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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2011
Although it has generally been maintained that chivalric combat depended solely on strength and endurance, there is ample evidence that skill, dexterity, speed and control were also required. This paper attempts to reconstruct the techniques used in foot combats, tourneying on horseback and jousting (especially tilting)—in England, France, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula—on the basis of narratives and technical treatises, concerning sword and lance play, written between the late fourteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
1 Castle, Egerton, Schools and Masters of Fence from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century (London, 1885; repr. Arms and Armour Press, 1969), 5Google Scholar; Gelli, Jacopo, L'arte dell'armi in Italia (Bergamo, 1906), 41.Google Scholar Another late nineteenth-century authority, Letainturier-Fradin, Gabriel, Les joueurs d'épée à travers les siècles (Paris, n.d.)Google Scholar takes a similar view, though he has some preliminary remarks on medieval fencing. I have recently heard this traditional position forcefully argued by paper, Georges Vigarello in a, ‘Le maniement de l'épée’, delivered to the colloquium, Le corps à la Renaissance, at the Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance at Tours (July 1987)Google Scholar.
2 Sale, Anthoine de la, Le petit Jehan de Saintré, caps, lxxxi,Google Scholar lxxxii. See the English trans, by Irvine Gray (London, 1930,295-8,307-12, and introd., 21.
3 Le livre des faicts du Mareschal de Boucicaut, I.vii, ed. Michaud, and Poujoulat, , Nouvelle collection des Mémoires pour servir à I'histoire de France, 32 vols. (Paris, 1836-1839), 11, 219–20Google Scholar.
4 See Anglo, Sydney, ‘Archives of the English tournament: score cheques and lists’, J. Soc. Archivists, ii (1961-1962), 153–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 To my knowledge, the earliest text which has thus far come to light is in the Tower of London Royal Armouries, MS 1.33—a German treatise, in Latin, illustrating combat with sword and buckler. This has been dated on stylistic grounds, and by identification of the hand, to the very end of the thirteenth century. I am very grateful to Sarah Barter-Bailey, Librarian at the Royal Armouries, H.M. Tower of London, for making available to me her own notes and observations on this extraordinary manuscript.
6 For a blood-curdling example of this genre, see Captain Fairbairn, W. E., All-in Fighting (London, 1942)Google Scholar.
7 Agrippa, Camillo, Trattato di scientia d'arme, con un dialogo difilosofia (Rome, 1553), II.xxv, fo. 63r-v.Google Scholar
8 The two-handed sword is discussed in Marozzo, Achille, Opera nova (Venice, 1536),Google Scholar lib. Ill; Grassi, Giacomo di, Ragioni di apoprar sicuramente I'arme si da offesa come da difesa (Venice, 1570), 93–9.Google Scholar Axes and hammers still figure in Pistofilo, Bonaventura, II torneo (Bologna, 1627).Google Scholar The German tradition also continued to favour such weapons. See for examples: Paurnfeindt, Andre, Ergrundung ritterlicher Kunst de Fechterey nach klerlicher begreiffung und kurczlicher verstendnusz (Vienna, 1516)Google Scholar; Meyer, Joachim, Gründtliche Beschreibung des freyen Ritterlichen unnd Adelichen kunst des fechtens (Strassburg, 1570)Google Scholar; Sutor, Jacob, New Künstliches Fechtbuch (Frankfurt, 1612), ed. J. Scheible (Stuttgart, 1849)Google Scholar.
9 Dyboski, R. and Arend, Z. M. (eds.), Knyghthode and Bataile, Early English Text Soc. original ser. 201 (London, 1935), 15,Google Scholar based on Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari, I.xii. Cf. Filippo Vadi, De arte gladiatoria dimicandi, in Bascetta, Carlo, Sport e Giuochi. Trattati e scritti dal XV al XVIII secolo (Milan, 1978), 11, 170Google Scholar.
10 See Anglo, Sydney, The Great Tournament Roll of Westminster, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1968), 1, 43.Google Scholar
11 Maestro Fiore dei Liberi da Premariacco, Flos duellatorum in amis, sive amis, equester, pedester, ed. by Novati, Francesco as Il fior di battaglia (Bergamo, 1902).Google Scholar A selection from this work is included in Bascetta, , op. cit. (note 9), 11, 113–44.Google Scholar Another version of this treatise—said to be earlier and with different captions from the manuscript edited by Novati—was sold as part of the Medieval Manuscripts of the Phillipps Collection at Sotheby's, 29 Nov. 1966.
