The Rapier's Point

December 1994

From the desk of
  Lord Gwylym ab Owain Tatershall

MKA William E Wilson
624 W Santa Fe
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
602-774-1755
Internet: william.wilson@nau.edu

This is an informational newsletter from the Atenveldt Kingdom Fencing Marshal. It is not an official newsletter of the Society for Creative Anachronisms or the Kingdom of Atenveldt.

Greetings and well met! The year is almost over and soon it will be time for war! I wish you all a good Yule season and a happy New year!

I am now maintaining a Web server devoted to period fencing. If you have access to the internet and have a web client you may contact this server with the following url:

http://mac9.ucc.nau.edu/fencing.html

Congratulations to Lord Albert Faulke of the Principality of Artemesia for being awarded a White Scarf and also for receiving his Laurel!

Please make copies of this newsletter and spread them around! Send me $1 and I'll put you on my mailing list. Warranted marshals of the Kingdom of Atenveldt need not send the dollar.

GENERAL NEWS

CALL FOR PAPERS

The second Inter-Kingfom Rapier Academy is being hosted by Atenveldt in April 1995. We are looking for papers to include in an anthology on period fencing. If you would like to contribute a paper, please send me an abstract.

I still have copies of my training manual for rapier available. If you would like to order a copy send a check for $9 to the above address. I also have copies of the manuscript Brief Instructions Upon My Paradoxes of Defense by George Silver. This book may be ordered by sending a check for $6.

I am looking for sources of translations of Spanish and Italian period fencing manuals. If you know of any please drop me a line with the information. I am also looking for a copy of Caranza. I have a native Spanish speaker who has agreed to help me translate it.

German Schlagers

A number of companies are now carrying German practice and REAL schlager blades. After consulting with a local metallurgist and gathering information from the owner of American Fencers Supplies I feel that these blades are safe for use in rapier combat in the Kingdom. I'll summarize the information from the owner of AFS: Back before schlagers were sold in the US one of AFS' employees moved to Germany. He reported back to AFS about schlager blades being sold in retail stores in Germany. The owner of AFS had him buy blades and send them back to the States to be sold. Some time later the employee moved back to the states and the supply dried up. The owner of AFS contacted Hostin who started making the same type of blades. They were not quite the same quality; some blades being very stiff and others very light. Recently AFS has found a source for the German blades again and is now carrying them. These blades are intended for combat (while the French made blades were only intended for theatrics). The owner of AFS has also stated that the blades still do vary in stiffness. Each blade in each batch can be different. Please do not fault the German schlager as a whole for this. Just look at a batch of epee blades and see the differences there. In Kingdom, the German schlager blades are carried by Scottie Armory.

UPCOMING RAPIER EVENTS

Estrella War

A number of rapier tournaments will be held at the war this year. These will include tourneys for individuals and also for teams. The Tourneys will include:

 A Tavern for duelists will go on the whole event. A closed field nearby will be used for fighting. Marshals should always be on hand. "Gambling", entertainment and other amenities will be provided. Hosted by Giovanni from Caid.

 An epee tournament should be hosted by the Outlands.

 A schlager (Aten rules) tourney will be hosted by Master Albert Faulke of Atenveldt.

 A mock shipboard battle will be hosted by Lord William Thorne of Atenveldt. (Teams)

 A capture the flag team battle will be hosted by Jacob von Höhl.

Also at the war this year we will be discussing how to set up a rules set that all can work with for trying to get rapier dueling for a war point in the future.

The Second Inter-Kingdom Rapier Academy, April, 1995

I am now accepting proposals for papers and classes for this event. It will be held in the Phoenix area this coming April. The thrust of the Academy will be putting the Period in Period Fencing. We hope to make this event as interesting and fun as the first Academy held in the Middle Kingdom this past April. The Classes and Practicals will be held on Saturday and Sunday morning will be devoted to tournaments and practice.

NOTES ON RULES

Atenveldt Rapier rules and electronic copies of period fencing manuals (as well as some rules from other kingdoms) may be downloaded from the FTP server at ftp.nau.edu. This ftp server allows anonymous login.

The corporate rules state that you must wear the equivalent of 4 layers of trigger cloth on your torso! Corporate rules also state that saber style cuts are illegal to use. In Kingdom you must use a draw, push or tip cut for a cut to be counted.

Weapons - The only types of weapons authorized to be used in Atenveldt tournaments must be fitted with a theatrical rapier blade (Schlager). Musketeer blades are not allowed. Daggers must be fitted with a flexi-dagger blade. Bucklers, cloaks and other offhand devices will be approved on location.

A Note on Target Area -- The back of the weapon hand is considered off-target in Atenveldt. Also, there is an unspoken rule that the knee and below is off-target. When running a tournament you may elect to include the lower leg as target if you wish.

