This month, Danial, Ash, and myself had the wonderful opportunity to do another sword and history demonstration at Uhuburg Castle. For this show, we create an epic journey back to the heart of medieval Italy as we dive into the fascinating world of the Condettieri! In this demonstration, we unpacked the lives and legacies of iconic mercenary leaders like John Hawkwood and Galeazzo da Montova and explore how these figures relate to the tradition of Historical European Martial Arts. Posted above is one of our shows.

The show began with us introducing the concept of Condettieri and the Italian landscape that allowed them to thrive. We then explored specific characters and their relation to duels which was used as a springboard to introduce the audience to Fiore dei Liberi.

These shows are always such a blast to do because we get to make history fun and engaging. After the show, we bring people to our table to show them different manuscripts and let them handle our training swords so they can feel what swords felt like.

As always, a huge thank you to the staff at Uhuburg Castle. They are so inviting and friendly and our show would not be possible without their hospitality. Thank you also do Danial and Ash for another successful show!

Credit to Ashley White for the Steller photography of the event!

The Flower of Battle: MS Ludwig XV13
​Flowers of Battle: The Complete Martial Works of Fiore Dei Liberi
The rise and fall of Italy’s warriors-for-hire - Stephanie Honchell Smith
The Golden Age of Mercenary Companies
Galeazzo Da Montova Activity
Captain of Fortune: Galeazzo Da Montova
Condottiere 1300–1500: Infamous medieval mercenaries (Warrior, 115)​
John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy

Today, we have an excellent opportunity to showcase another guest writer. Ryan Hancock heads the longsword curriculum at Vier Blössen Historical Fencing. They also actively practice Meyer's rapier system and, of course, sword and buckler. Join us today as Ryan provides a complete interpretation of the Andre Lignitzer sword and buckler techniques. We hope this interpretation helps guide you in your sword and buckler studies!

​Lignitzer's sword and buckler is a sword-with-buckler system that consists of six short plays, each of which has one-to-one counterparts within many of the early German longsword manuscripts. I interpret these plays as sword-with-buckler plays rather than sword-and-buckler plays, meaning that a buckler isn't mandatory for the success of these actions but acts as an aide to ensure the safety of the actor.

During the time period when the Lignitzer plays were produced, arming swords were beginning to become less common as a popular sidearm and dueling weapon. In contrast, longswords and messers were becoming more and more fashionable. As such I don't think that an arming sword is mandatory to perform these actions; in fact, many of our artistic sources of the time depict messers, falchions, arming swords, and even longswords being used with bucklers.

Note that this play can be done from both sides regardless if you're left or right-handed, but for brevity's sake, I am just going to describe it from the right side.
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1. Here, we start with a cut from below, starting on the right side.
2. If your opponent strikes from above toward your left then rotate the long edge of your sword into the cut and with a step bring your sword and buckler together in an ox -esc position to defend the blow.
3. Then thrust or cut to their head behind their sword and buckler while your buckler covers.
4. If they move their buckler out to your right to defend themselves, then transfer your cut under their buckler and strike their leg.

This is another play that can be done from both sides, but in my experience, it works better when done from your non-dominant side—in my case, the left.
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1. Here we have another cut from below directed against an opponent's strike from above but this time your sword should make contact with theirs with the short edge and should direct their blow out to the side all the while making a step out off the line with your left foot.
2. Next, quickly strike from above to the opening created toward the head.
3. The aforementioned strike will most likely not land, but it does well to entice your opponent to move their sword and buckler toward your left. You can then dip your point below their weapons and thrust to the face on the opposite side while moving your buckler to cover theirs.
4. If they move their buckler to cover the thrust, the momentum from that pushing motion can be used to cut toward the right leg instead.

This play I see as working best against a fighter who prefers to wait and react against your initial attack.
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1. You start by performing a thrust from your upper right side, with a step with the right foot, over their buckler arm.
2. Don’t commit to the thrust too hard because once they begin to respond dip the point of your sword down circle through to the otherside of their buckler. Ending with a thrust to their body with the long edge of your sword facing up and your sword a buckler arms crossed.
3. If they parry this thrust in time, then redirect it to a cut to the right leg.

