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Welcome to the Wiktenauer!
The world's largest collection of Historical European Martial Arts resources.
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Wiktenauer is an autonomous project sponsored by the Historical European Martial Arts Alliance, open for contribution from all researchers and practitioners in the Western martial arts community. Our mission is to collect all of the primary source literature that makes up our text, as well as all related research, and to organize and present it in an accessible format. Here are a few basic categories of pages that are being constructed:
- Master Pages host biographical information about each master, as well as the transcription and translation of his complete works. In cases of multiple copies of a master's work, the transcriptions are laid out side-by-side to facilitate the most accurate master translation possible. To aid in interpretation, the writings will also be illustrated with images from the masters' work as available. A bibliography at the end of each page lists additional transcriptions, translations, and manual scans that are available in print. The template for this category of pages is Johannes Liechtenauer. Ultimately, every master in all of the traditions of Western Martial Arts will have a dedicated page.
- Manual Pages host all relevant data on a book or manuscript, including description, provenance, table of contents (with links to the appropriate master pages), gallery of manual scans, and bibliography of additional print resources. The template for manuscripts is the Goliath Fechtbuch, and the template for printed books is Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey. Ultimately, every manual in the corpus of Historical European Martial Arts literature will have a dedicated page.
- Technique Pages compile all of the relevant information from all of the relevant manuals on a particular technique, including transcriptions, translations, and images. There is also a section at the end of each page where groups may embed videos of their interpretations. The template for techniques is the Zornhaw. Ultimately, every technique mentioned in the manuals will have a dedicated page.
The wiki also features pages for HEMA groups, pages for HEMA events, general information pages, and so on. If you're not sure if something is appropriate, feel free to post it and find out.
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How Can I Help?
If you're looking to contribute, here is a list of perpetual jobs:
If you don't know where to start, simply consult the Master Task List and choose a job. Please familiarize yourself with the formatting precedents established on pages already submitted before editing a new page. The pages that must be kept consistent are Master, Manual and Technique/Concept pages. User pages, group pages, general information pages and the like should simply be formatted in an intuitive and pleasing fashion, but do not have to be consistent. Please view the Rules of the Wiki for advice and warnings about posting to and editing this wiki. Use Browse Categories to the left to begin browsing, or jump straight to one of the traditions beneath it. Thanks to everyone who is contributing to the Wiktenauer.Work Note of the Day
There is still a lot of content that can be ported from Wikipedia. Please do not port general medieval or martial arts articles like 'martial arts' or 'middle ages'. Only port articles directly relating to HEMA like pages on our weapons or pages for masters.
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What's New?
Hans Talhoffer (Dalhover, Talhouer, Thalhoffer, Talhofer) was a 15th century German fencing master. His martial lineage is unknown, but his writings make it clear that he had some connection to the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, the grand master of the German school of fencing. Talhoffer was a well educated man, who took interest in astrology, mathematics, onomastics, and the auctoritas and the ratio. He authored at least six fencing manuals during the course of his career, and appears to have made his living teaching, including training people for trial by combat. The first historical reference to Talhoffer is in 1433, when he represented Johann II von Reisberg, archbishop of Salzburg, before the Vehmic court. Shortly thereafter in 1434, Talhoffer was arrested and questioned by order of Wilhelm von Villach (a footman to Albrecht III von Wittelsbach, duke of Bavaria) in connection to the trial of a Nuremberg aristocrat named Jacob Auer, accused of murdering of his brother. Auer's trial was quite controversial and proved a major source of contention and regional strife for the subsequent two years. Talhoffer himself remained in the service of the archbishop for at least a few more years, and in 1437 is mentioned as serving as a bursary officer (Kastner) in Hohenburg. The 1440s saw the launch of Talhoffer's career as a professional fencing master. His first manuscript, the MS Chart.A.558, was a personal manual created in ca. 1443. The fencing manual portion is largely text-less and it may have been designed as a visual aid for use in teaching; in addition to these illustrations, it also contains an astrological text and a copy of Konrad Kyeser's famous war book Bellifortis. Most notable among the noble clients that Talhoffer served in this period was the Königsegg family of southern Germany. He produced two manuscripts for this family between 1446 and 1459, the Codex Nr.55 Ambras and the MS XIX.17-3, both of which depict a judicial duel fought by a certain Luithold von Königsegg which doesn't seem to have ever taken place. Talhoffer's name appears again in the records of the city of Zürich in 1454, where he was chartered to teach fencing and adjudicate judicial duels. The account notes that a fight broke out among his students, resulting in various fines. At some point before 1459, it seems that he was contracted to train David and Buppellin vom Stain, and ultimately produced for them a significantly expanded edition of his previous treatise, the MS 78.A.15. In 1459, Talhoffer produced the MS Thott.290.2º, a new personal fencing manual along the same lines as his 1443 work but expanded with additional content and captioned throughout. He appears to have continued instructing throughout the 1460s, and in 1467 he produced his final manuscript, Codex Icon 394a, for another of his noble clients, Eberhardt I von Württemberg. This would be his most extensive work, and the graf paid 10 Guilder as well as quantities of rye and oats for the finished work. While only a few facts are known about Talhoffer's life, this has not stopped authors from conjecture. The presence of the Lion of St. Mark in Talhoffer's 1459 coat of arms (right) has given rise to speculation that he may have been an early member or even a founder of the Frankfurt-am-Main-based Marxbrüder fencing guild, though there is no record of their existence prior to 1474. Additionally, much has been made of the fact that Talhoffer's name doesn't appear in Paulus Kal's list of members of the Society of Liechtenauer. While some have speculated that this indicates rivalry or ill-will between the two contemporaries, Kal's list seems to be a memorial to masters who were already deceased, so it is more likely that Talhoffer was simply still alive in ca. 1470 (just three years after writing his final book). (Read more...)
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