Codex Speyer (MS M.I.29)

Codex Speyer is a German fencing manuscript compiled in 1491 by the scribe Hans von Speyer. It is held in the Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg under the shelfmark MS M.I.29. The scribe was probably born in the middle of the 15th century near Speyer. A man of the same name may have helped with the writing of Gutenberg's 42-line Bible around 1455, but they may not be the same person. The manuscript has 158 paper folios measuring 157 × 214 mm in a modern binding, written on both sides in red and black ink in Early New High German. It is a compilation of treatises of the Liechtenauer tradition. It opens with Martin Syber's recital on the longsword (folios 1r–2v) and the terminology of the sword and messer by Magister Andreas (5r–7r). Next come Lew's gloss on Liechtenauer together with Sigmund Ringeck (10r–44r), Lecküchner's gloss on the messer (46r–117r) and Otto Jud's wrestling (119r–126v). After Liechtenauer's recital on the short sword (129r–130r) come the short sword of Martin Huntsfeld (130r–136v) and of Andreas Liegnitzer (137r–141r). The volume closes with Lew's gloss on mounted combat (143r–158r). It is the first surviving manuscript to include the works of Martin Syber and Hans Lecküchner. In 1665 the canons of Berchtesgaden added an ownership note, Ecclesiae Berchtolsgadensis Can Reg. The manuscript is linked to the edition Pieces of Ringeck: The Definitive Edition, prepared in 2024 by Michael Chidester and Dierk Hagedorn.

Martial arts in this work

Contents

The ten sections of the volume cover five areas of Liechtenauer instruction. The largest is Lecküchner's gloss on the messer, folios 46r–117r. Three texts belong to the longsword: Syber's recital, Magister Andreas's terminology, which also names elements of messer fighting, and Lew's gloss on Liechtenauer with insertions by Sigmund Ringeck. The short sword appears in three consecutive sections, from Liechtenauer's recital through Martin Huntsfeld's explanation to Andreas Liegnitzer's text. Wrestling is represented by Otto Jud's section and combat on horseback by the second Lew gloss, which ends the volume. Folio 3r also carries an anonymous 15th-century fencing poem, whose author we have not been able to document in the sources.

Origin

The manuscript was written in 1491 by the scribe Hans von Speyer. He is not the author of any of the texts. He copied treatises of various masters into one volume, so we regard him as the compiler of the collection, not a fencing master. Little is known about his life. He was apparently born in the mid-15th century near Speyer, and the identification with a man of the same name who around 1455 may have helped write Gutenberg's 42-line Bible remains uncertain. Where exactly the manuscript was made, we have not been able to document in the sources. The next documented trace is from 1665, when the canons of Berchtesgaden wrote an ownership note into the volume, Eccl. Berchtolsgadensis Can Reg. Today the Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg keeps the manuscript, in a modern binding, under the shelfmark MS M.I.29.

People and martial arts

• Martin SyberAuthor
• Magister AndreasAuthor
• LewAuthor
• Hans LecküchnerAuthor
• Ott JudAuthor
• Johannes LiechtenauerAuthor
• Martin HuntsfeldAuthor
• Andreas LiegnitzerAuthor
• Sigmund RingeckCo-author
• Hans von SpeyerEditor

Details

Form

Manuscript

Repository

Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg

Shelfmark

MS M.I.29

Folios

158

Material

Paper

Editions

• 2024 · EN · Pieces of Ringeck: The Definitive Edition · HEMA Bookshelf · translation