Sunday, August 27, 2017
MEDIEVAL FIGHT BOOK
MEDIEVAL FIGHT BOOK - The leather covered book dates to over 5 centuries ago, written in Old German, illustrating war technology in middle aged Europe. It’s an enigma, not so much for what it leaves in, but for what it leaves out. What is known? It was authored by master of arms Hans Talhoffer in the year 1459. Few facts are known about his life, other than the Lion of St. Mark in his coat of arms, a possible sign of him being the founder of an early fencing guild. The volume portrays footwork, weapon-handling, defensive moves, wrestling and horseback fighting. One of the key images is said to be of Talhoffer himself, displayed as a blonde knight, shown holding a broken chain. It appears that medieval times were more advanced than previously recognized. Trebuchets, diving suits, siege machines, tanks, strange shields and elaborate blade designs are depicted therein. While the inventions are incredible, the exact functions of many apparatus are obscured. Presumably only Talhoffer has the key to the puzzle. What do you think? Can you unlock the enigma?
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What an interesting (and gory) find!
ReplyDeleteManual for sword fighting! And I thought manual for operating our electronics seemed redundant.
ReplyDeleteGayathri @ Musings Over Nothing
How interesting! I have to admit that I did giggle a bit too much at the man wearing brown.
ReplyDeleteExcellent find of images. Thanks for sharing those!
ReplyDeleteI love the diving suit. I wonder what he would have made it from. Thinking leather sealed somehow. Most ingenious. We seem to have bypassed a chunk of history somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMedieval times are fascinating! Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteSome of that weaponry looks particularly painful!
ReplyDeleteThose pagese are well presesrved. Perhaps the book is like Da Vinci notebooks which included diagrams of many things well ahead of their time.
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