Historical Fencing Manuals Online -- Swords & Swordsmanship

THE ARMARIUM Online Historical Fencing Manuals & Texts of the Doctrina Armorum "Their works remain the foundation for our knowledge of the martial arts" - Sydney Anglo, ARMA Senior Advisor See a complete listing of known surviving Medieval & Renaissance titles here.
Viking Fighting Selected Text from 23 Norse Sagas!		Saxo the Dane Selected Anecdotes and Accounts of Epic Combat - from 12th & 13th Century Danish History
I.33 - German Sword & Buckler Manual. Oldest known European fencing manuscript of c. 1295!		Hanko Döbringer's Fechtbuch on the Teachings of Johannes Liechtenauer - From c.1389. A side-by-side transcription and modern English translation of the earliest extant manuscript dealing with the longsword yet discovered.
The MS 3542 Text Analysis Project - Interpretation of a 15th century English text on the two-hand or great-sword! Verse Analysis Here.		15^th century English Sword Text A short, rare text, known only as "Additional Manuscript 39564" (or MS. 39,564).
Fiore Dei Liberi -"Flos Duellatorum in Armis" from 1410 - most prized of the Medieval Italian manuals!		Anonymous German Fechtbuch manuscript from the mid-1400s - Gladiatoria. A significant work covering armored combat.
Longsword pages from anonymous Fechtbuch, Codex Guelf - c.late 15th century. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Hans Talhoffer - Images from one of the great texts of the Medieval German Masters. Editions from 1443 & 1459 and also Fechtbuch Edition 1467. Full PDF facsimily versions in the Members area. Talhoffer 1459 - New Transcription & Translation
ARMA special - Sigmund Ringeck Portions of Master Ringeck's comentaries on Liechtenauer‘s Fechtbuch c. 1440. One of the major sources for the German school.		Vom Bauman's Fechtbuch. Images from the Codex Wallerstein – a collection of anonymous German text and illustrations on fighting from c. 1470
Mertein Hündsfelder: Fechtlehre mit dem Kurzen Schwert. Fight-Lesson with the Shortened Sword from Codex Speyer circa 1491 AD.
The Book on the Art of Fighting With Swords by Fillipo Vadi. c. 1482-1487!		Peter Von Danzig's Fechtbuch on Liechtenauer, 1452.
Anonymous Swiss-German manuscript circa 1500 - Goliath. A significant work covering unarmored great-sword combat and wrestling		ARMA Special - Excerpts from Das Solothurner Fechtbuch, another rare Medieval German fighting manual..
The Fight-Book of Hugues Wittenwiller from Late 15th Century AD.		ARMA Special - Complete Official English Translation of Le Jeu de la Hache - 15th century Treastise on the Polaxe!
Paulus Kal - Fechtbuch, c. 1460. Covers long-sword, messer, sword & buckler, dagger, and wrestling. Material in the member's area.		Hans Lecküchner (Johannes Leckuechner) - Fechtbuch of c. 1482. Original Langen Messer material now in the member's area.
Portions of Christian Egenolph's Fechtbuch compilation of c. 1482. Orginal Langen Messer material, and 1531 long-sword translation now in the Member's Area.		Mertin Siber's Fechtlehre of 1491. A transcription, translation, and extensive analysis of this short work as a longsword text.
Special - Rare German wrestling plates from Hans Wurm - c. 1500. Also translation & commentary.
Anonymous Fechtbuch – Libr.Pict.A.83 - c.1500+. Armored and unarmored longsword, sword & buckler. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Jörg Wilhalm 1st edition - little known and excellent long-sword Fechtbuch from earlier edition, c 1520. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Jörg Wilhalm -later edition two editions from 1523. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Artwork from Albrecht Duerer's early 16th century Fechtbuch! Full PDF Facsimile Copy now in Member's area.
Images from earlier edition of Paulus Hector Mair’s extraordinary Fechtbuch of c. 1542 in the Member's area. Includes many unique elements and weapons.		Anonymous early-16th century German Fechtbuch material on greatsword. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Longsword section from anonymous 1591 Fechtbuch, Codex Guelf 83.4.Aug.40. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Images from Paulus Hector Mair’s extraordinary Fechtbuch of c. 1542 are now online here.
Achille Marozzo - Images from Opera Nova, 1536. One of the major fencing texts of the period. Full PDF Facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Martin Van Heemskerck, Fechter und Ringer, engravings, 1550. Material now in the member's area.
Images from Fechtmeister Joachim Meyer's Kunst des Fechten - c. 1570 Full list of Plates (PDF)		Images from Camillo Agrippa's 1553 treatise. The first major 16th century work to focus on the thrust over the cut.
ARMA Special - Introduction to Frederico Ghisliero’s Rapier Text of 1587.		Images from the 1570 Italian edition of Giacomo Di Grassi's important work on weapons and fencing.
Images from Francesco Alfieri's 1653 L'Arte Di Ben Manegiarre La Spada, later transition rapier text. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		George Silver - The grand English sword master Paradoxes of Defense and also Brief Instructions Upon My Paradoxes of Defense Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Salvator Fabris - 1606, Sienz e Practica d Arme (“About Fencing, or Rather, the Science of Arms”) the first important Italian treatise on the true rapier. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		PDF Facsimile Copy Vincentio Saviolo: His Practice in Two Books - 1595. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Nicoletto Giganti's rapier treatise, Scola overo Teatro ("School or Theatre") - 1606. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Images from Capo Fero's 1610 rapier treatise, one of the most important works on fencing ever written. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Antonio Quintino's Discorso. Genoese rapier material from 1613. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Joseph Swetnam - One of the great English Masters of Defence on renaissance sword, staff, & rapier. Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Jakob Sutor - Neu Künstliches Fechtbuch of 1612 based on Joachim Meyer (1570). (3.61mb PDF).		ARMA Special - George Hale's 1614 rapier text, The Private Schoole of Defence Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Girard Thibault d'Anvers Academie De L'Espee, "Academy of the Sword", 1630, Cologne. Now in the member's area		Pallas Armata: The Gentleman's Armoury, 1639 - Books I & II One of the best English texts on differences between Renaissance sword & rapier. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Johann Georg Passchen's 1659 wrestling & self defense text, Vollstandiges Ring-Buch.		Nicolaes Petter's 1674, Klare Onderrichtinge der Voortreffelijke Worstel-Konst (Clear Education in the Magnificent Art of Wrestling)
Comprehension of Destreza by Alvaro Guerra de la Vega (1681). An interesting and valuable work comparing Italian and Spanish schools of small-sword. Translation by Miguel Gomez.		Anonymous Spanish Rapier Work. c. early 17th century. 35 images with titles and reference notes. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Sir William Hope: The Scots Fencing Master (the Complete Smallswordsman) - 1687. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Sir William Hope: Advice to his Scholar from the Fencing Master - 1692. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Sir William Hope: Complete Fencing Master - 1691-1692. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.		Sir William Hope: The Swordsman's Vade-Mecum - 1694. Full PDF facsimile copy now in Member's area.
Some 18th & 19th Century Works of Interest
Alfred Hutton - Famous scholarly works by a Victorian era fencer and military man. Old Swordplay (5.54mb PDF) and Cold Steel (11.1mb PDF)		Henry Angelo - 18th century. Hungarian & Highland Broad Sword (26mb PDF).


More to Be Added
See Also: An Introduction to Historical European Martial Arts and Renaissance Martial Arts Literature