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Elizabethan
Fencing and the Art of Defence
The Arte of Defence was studied and taught by masters in the
late 15th
and 16th Centuries. The most famous of the teachers typically came from
Italy. Until the advent of the smallsword and the French schools of
fence,
the Italians and to a lesser degree the Spanish,
enjoyed the role of the most sought after teachers of the Arte of
Defence.
This is not to say that earlier fencing schools did not exist.
The
Germans
had fine schools and some of the oldest existant fencing manuals come
from
Germany. I have very little on the German schools and would
appreciate
any information in this area.
The English at the end of the 16th Century followed the
continental
fencers in taking on the use of the rapier. In defense of English
technique,
George Silver published a treatise called the Paradoxes
of Defence. This treatise was used to espouse the use of the
English
weapons and to downplay the use of the rapier. Silver hated the
Italians
and Spanish and made sure that his readers knew that these styles were
more dangerous for the user than good English practices. He also wrote
a treatise on his Paradoxes called Brief
Instructions. Two Italian Elizabethan Masters of note were
Saviolo
and Di Grassi. Saviolo' s works cover not only his view on fencing
mechanics
but also honor. Di Grassi in the author's opinion is one of the
finer
manuals translated to English in this time period. Although Di Grassi
predates
the Elizabethan period proper, his manual which was orginally published
in 1570 was translated into English in the late Elizabethan period.
There
is a move now to compile electronic copies of existing early fencing
manuals.
Some translation is also being done. As I obtain manuals (or
links
to manuals) I will add them into the period manuals section.
Dana Groff, another scholar of defense and researcher in
period fencing
has information available for the scholar of the art. His reference
points to a number of period manuals.
This treatise is intended as a guide and help for those that
wish to
take part in rapier play as a combat sport as well as theatrics.
A number of groups study and practice period swordplay. A list of some
of these groups is provided below. These pages are a historically
accurate
work that anyone studying the Art of Defence should be able to use.
Although the primary focus of this site is rapier combat, you
will also
find information on other combat styles such as longsword, backsword
and
other styles.
You will note that I spell defense with a C (defence) in many
places.
This is to reflect the spelling of the word used during the Elizabethan
period and that this art is based on fencing...
Please follow the links at the top of the page to various
areas of interest.
Copyright 2000, William E. Wilson.
All of the works contained on this site are covered by
copyright. I
give open permission for anyone to link to this site but reserve the
right
for these materials to be used in any other fashion. If you wish to use
passages in other scholarly works you may do so with proper citation.
If
you would like to copy whole sections you must contact me in
advance.
