Andre Paurenfeyndt
Austrian fencer from Ernsbrunn, author of the treatise Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey (Vienna, 1516), the first illustrated printed fencing treatise.
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Andre Paurenfeyndt was a German-speaking freifechter, meaning a free fencer, born in Ernsbrunn in Lower Austria. We have not been able to verify the dates of his birth and death. On 13 October 1512 he enrolled at the University of Vienna and served as a bodyguard to Cardinal Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (1468–1540).
In 1516 he published in Vienna the treatise Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey, described as the first illustrated printed fencing treatise ever. It has three main chapters: combat with the two-handed sword, with the single-handed messer, and wrestling. It contains twelve rules for a beginning fencer and is aimed more at teaching novices than advanced fencers. On a number of points, Paurenfeyndt's teaching departs from the older tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer.
The work also circulated in manuscript copies from 1524–1564, among them a French translation from 1538. According to the Wiktenauer wiki, he influenced later fencers Hans Czynner, Lienhart Sollinger and Joachim Meÿer. We have not found in the sources who taught him fencing himself.