same time concealing their true meaning from the uninitiated.

References