Gérard Thibault d'Anvers
Fencer and wool merchant from Antwerp, author of the rapier manual Académie de l'Espée, based on the geometry of the so-called mysterious circle.
Quick Facts
NetherlandsBiography
Gérard Thibault d'Anvers was a fencer and merchant from Antwerp, author of the fencing manual Académie de l'Espée. He was born around 1574 in Antwerp, the son of Hendrick Thibaut and Margaretha van Nispen.
He studied fencing in Antwerp under Lambert van Someren; the source places this instruction in the years 1564–1584, which is difficult to reconcile with his stated birth year. Around 1605 he worked in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain as a wool merchant, while also studying under masters of the Spanish La Verdadera Destreza.
In 1611 he won first prize at a fencing tournament in Rotterdam and presented his system to Prince Maurice of Nassau. In 1615 he was invited to the court in Cleves. In 1622 he moved to Leiden, where he studied mathematics at the university and began work on the Académie de l'Espée.
The book has 44 chapters with engravings by 16 master engravers and rests on the mathematical rules of the geometry of the so-called mysterious circle, by which Thibault adapted the Spanish Destreza to the rapier. The title page bears the year 1628, but the book was not printed until 1630. According to the source, Thibault died in 1627, yet the same source elsewhere speaks of a publication a year after the author's death, so we have not been able to reliably verify the year of his death.
Works and sources
Achievements and honours
- Major tournament1st place · 1611