HEMA in culture
Films, books, historical sources and other works connected with the martial art HEMA. 51 works (including sub-styles).
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Manuscripts 25
1270Liber de Arte Dimicatoria (MS I.33)The oldest surviving European fencing manuscript, a Latin illustrated sword and buckler manual from Franconia, late 13th or early 14th century, now at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.1390Nuremberg Hausbuch (MS 3227a)Household miscellany from around 1390, the oldest surviving manuscript with the teaching of Johannes Liechtenauer, kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.German School of FencingRingen1400Le Jeu de la Hache (MS Français 1996)Anonymous treatise on poleaxe fighting written in Middle French, dated to around 1400 or to 1460–1485, preserved in the manuscript BnF MS Français 1996.1420Codex Wallerstein (Cod.I.6.4º.2)Augsburg manuscript combining two to three treatises from roughly 1420–1470 on the sword, messer, dagger, wrestling, short sword and long shield.Ringen1430GladiatoriaFive anonymous German manuscripts from the thirties to nineties of the 15th century on fighting in full armour. The content follows a judicial duel: spear, sword, dagger and wrestling.RingenGerman School of Fencing1440Wiener Fechtbuch (Cod.11093)Anonymous parchment manuscript from the fourteen-forties, now in Vienna, with illustrated sections on the spear, short sword, dagger, pole weapons, wrestling and mounted fencing.Ringen1443Talhoffer Fechtbuch (MS Chart.A.558)A Gotha manuscript from 1443–1448, attributed to Hans Talhoffer, on the longsword, long shield, short sword, war axe, dagger and wrestling.RingenGerman School of Fencing1448Talhoffer Fechtbücher (Hans Talhoffer, 1448–1467)Four original illustrated manuscripts by the fencing master Hans Talhoffer, from around 1448–1467, on the sword, dagger, Messer, spear, wrestling and judicial combat.German School of FencingRingen1452Codex Danzig (Cod.44.A.8)German fencing manuscript from 1452 (Cod. 44.A.8), a compilation of treatises of the Liechtenauer tradition with the oldest surviving version of an anonymous gloss on his Zettel.German School of Fencing1460Codex Lew (Cod.I.6.4º.3)Augsburg manuscript from the sixties of the 15th century with glosses on Liechtenauer's verses on the long sword and mounted fencing, plus texts by Huntsfeld, Lignitzer and Otto Jud.German School of FencingRingen1462Schwabenspiegel Codex (Cgm 558)Munich convolute Cgm 558 with a territorial law, Swiss chronicles and an Alemannic fencing treatise on the sword, dagger and wrestling, linked to Hugo Wittenwiler.Ringen1465Wolfenbüttel Picture Book (Cod.Guelf.78.2 Aug.2º)Anonymous unfinished picture compilation from roughly 1465–1480: longsword, armoured fighting from the Gladiatoria group, wrestling, sword and buckler, and Kyeser's Bellifortis.German School of FencingRingen1478Kunst des Messerfechtens (Cod.Pal.Germ.430)Manuscript on fighting with the messer, a long knife or falchion, written between 1478 and 1482 by Hans Lecküchner and dedicated to the Elector Palatine. Held in Heidelberg.1482De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (MS Vitt.Em.1324)Illustrated Italian fencing manuscript by Filippo Vadi of Pisa, 1482–1487, dedicated to Guidobaldo da Montefeltro: sword, axe, pole weapons, dagger and wrestling.Fiore dei Liberi fencing1482Kunst des Messerfechtens (Cgm 582)Illustrated manuscript by Hans Lecküchner from 1482 on messer fencing, held in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich under the shelfmark Cgm 582.German School of Fencing1491Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29)Salzburg compilation of Liechtenauer-tradition treatises on the sword, messer, short sword, combat on horseback and wrestling, put together in 1491 by the scribe Hans von Speyer.German School of FencingRingen1504Codex Ringeck (Mscr.Dresd.C.487)A Dresden manuscript from 1504–1519 with Sigmund Ringeck's gloss on Liechtenauer's verses on the long sword and with texts on the short sword, mounted fencing and wrestling.German School of