12 See Hergsell, Gustav, Die Fechtkunst im XV. und XVI. Jahrhundert (Prague, 1896)Google Scholar; Hergsell, G., Lime d'escrime de Talhoffer, 3 vols. (Prague, 1901)Google Scholar; Wierschin, Martin, Meister Johann Liechtenauers Kunst des Fechtens (Munich, 1965)Google Scholar; Hils, Hans-Peter, Meister Johann Liechtenauers Kunst des langen Schwertes (Frankfurt am Main, 1985)Google Scholar.
13 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Fr. 1996.
14 Curiously, Castle regards Grassi as inferior to Agrippa precisely because the latter ‘made some approach to the invention of the “lunge”’. He ignores what Grassi has to say about lunging with the two-handed sword. It is, of course, true that Agrippa's work is considerably the earlier.
15 Cited from Di Grassi his true Arte of Defence, trans. G, I.. (London, 1594), sig. 0.2r-v.Google Scholar
16 Le Jouvencel par Jean de Bueil, ed. Favre, C. and Lecestre, L., 2 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1887-1889), II, 102–3.Google Scholar
17 Olivier de la Marche, Mémoires, I.xiv, in Michaud, and Poujoulat, (eds.), op. cit. (note 3), 111, 410.Google Scholar Georges Chastelain, Chronicque du bon chevalier Messire Jacques de Lalain, lv, in Buchon, J. A. C., Choix de Chroniques et Mémoires (Paris, 1842), 665Google Scholar.
18 See, for example, Chronique dejean Le Févee Seigneur de Saint-Remy, ed. Morand, F., 2 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1876-1881), 1, 209–10.Google Scholar
19 Baker, Galfridus le, Chronicon, ed. Thompson, E. M. (Oxford, 1889), 112–13,Google Scholar 282-3. See Neilson, George, Trial by Combat (London, 1890), 168–70Google Scholar.
20 Walsingham, Thomas, Historia Anglicana, ed. Riley, H. T., 2 vols., Rolls Ser. (London, 1863-1864), 1, 430–4. SeeGoogle ScholarNeilson, , op. cit. (note 19), 171–6Google Scholar.
21 D'Auton, Jean, Chronique de Louis XII, ed. Claviere, R. de Maulde la, 4 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1889-1895), III, 121–7.Google Scholar
22 Monstrelet, Engeurrand de, La Chronique, II. viii, ed.Google Scholar L. Douët-D'Arcq, 6 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1857-62), iv, 151-5.
23 Chastelain, , op. cit. (note 17),Google Scholar lviii (Buchon, 669).
24 For some general remarks on barriers, see Dillon, Viscount, ‘Barriers and foot combats’, Arch. J. lxi (1904), 299–306Google Scholar.
25 Halle, Edward, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre & Yorke, ed. Ellis, H. (London, 1809), 571–2.Google Scholar
26 The Lisle Letters, ed. Byrne, M. St. C., 6 vols. (London, 1983), v, no. 1109a.Google Scholar
27 See, for example, the terms of the challenge fo'r May 1571 in Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Ashmolean 837, fo. 245; printed by Dillon, , op. cit. (note 24), 305, and inGoogle ScholarClephan, R. C., The Tournament. Its Periods and Phases (London, 1919), 126.Google Scholar Cf. the restrictions in the barriers of May and June 1510, and at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520: Anglo, , op. cit. (note 10), 1, 50–1;Google ScholarAnon., Lordonnance & ordre du tournoy ioutes et combat a pied et a cheval (Paris, 1520)Google Scholar.
28 Sereno, Bartolomeo, Trattato dell'uso della lancia a cavallo, del combattere a piede, alia sbarra et dell'imprese et inventioni cavalleresche (Naples, 1610), 91–151.Google Scholar
29 Livro da ensinança de bem cavalgar toda sela que fez El-Rey Dom Eduarte de Portugal e do Algarve e Senhorde Centa, ed. Piel, Joseph M. (Lisbon, 1944), cap. XIV,Google Scholar ‘De maniera doferir de spada’, 113-17. I should like to thank an old friend, Pamela Waley, for providing me with a translation of this important but difficult text. Rendering its abstruse technicalities into English was a feat of real linguistic virtuosity for which I am enormously grateful.
30 Another princely and literary tourneyer, René d'Anjou, mentions only the rebatement of swords and the need for maces to be kept light. See Oeuvres choisies du Roi René, ed. Quatrebarbes, Le Comte de, 2 vols. (2nd edn., Paris, 1849), 11, 12–13Google Scholar.
