Hans Talhoffer 1467 Fight Book Part 1 of 2

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Hans Talhoffer (Dalhover, Talhouer, Thalhoffer, Talhofer) was a 15th-century 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 the 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. Born: 1420, Swabia Died: 1490 -HIS WORK- Talhoffer's writings exist in well over a dozen manuscripts created in the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries; they have also been published a number of times beginning in 1893, including translations into English and French. His writings cover a wide assortment of weapons, including the arming sword, buckler, crossbow, dagger, flail, longknife, longshield, longsword, mace, poleaxe, spear, and unarmed grappling, often both armored and unarmored, on horse and on foot, and in scenarios including tournaments, formal duels, and unequal encounters implying urban self-defense. Despite the obvious care and detail that went into the artwork, the manuscripts generally have only a few words captioning each page (and in many cases none at all). There are four known archetype copies of Talhoffer's works: The Ms.Chart.A.558 was probably created in 1443.[11] The original currently rests in the holdings of the Universitäts- und Forschungsbibliothek Erfurt/Gotha in Gotha, Germany. This is the earliest of the four known archetypes and Hils speculates that it was created as a personal reference book. Aside from Talhoffer's own work, this manuscript also contains Johannes Hartlieb's Onomatomantia and Johannes Liechtenauer's Zettel. The Ms.XIX.17-3 was created some time between 1446 and the creation of the Thott manuscript in 1459.[citation needed] The original currently rests in the private collection of the Königsegg-Aulendorf family in Königseggwald, Germany. This manuscript may possibly have been commissioned by the very Luithold von Königsegg who is featured in several of Talhoffer's works. The Ms.Thott.290.2º was created in 1459;[6] it was scribed by Michel Rotwyler and illustrated by Clauss Pflieger. The original currently rests in the holdings of Det Kongelige Bibliotek in Copenhagen, Denmark. This manuscript was likely a reference book created for Talhoffer's personal use, and is much more lavish than the 1443.[12] Aside from his own teachings, this manuscript also includes Liechtenauer's Zettel and Konrad Kyeser's Bellifortis ("Battle Force"). On the final ten folia, the text is inverted and opening the book from the back reveals a brief treatise on a variety of mystical subjects by Jud Ebreesch. The Cod.icon. 394a was created in 1467[13] for Graf Eberhardt von Württemberg.[citation needed] The original currently rests in the holdings of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, Germany. This is Talhoffer's final work, as well as the only one to treat the topic of unarmored longsword at length.