Medieval Combat
Hans Talhoffer; Translated by Mark Rector
ISBN: 1-85367-418-4
304 pp. / Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, 2000 $29.95

 

The Latin term vade mecum means, literally, "go with me," and refers to a book or other object that is a constant traveling companion. For the past few weeks, my constant literary companion has been Medieval Combat, Mark Rector's unprecedented translation of Hans Talhoffer's fifteenth-century fechtbuch, or fighting manual.

Talhoffer's work has only previously been available in a nineteenth-century German trans-lation of the original medieval Swabian, and, more recently, an updated German edition. Bringing this work for the first time to an English-speaking audience is a great service to the historical fencing community, and Mr. Rector is truly to be commended.

Of course, the main problem with understanding Talhoffer is that he is so medieval. The original manuscript was not intended for public education, and is not organized in a step-by-step pedagogy intended to explain a method of fighting to readers who are otherwise unacquainted with the milieu of the fifteenth-century Swabian nobleman. Rather, the manuscript was probably intended to serve, amongst other things, as a mnemonic aid for the reader, who had presumably already paid for Master Talhoffer's services. Accordingly, Mr. Rector's work is by necessity not a literal word-for-world transliteration, but rather a looser interpretation that enables the reader to understand the meaning of the somewhat obscure original passages. Some brief but excellent instructions observing general practices and methods of the German longsword school are also included.

Talhoffer's actual fighting technique covers multiple forms of mayhem, including longsword, poleax, sword and buckler, and various types of judicial duel. Mounted swordsmanship and wrestling are also featured. The original art, reproduced clearly for this volume, clearly shows the brutal effectiveness of the medieval arts of war. Medieval Combat is sure to prove an interesting source not just to students of historical swordsmanship, but also to historians, art historians, and costume designers, if only for the value of these diverse illustrations.

Overall, the translation and interpretation seem clean and well thought-out. There are no flights of fancy, and all interpretations are based on the source and on cold, hard knowledge. Mr. Rector thoughtfully includes the original Swabian in an appendix, so that interested parties may check his translation. However, it being that very few people, even scholars, are well-acquainted with medieval German dialects, it would seem that one way to improve Medieval Combat in the second edition would be to provide both a near-literal translation at the top of each plate, complete with the original Swabian technical terms, and an expanded interpretation at the bottom.

Medieval Combat is a very solid and extremely impressive work. It is well worth the purchase price for anyone interested in this era.