31 Agrippa, Trattato, II.xxvi; Basta, Giorgio, II governo della cavalleria leggiera (Frankfurt, 1612), 45–6.Google Scholar For another example of a brief and brutal approach to mounted sword-play, see Cruso, John, Militarie Instructions for the Cavall'rie (Cambridge, 1632) 42Google Scholar.
32 Gaiani, Alfiero Gio. Battista, Arte di maneggiar la spada apiedi et a cavallo (Loano, 1619), 84–91.Google Scholar A section relating to the tourney has been reprinted in Bascetta, , op. cit. (note 9), 11, 242–9.Google Scholar Cf. Chatelain, René-Julien, Le guide des officiers de cavalerie (Paris, 1817), 76–83,Google Scholar where the difficulty of reducing mounted fencing to general principles is still being stressed. There is, as far as I know, no satisfactory history of fencing on horseback. The only lengthy discussion is in the introduction provided, anonymously, by Général Durfort to the French translation of Schmidt's, Instruction pour la cavalerie, sur le maniement leplus avantageux du sabre publiée en 1769 (Paris, 1828), I–CCCXLGoogle Scholar.
33 Pluvinel, Antoine, Maneige Royal, 1st edn. (Paris, 1623).Google Scholar I have used the edition of Paris, 1627, where the discussion of the tourney is at pp. 178-83. For some examples of the English terminology, passage and joining, see Leland, John, Collectanea, ed. Hearne, T., 6 vols. (London, 1770), 11, 666–9;Google ScholarClephan, , op. cit. (note 27), 126–7,Google Scholar 132; British Library, Lansdowne MS 99, fos. 259r-264v. Cf. Narvaez, Luis Pacheco de, Advertencias para la ensenanza de la filosofia y destreza de las armas assi á pie, como á cavallo (Pamplona, 1642),Google Scholar paragraph 218 (p. 130) in the edition by Orvenipe, D. L., Antiguas Tratados de Esgrima (Siglo XVII) (Madrid, 1898)Google Scholar.
34 Ansalone, Antonino, II cavaliere descritto in tre libri (Messina, 1629), 84–6.Google Scholar
35 Olivier de la Marche, Traicté d'un toumoy tenu a Gand, in Prost, Bernard, Traités du duel judiciaire, relations de pas d'armes et toumois (Paris, 1872), 75, 81, 82, 90Google Scholar.
36 Marche, De la, op. cit. (note 17) I.xivGoogle Scholar (Michaud and Poujoulat, 412). D'Escouchy, in his account of this combat, says that Galiot was criticized for his performance, but claimed that he had not seen that his opponent was unarmed. See Chronique de Mathieu D'Escouchy, ed. Beaucourt, G. du Fresne de, 3 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1863-1864), 1, 95Google Scholar.
37 D'Auton, , op. cit. (note 21), in, 127–33.Google Scholar
38 Sereno, , op. cit. (note 28), 73–5.Google Scholar The truth of this criticism is borne out by accounts of jousting at large, when knights often failed to make contact at all. See, for example, the anti-climactic running at large with sharp spears between Lord Scales and the Bastard of Burgundy: Anglo, Sydney, ‘Anglo-Burgundian feats of arms: Smithfield, June 1467’, Guildhall Misc. ii (7) (Sept. 1965), 278Google Scholar
39 Basta, , op. cit. (note 31), 46. Cf.Google ScholarCruso, , op. cit. (note 31), 36–7Google Scholar.
40 D'Auton, , op. cit. (note 21), III, 112–21.Google Scholar
41 Buttin, Charles, ‘Le tombeau d'Ulrich de Werdt à l'église Saint-Guillaume à Strasbourg’, Archives alsaciennes d'histoire de l'art (Strasbourg, 1925), 80.Google Scholar This is cited, and the idea is elaborated, by Buttin, François, ‘La lance et l'arrèt de cuirasse’, Archaeologia, xcix (1965), 77–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
42 Piel, (ed.), op. cit. (note 29), 82–9.Google Scholar
43 Favre, and Lecestre, (eds.), op. cit. (note 16), 11, 100–2.Google Scholar
44 For some relevant references to the use of overheavy lances, see François Buttin, , op. cit. (note 41), 122–5.Google Scholar The fashion for wielding staves of great circumference led to the development of fluted and hollow lances in order to combine impressive size with manageable weight. But these must have been especially vulnerable t o gusts of wind. There are some very interesting remarks on the effect of wind on lance-play, together with other valuable observations in an analysis of the jousting episodes in Sidney's Arcadia, by Parkinson, E. Malcolm, ‘Sir Philip Sidney on jousting and tilting’, in Proceedings of the Ninth Triennial Congress. International Association of Museums of Arms and Military History. Papers delivered September/October 1981, Washington D.C. and New York City (Marine Corps Ass., Quantico, Virginia, 1981), 132–46.Google Scholar I am grateful to A. V. B. Norman, formerly Master of the Armo-uries, H.M. Tower of London, for drawing my attention to this paper which is the only study I know devoted to the practical aspect of jousting from the knight's own viewpoint.
