Codex Wallerstein (Cod.I.6.4º.2)

Codex Wallerstein, also called Bauman's Fechtbuch (Vonn Baumanns Fechtbuch), is a German fencing manuscript held in the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg under the shelfmark Cod.I.6.4º.2. Its authors and illustrators are unknown. The volume joins two to three originally separate parts that differ in drawing and script. The oldest part, C, was made around 1420 in the Upper Rhine region, parts A and B in 1465–1470 in central or northern Bavaria, matching the paper watermarks of 1420 and 1464/1465. The manuscript has 110 paper leaves measuring 140 × 210 mm, with one illustration on each page and the text above it. Parts A and B, from the Augsburg tradition, teach the long sword, wrestling, and fighting with the dagger and with the messer. Part C belongs to the pseudo-Gladiatoria tradition, contains the long sword, short sword, long shield and wrestling, and does not depend on the Liechtenauer school. Besides armed fighters, the images show an arena with spectators, a robbery scene, judicial duels and a wedding scene. The manuscript belonged to the Baumann family, in 1556–1579 it was owned by Paulus Hector Mair, then by the Fuggers, from the middle of the seventeenth century by the Öttingen-Wallersteins, and since 1980 it has been in Augsburg. Parts A and B influenced the fencing manuscript of Albrecht Dürer, according to Wiktenauer from around 1500, according to the English Wikipedia from 1512. Hans-Peter Hils edited the manuscript in 1991, and it was translated into English by G. Zabinski with B. Walczak (2002) and by Christian Henry Tobler with Jessica Finley (2022).

Martial arts in this work

Contents

According to Wiktenauer, part A occupies folios 3r–14v and 21rv and contains the long sword teaching of the Augsburg tradition. Part B, on folios 15r–20v and 33r–73v, is devoted to wrestling. Between them is a section on the dagger (22r–28v) and the messer (29r–32v), likewise from the Augsburg tradition, whose place in part A or B we have not been able to establish reliably. Part C (according to Wiktenauer folios 75r–108v) alternates the long sword (76r–80v and 101r–102v), short sword (81r–95v and 103r–108r), long shield (96r–98v) and wrestling (98v–100v). It shares about 16 pieces with the Gladiatoria manuscripts but differs markedly in presentation. Folio 109r holds an index, folios 109v–110 remained blank.

Origin

The parts were bound into one volume before 1549. According to the English Wikipedia, the volume was owned in 1471–1495 by Michael Baumann, according to Wiktenauer by the Baumann family, perhaps from Augsburg. In 1556–1579 it belonged to Paulus Hector Mair, then according to Wiktenauer to Markus Fugger (1580–1597) and Marquart Fugger (1597–1653), while the English Wikipedia deems Fugger ownership only possible. According to Wiktenauer it passed to the castle of the Öttingen-Wallersteins in 1652, according to the English Wikipedia in 1653. In 1980 it was acquired by the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg, where it was rebound in 1989.

Editions and translations

The edition was prepared by Hans-Peter Hils and published in 1991 by Edition Helga Lengenfelder under the title Fecht- und Ringbuch / Vermischtes Kampfbuch. The English translation by G. Zabinski and B. Walczak was published in 2002 by Paladin Press as A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling. A new English translation by Christian Henry Tobler and Jessica Finley appeared in 2022 under the title Bauman's Fight Book from HEMA Bookshelf. According to the English Wikipedia, a transcription prepared by Welle was also published in 2014, but we did not find its details in the sources.

People and martial arts

• Hans-Peter HilsEditor
• G. ZabinskiTranslator
• B. WalczakTranslator
• Christian Henry ToblerTranslator
• Jessica FinleyTranslator

Details

Form

Manuscript

Repository

Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg

Shelfmark

Cod.I.6.4º.2

Folios

110

Material

Paper

Library digitisation

nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-uba002009-1

Editions

• 1991 · DE · Fecht- und Ringbuch / Vermischtes Kampfbuch · Edition Helga Lengenfelder
• 2002 · EN · A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling · Paladin Press · translation
• 2022 · EN · Bauman's Fight Book · HEMA Bookshelf · translation