Hans Talhoffer

fencers "standing in the Ward ("''Stand beid in der Hut''")]]
combat]]
Hans Talhoffer (also spelled '''Talhofer''') was a fencing-master in southern Germany in the 15th Century . He is the author of several Fechtbücher , illustrated treatises describing methods of fighting with various weapons, including unarmed combat ( Grappling ), Dagger , Long Sword , Pole Weapon s and mounted combat. He is a contemporary of fencing-master Paulus Kal (whose manuscript may contain hints of professional rivalry between the two). Talhoffer taught within the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer .

Talhoffer is the best-known of the 15th Century German fencing-masters. There are half a dozen surviving illustrated ''Fechtbücher'', some of them of considerable draftsmanship, documenting a span of three decades of his activity. Talhoffer's name appears in the records of Zürich , documenting how he was teaching near the Rathaus (city council) in 1454 (a fight broke out among his students, resulting in various fines).

A list of the ''Fechtbücher'' by Hans Talhoffer:

(1) ''MS Chart. A 558'', Gotha , 151 folia, 178 drawings, 41 pages of text, 1443 .

(2) ''HS XIX. 17-3'', Königsegg, 73 folia, Ca. 1450 .

(3) ''P 5342 B (Cod. Nr. 55 Ambras)''. Copy of (2)

(4) ''78 A 15'', Berlin , 77 folia., Before 1459 .

(5) ''Thott 290 2'', Kongelige Bibliothek, Copenhagen , ''Hans Talhoffers Alte Armatur und Ringkunst'', 150 folia, 1459

(6) ''Cod. icon. 394'', 137 folia, 1467 .

(7) ''Cod. Vindob. Ser. Nov. 2978'' 276 folia, 16th Century copy of (6).

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Hans Talhoffer