45 Reayo, Juan Quixada de, Doctrina del arte de la cavalleria (Medina del Campo, 1548),Google Scholar sig. A.ivv-vir. This is, according to Dulcet, Palau y, ‘opusculo rarísimo’.Google Scholar I have consulted the facsimile edition by Don J. Sancho Rayon (s.l., 1874). For this reference, too, I am grateful to A. V. B. Norman and also for his making available to me the Baron de Cosson's notes on this text.
46 dall'Agocchie, Giovanni, Dell'arte di scrimia libri tre (Venice, 1572), fos. 58v-66r.Google Scholar Dall'Agocchi e maintains that single combat and self-defence constitute the ladder and guide to the whole art of war (fo. 5r). Cf. Malatesta, Alessandro Massario, Compendio dell'heroica arte di cavalleria (Venice, 1600),Google Scholar fo. 51v: ‘Ogni sorte di Giostra, e abbatimento tende, e riguarda alfine del vero combattimento’.
47 Sereno, , op. cit. (note 28), 57–90:Google Scholar ‘Avvertimenti intomo all'uso della lancia à cavallo, nella giostra, e ne gl'avvenimenti di guerra’.
48 Pluvinel, (1627), op. cit. (note 33), 171–6,Google Scholar for example, discusses the tilt very briefly—stipulating that the horses must be pointing in the right direction at the start of a course which must never begin with a turn because this would spoil the heavily-armoured knight's posture; and stressing that the knights must begin simultaneously so that they meet in the middle of the tilt where royalty is normally placed. Ansalone, , op. cit. (note 34), 61–83,Google Scholar has a full discussion of jousting but says little new. He does make two points which are worth noting, however. He repeats the old admonition against twisting to the left, but recommends, instead, a slight turn to the right in order to gain a few inches on the opponent's lance. Then, in a discussion of the ‘campo aperto' which used, in olden times, to be a bloody brawl run with sharp lances, he asserts that nowadays they are run with blunted lances only for pleasure; and he suggests that, to avoid the risk of collision on one hand, and too wide running on the other, it is customary to mark out the lists with yellow or red sand to serve the same function as tilt and counterlists. Despite his interest in jousting, Ansalone is insistent that every hazard is to be eschewed. He maintains the traditional view that the joust in time of peace is ‘un'imagine della guerra’, but the tournaments of his courtier knights could no longer be regarded as having military relevance.
49 Paulina, Luigi Santa, L'arte del cavallo (Padua, 1696).CrossRefGoogle Scholar The first two books of this work are by Nicola Santa Paulina; the third, which concerns the horse in war and in festivals, is by Nicola's son Luigi. Especially relevant for the joust are pp. 181-93. The important chapters have been reprinted in Bascetta, , op. cit. (note 9), 1, 258–94Google Scholar.
50 Hoveden, Roger of, Chronica, ed. Stubbs, W., 4 vols., Rolls Ser. (London, 1868-1871), 11, 166–7.Google Scholar
51 For Valladolid, see Gachard, L. P., Collection des voyages des souverains des Pays-Bas (Brussels, 1874-1882), 165–77;Google ScholarCalendar of State Papers… Venetian, III (1520-1526) no. 702.Google Scholar For some pertinent remarks on the quality of knights in the fifteenth century, see Keen, Maurice, Chivalry (London, 1984), 219–24Google Scholar.
52 A great many extracts from a wide rang e of sources hav e been collected in François Buttin, , op. cit. (note 41)Google Scholar.
53 Marche, De la, op. cit. (note 17), I.xviGoogle Scholar (Michaud and Poujoulat, 418-19).
54 Leseur, Guillaume, Histoire de Gaston IV, Comte de Foix, ed. Courteault, H., 2 vols., Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1893-1896), esp. 1, 129–98, and II, 43-59.Google Scholar
55 Ibid., I, 159-60.
