Beyond the Sword and Buckler: The World That Shaped I.33

I.33 is a fascinating manuscript full of interesting techniques and exciting imagery. Just as exciting as the manuscript is the history and world around it. Taken at face value, the manuscript presents the depiction of a clergy member and a student partaking in combat. The leading theory of the origin of the manuscript was that it was produced by secular clergy, likely associated with a cathedral.

However, this raises the question: why? The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 declared “Clerics to dissociate from shedding-blood” which took aim at the clergy’s involvement in single combat or duels. Furthermore, why write a manuscript at all to teach swordsmanship instead of utilizing oral teaching methods to educate students in martial arts?
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Today, we are going to discuss three books that I found to be useful when exploring the world around I.33. Through these sources, we will get a gleam of why people of I.33’s time wrote manuscripts, the secular legal structure surrounding the people, and the conflicting allegiance that a Germanic cleric in the Holy Roman Empire of 1300 may find themselves writing sources on martial arts.

But first, I would like to give a huge shout out to Taylor Hodne. We had some conversations recently on I.33 which inspired this post. Thank you again for reaching out, Taylor!

​The Medieval Craft of Memory

The Medieval Craft of Memory is a collection of texts and pictures that explore the trained art of memory. Much like humans today, the people of I.33’s time were also concerned with knowledge being lost to time. The various sources, ranging from the 12th century and the 15th century, explore various teaching topics such as techniques on using imagery and text together, composition connections, and examples of contemporary teaching methods from the time of I.33. This collection of primary sources shows us some of the knowledge the author, or authors, of I.33 were aware of when they sat down and asked “how do we capture these sword and buckler techniques so they can be passed down through generations.” For example, I.33 uses repeated verses and self-referencing sections, which these sources explore how best to do it for success.
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I was unaware of these sources for a long time until Keith Farrell mentioned them to me. So, a huge thank you to him for providing the additional context on why manuscripts were created in the first place.  

​The Saxon Mirror

​The world of the Holy Roman Empire around 1300 is very different than our world today. However, what remains the same is the importance of law and its impact on individuals’ daily lives. The Saxon Mirror, written around 1220–1235, is a foundational lens into the legal world around I.33. It is a systematic written record of customary law as it was practiced among the Saxons, later recreated and written throughout the Holy Roman Empire. The manuscript covers inheritance laws for items such as weapons, which could explain how contemporary individuals studying I.33 may have received their swords and bucklers. It also includes the structuring of common judicial duels, which involved the use of sword and shield (which, based on later art, appears to be center-gripped round shields like bucklers). It even includes laws on what is to happen if a clergy member is assaulted with a weapon in a city.

The Two Powers by Brett Edward Whalen

​Rounding out this list, and the only non-primary source, is a book I found immensely helpful in understanding the power dynamic between the Holy Roman Empire, its people, and the Papacy. The Two Powers presents the wider world, shedding light on why the German clergy would have been banned from participating in duels by the Fourth Lateran Council, though they may have ignored that decree to celebrate their secular culture in the Holy Roman Empire. The book also sheds light on the Prince-Bishoprics that were beholden to both the emperor and the pope, and that were also hosts to many cathedrals and the beginnings of early universities.

​Closing Thoughts

No one can fully understand the historical context of I.33 by reading just a few books. There are entire doctorates who focus on this world, which requires lifetimes of dedication to understand. However, for us HEMA practitioners, the more historical context we can understand, the better we can comprehend the whys behind the manuscripts we study.
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So, as scholars of our arts, we seek knowledge and explore the various topics HEMA relies on. Our sources are not just an exploration of martial arts but also lenses into art history, legal history, biomechanics, and more! Whether we realize it or not, we are contributors to those fields as well through our activity and love of historical fencing.