Introduction

Summary

Modern knowledge of the techniques of medieval personal combat rests heavily on the extensive body of German combat treatises, or Fechtbücher (sg. Fechtbuch, literally “fight-book”). This body of writings recognized three chief authorities on its core weapons forms. The first was the fourteenth-century master Johannes Liechtenauer and his commentators, responsible for the most influential texts on unarmored combat with the longsword (hand-and-a-half sword), armored combat on foot, and armored combat on horseback. The second was Master Ott, who composed the most influential treatise on wrestling, probably during the early part of the 1400s. The last was Johannes (Hans) Leckuchner, author of the present treatise on combat with the single-edged, one-handed sword known as the langes Messer.

Lecküchner's importance goes well beyond the Messer itself. Lecküchner's techniques are broadly applicable to the use of single-handed swords in general, not to mention other weapons with similar handling properties. In 1570 Joachim Meyer would describe the dusack—the practice version of the Messer—as “an origin and basis for all weapons that are used with one hand,” and modern martial artists may recognize in these pages elements still present in forms as diverse as classical saber, la canne d'arme, and dan dao. Although medieval texts on combat arts are numerous, material on the use of single-handed swords is scant: the present treatise is by far the most substantial work on the subject. Leckiichner's techniques are also relevant to other weapons, most notably the longsword. His content maps closely to Johannes Liechtenauer's techniques for the longsword, but both the text and illustrations are far more thorough and systematic than any other medieval work in the Liechtenauer tradition. This makes Leckiichner's work indispensable to any meaningful study of the Liechtenauer school as a whole.

Lecküchner's treatise survives in two contemporary copies whose production was evidently overseen by the author himself. The first is a shorter, text-only version in Heidelberg University Library Cod. Pal. Germ. 430 (here designated H), the other an expanded and illustrated version in Munich Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Cgm 582 (here designated M). The present translation is based on the Munich version of the treatise.