When studying sources for historical fencing, we often come across similar techniques between two separate sources. For example, Meyer’s cross has overlapping cuts with Henry Angelo’s sabre cut diagram. These comparisons can be useful when learning and interpreting techniques because many techniques of the sword are grounded in the simple application of the weapon and its limitations.

While it is obvious that my favorite source to study is I.33, I also have a enthusiasm towards Fiore and his system. So today, we will be exploring the similarities and differences that can be found between Fiore’s Long Tail Guard and I.33’s fifth ward. Through this exploration, I hope to better contextualize fifth ward and its use in sword and buckler combat. However, first, there is a disclaimer we must cover.

While similar techniques can be helpful when interpreting other techniques from other systems, it must also be done with a healthy dose of skepticism. Comparing techniques that are not quite the same can lead to misinterpretations of techniques. Furthermore, culture and context can also dramatically impact the use of a specific technique. All of these factors must be considered when comparing techniques of different sources.

That being said, I.33 states that “all combatants, or all men holding a sword in hand, even if they are ignorant of the art of combat, use these seven wards…” The manuscript does not make a distinction between sword and buckler and, instead, chooses to state that all fencers use the seven wards. With this general statement being made, to better understand I.33, we can analyze other sources’ guards to see which ward it fits into in I.33’s descriptions. 

When visually inspecting the two sword positions, there are a number of differences largely brought on by the type of swords being used. For example, because Fiore uses a longsword, he has both hands on the sword. This is not something I.33 has to worry about, which also opens up the shoulders of the fencer so they are not as pulled to the sword side as Fiore shows. This leads to Fiore’s long tail guard to be shown with the left shoulder leading more than I.33’s fifth ward shows. Finally, I.33’s sword position is slightly angled, while Fiore’s sword extends straight from the wrist.
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There are some similarities in the art. For example, both appear to have their left leg forward with their sword low to the right side. Both fencers are also shown on the balls of their feet, particularly their right foot, which is kept back with the sword. However, while the images are not perfectly similar, the manuscripts’ texts show a large overlap between these positions and the techniques they perform.

In Fiore’s Getty manuscript, he introduces the Tail Guard and its applications. In the manuscript, he states, “This is the Long Tail Guard that extends behind you down to the ground. She can attack with a thrust, and can also move forwards to cover and strike. And if she passes forward while striking downwards she can easily enter the Narrow Game. This is a good guard to wait in, because you can quickly transition from it into other guards.”

In the first pages of I.33, the text describes fifth ward as “give the fifth to the right side” while showing the sword positioned back. Unfortunately, due to damage to the manuscript, the introduction image of fifth ward has largely been lost but later images of the ward are shown in the manuscript. In a later section of the manuscript, the actions from fifth are expanded on when the text states that “the one standing in the guard has only two things to do: first, he can deliver a thrust; second, he can deliver a blow, dividing the shield and sword.”
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From these descriptions, it appears that both I.33 and Fiore agree that this position where the sword is back and to the right both can deliver a thrust. Furthermore, the strike to separate the sword and shield in I.33 is also a downward strike similar to the cut Fiore describes. If we generalize Fiore’s concepts of covers to be positions the sword can be moved to in order to cover lines of attack, then being able to move into sieges from the fifth ward also aligns with the techniques Fiore uses from long tail guard.

Based on the similarities defined by the manuscripts, it seems reasonable to assume that the author of I.33 would consider the long tail guard a form of a fifth ward. Both positions keep the word low on the dominant-hand side of the fencer. Both positions thrust or deliver high cuts, and both positions can cover lines of attack to secure openings to exploit while sword fighting. 

By performing an analysis like this, we can better understand the technique I.33 is trying to communicate in its two-dimensional art style. While comparing the images of Fiore’s Getty manuscript and I.33 can give us a vague resemblance of the two sword positions being similar, the text certainly links the two positions. 
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Is analysis like this always clean? No, and it certainly can come with some risks of misinterpretations. However, using similarities and identifying differences, we can move closer to fully understanding I.33 and its sword and buckler system.