FencingRingen1508Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341)German fencing manuscript of 1508 in Glasgow Museums, a compilation of masters of the Liechtenauer tradition with the only known illustrated version of Ringeck's gloss.German School of FencingRingen1512Oplodidaskalia sive Armorvm Tractandorvm Meditatio Alberti Dvreri (MS 26-232)A manuscript from Dürer's Nuremberg workshop of around 1512 on wrestling, the sword, dagger, messer and fighting on horseback, now in the Albertina in Vienna.German School of FencingRingen1522Jörg Wilhalm Hutter Fechtbücher (Cod.I.6.4º.5 and others)Four illustrated manuscripts by the Augsburg fencing master Jörg Wilhalm Hutter from 1522 and 1523 on armoured combat, the longsword and judicial duelling.German School of Fencing1535Goliath (MS germ. quart. 2020)Fencing manuscript from Augsburg or Landshut made around 1535–1540, now in Kraków, teaching the Liechtenauer tradition of the sword, dagger, wrestling and fighting on horseback.German School of FencingRingen1540Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Paulus Hector Mair)Illustrated fencing compendium by Augsburg official Paulus Hector Mair from the fifteen-forties, in 16 books, surviving in copies in Dresden, Munich and Vienna.Dussack fencingGerman School of FencingRingen1545Jörg Breu Draftbook (Cod.I.6.2º.4)Augsburg manuscript from around 1545 with wrestling sections after Gregor Erhart and preparatory sketches by Jörg Breu's workshop for Mair's work on fencing.German School of FencingRingenDussack fencing1591Das Ander Theil Des Newen Kůnstreichen Fechtbůches (Cod.Guelf.83.4 Aug.8º)Anonymous unfinished manuscript from 1591 in Wolfenbüttel with the teaching of the free fencers on the two-handed sword, halberd, dagger, dussack and wrestling.Dussack fencingRingen1600Discorso sopra l'arte della scherma (MS 14/10)Camillo Palladini's Italian manuscript from around 1600 on the sword, dagger, cloak, spadone, spear and halberd, joining the older Bolognese tradition with the rapier.Bolognese school of fencing
Treatises 25
1509Exercitiorum atque artis militaris collectanea (Pietro Monte, 1509)Latin treatise by Pietro Monte, published in Milan in 1509: wrestling, dagger, sword and shield, spear, pole weapons, mounted combat, horsemanship and the theory of the military art.Wrestling1516Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey (Andre Paurñfeyndt, 1516)Fencing manual by Andre Paurenfeyndt printed in 1516 in Vienna, with 32 illustrations for the sword, dussack, staff, dagger and buckler, written for young pupils.Dussack fencingGerman School of Fencing1531Opera Nova (Antonio Manciolino, 1531)Fencing treatise by Antonio Manciolino printed in Venice in 1531, the oldest surviving treatise of the Bolognese school, in six books on various weapons.Bolognese school of fencing1536Opera Nova (Achille Marozzo, 1536)Treatise by the Bolognese master Achille Marozzo, published in Modena in 1536 in five books on the sword and buckler, dagger, two-handed sword, polearms and duels.Bolognese school of fencing1553Trattato di Scientia d'Arme, con vn Dialogo di Filosofia (Camillo Agrippa, 1553)A fencing treatise of 1553 by the architect and engineer Camillo Agrippa, built on geometry and mechanics, which cut Achille Marozzo's guards down to four.1570Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme (Giacomo di Grassi, 1570)Giacomo di Grassi's Venetian print of 1570, which builds fencing on general principles and direct thrusting attacks, appeared in English in 1594.1572Dell'Arte di Scrima Libri Tre (Giovanni dall'Agocchie, 1572)Italian fencing treatise by Giovanni dall'Agocchie, printed in Venice in 1572. In a dialogue spread over seven days it covers sidesword fencing, tournament combat and battle.Bolognese school of fencing1579De Veris Principiis Artis Dimicatoriae (Heinrich von Gunterrodt, 1579)A Neo-Latin treatise by Heinrich von Gunterrodt printed in Wittenberg in 1579, an abridged version of his manuscript Sciomachia et hoplomachia on the theory and history of fencing.Dussack fencingRingen1582De la Filosofia de las Armas y de su