Sebastian Heußler
Nuremberg printer, fencing master and mercenary, author of the book Neu Kunstlich Fechtbuch from 1615 on the rapier in the style of Italian masters.
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Sebastian Heußler was a fencing master and mercenary, author of the book Neu Kunstlich Fechtbuch from 1615. He was born in 1581 in Nuremberg. His date of death is uncertain: some sources say he died after 1645, others around 1630.
Until 1607 he worked as a printer, then became a fencing master and mercenary (Kriegsmann, a so-called Monatsreiter). He trained in Salvator Fabris's style in Marburg under Hans Wilhelm Schöffer von Dietz.
The book Neu Kunstlich Fechtbuch was illustrated by Gabriel Weyer and published by Ludwig Lochner. It presents the rapier in the style of the Italian masters Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli and Salvator Fabris and describes fencing with the rapier, the rapier with the dagger, the rapier with the cloak, and combat with the dagger alone. The book was well received and was reprinted whole or in part at least seven times over the following fifty years.