Book Description

Knightly Dueling is a complete overview of the fighting arts of German chivalric dueling, on horse and on foot, during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Through the words and pictures of original source texts of the great German fight masters of the 14th through 16th centuries - extraordinary works that poetically preserved medieval methods of armed combat - it reveals knightly dueling for what it truly was: mortal combat over some grave matter with battlefield weaponry and armour. Until now, no single book has encompassed and clarified the scattered existing historical information on German dueling with swords, lances, daggers, pollaxes and other weapons. Knightly Dueling shows the ruthless reality of man-to-man combat of the German Kunst des Fechtens (art of fighting), providing a thorough understanding of Johannes Liechtenauer's Roszfechten (horse fighting) and Kampffechten (duel fighting). It gives Middle High German transcriptions, as well as the first and only modern English translations, of works from various fight books by Liechtenauer's renowned masterly interpreters, including Hanko Döbringer, Peter von Danzig, Hans Talhoffer and Andre Lignitzer. The book also presents an illustrated blow-by-blow account of a deadly duel from a German Fechtbuch (fight book); primary source information regarding specific training of noblemen for duels and the training of noble youth in the combat arts; and a unique glossary of historical German chivalric terms for arms and armour. Lavishly illustrated with many pieces of period artwork, Knightly Dueling restores the concept of German chivalry to its rightful martial role and is a must for any serious scholar of the dynamic field of European martial arts.