Destreza y la Aggression y Defensa Cristiana (Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, 1582)A Spanish treatise by Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, written in 1569 and printed in 1582, from which the geometric fencing school La Verdadera Destreza derives.La Verdadera Destreza1595Vincentio Saviolo his Practise, in Two Bookes (Vincentio Saviolo, 1595)Italian master Vincentio Saviolo's 1595 London print in two books: the first on the rapier and dagger, the second on honour and honourable quarrels.1597Traité ou instruction pour tirer des armes (Girolamo Cavalcabo, 1597)French translation of a treatise on rapier fencing by the Bolognese master Girolamo Cavalcabo, published in 1597. The Italian original dates from roughly the 1580s.1606De lo Schermo, overo Scienza d'Arme (Salvator Fabris, 1606)Salvator Fabris's Italian-language treatise on fencing with rapier, dagger and cloak, with 191 copper engravings, printed in Copenhagen in 1606 at the expense of King Christian IV.1606Scola, overo Teatro (Nicoletto Giganti, 1606)Nicoletto Giganti's Venetian treatise of 1606 on fighting with the rapier alone and with rapier and dagger, the first full description of the lunge according to Tom Leoni.1610Gran Simulacro dell'Arte e dell'Uso della Scherma (Ridolfo Capoferro, 1610)Italian fencing treatise by Ridolfo Capo Ferro of Cagli, printed in Siena in 1610, on the single rapier and on the rapier with dagger, cloak and rotella.1612New Kůnstliches Fechtbuch (Jakob Sutor von Baden, 1612)Jakob Sutor's 1612 Frankfurt print, which takes over Meyer's teaching on the sword, dussack and staff and adds the rapier after Michael Hundt.Dussack fencingGerman School of Fencing1615Neu Kunstlich Fechtbuch (Sebastian Heußler, 1615)A Nuremberg rapier fencing manual by Sebastian Heußler from 1615, with engravings by Gabriel Weyer, presented in the style of Salvator Fabris and Ridolfo Capo Ferro.1617The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence (Joseph Swetnam, 1617)Joseph Swetnam's English fencing manual of 1617 on the rapier and dagger, sword and dagger, backsword and staff, introduced by advice on honour and self-defence.English Quarterstaff Fencing1626Academie de l'Espée (Girard Thibault d'Anvers, 1630)A French-language Leiden print by Gérard Thibault d'Anvers on the Spanish Destreza school, with engravings by sixteen master engravers, completed in August 1630.La Verdadera Destreza1640La Scherma (Francesco Alfieri, 1640)Italian treatise by Francesco Fernando Alfieri, fencing master of the Paduan Accademia Delia, on fighting with the rapier from 1640, expanded in 1653 with a part on the spadone sword.1670La scherma illustrata (Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini, 1670)Italian printed treatise by Giuseppe Morsicato Pallavicini from 1670 on fencing with the rapier, alone and with dagger, cloak and small shield. The second part appeared in 1673.1728The Expert Sword-Man's Companion (Donald McBane, 1728)Book by the Scottish soldier and fencer Donald McBane (Glasgow 1728), combining memoirs, instruction in the small sword and broad sword, and a treatise on artillery.1746The Use of the Broad Sword (Thomas Page, 1746)English treatise by Thomas Page of Norwich, printed in 1746, on fighting with the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword, arranged in five graded lessons.1763L'École des armes (Domenico Angelo, 1763)Domenico Angelo's fencing manual of 1763, written in French, with engraved plates of classical stances and techniques and an English edition of 1787.1889Cold Steel: A Practical Treatise on the Sabre (Alfred Hutton, 1889)English treatise by Captain Alfred Hutton from 1889 on military sabre fencing on foot, combining the 18th-century backsword with the Italian duelling sabre.George Silver Fencing—Andre Lignitzer – treatises on short sword, sword and buckler, wrestling and daggerFour treatises by Andreas Liegnitzer from the Liechtenauer tradition on the short sword, sword and buckler, wrestling and dagger, the oldest surviving copy dating from 1452.German School of FencingRingen