Taking of Wounds -- There has been quite a bit of concern that certain individuals in the Kingdom are not acknowledging blows. If you feel it, take it! A sharp rapier does not need much force to wound you. Three fingers width into the torso will put you out of action. A cut to the head will cause enough bleeding to render you unable to fight in a short period of time. Do the honorable thing and if there is any doubt, take the wound!

SOURCES OF EQUIPMENT

American Fencing Supplies
1180 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415)863-7911

Scottie Armory
Master Malcolm the Scott
(MKA John Craft)
Box 682
Williams, AZ 86046
(602)635-2190
(by far the best equipment I have used and at reasonable prices, he fashions SCA legal combat weapons and real blades)

Triplette Competition Arms
411 S Main St
Mt Airy, NC 27030
(919)786-7911

MARSHALLATE INFORMATION

I am still trying to compile an accurate list of all warranted and authorized rapier marshals in the Kingdom. Please mail me the addresses of any new marshals that you are aware of.

All warranted fencing marshals! and marshals at the Principality, Baronial and local levels! I am required to send in monthly reports to the Knight Earl Marshall! That means that you are required to send monthly reports to me. This may be done on a postcard if necessary. Please include the following in your reports: average weekly Practice attendance, number of new fighters authorized during the month, number of new marshals authorized, detailed descriptions of any injuries, and detailed descriptions of any breakage of equipment (swords, daggers, masks). You should also include reports on all rapier events held in your area. If you miss two months of reports in a row you will be put on suspension; three and you will be replaced.

RAPIER CONTACTS

Artemesian Principality Fencing Marshall
Lord Albert Faulke of Sandford
MKA Albert Sanford
(801)547-1173

Principality of the Sun Fencing Marshall
Jakob von Höhl
MKA Jake Hoehl
602-272-2133

Warranted Fencing Marshall at Large (Phoenix)
Lord William Thorne
MKA William Rosevear
(602)939-7113

New Marshals in the Kingdom
Lord Padraig Dillon, Barony of Sundragon.  Lord Lyrec the Black, Tir Ysgithr.

Society Deputy Earl Marshal for Fencing
Don Tivar Moondragon
MKA Chris Zakes
1400 Provident Lane
Round Rock, TX 78664
(512)218-1159

SUGGESTED READING

Castiglione, Baldassare
  The Book of the Coutier, London 1928, from the original dated prior to 1529.

Ferguson, Arthur B
  The Chivalric Tradition in Renaissance England. Folger Books, 1986.

Quote of the Month

The concepts of honor and chivalry are intertwined and during the end of the chivalric period seem to overlap and possibly shift from the ideal of chivalry to that of honor. Within this framework dueling arose.

Ferguson, p. 111-112

"That is not to minimize the chivalric element in Renaissance concepts of honor or its traditional tendency to favor private over public interests. A potent residue of vintage chivalry remained and could still inspire soldiers to seek honor in acts of personal valor, even of sheer foolhardiness. The old tendency to seek honor in violence was still strong, even in the Sidney-Greville circle where the chivalric revival flourished. Sidney's friend and mentor, Hubert Languet, deplored what he and others in the Christian-humanist tradition considered an evil legacy of chivalry: in a letter to the young Sidney, he wrote "You and your fellows, I mean of noble birth, consider that nothing brings you more honor than wholesale slaughter." Then there was the apparently increasing incidence of dueling, egged on by an Italianate notion of honor which superseded the claims of father, ruler, country, even life itself. Although a bastard offspring of the chivalric mystique, capable of maintaining a life of its own independent of the new chivalry, the duel came inevitably to be associated with it."

The Masters

I will be including brief descriptions of the period fencing masters until I work through all that I am able to document.

Lebkommer, Hans

This German master wrote the earliest known extant book of fence sometime during 1529 to 1536. The title of his book is "Der Altenn Fechter an fengliche Kunst."

Marozzo, Achille

A Bolognese fencing master with a school in Venice. Marozzo compiled the first coherant system of fence. He published his book "Opera Nova" in 1536 and 1550. He taught primarily a cutting style using a sword more reminiscent of military style cutting blades.

Select Terms

I would like to thank Jacob von Höhl for assisting in compiling lists of period terms.

Thrusts

A thrust is an attack made with the point of the weapon where the attempt is to pierce the target.

Imbrocatta -- This attack is made over the adversary's blade, hand or dagger. It travels in a downward direction with the knuckles up (as in a modern prime or high tierce). (Castle p.121)

Stocatta -- This attack is made under the blade, hand or dagger. The hand is typically held in pronation, although it may be held in other positions. This attack is normally made to the belly. (Castle p.121)

Punta Riversa -- This attack is delivered from the left side to any part of your adversary's body, high or low. (The modern term for this attack would be an attack from quarte) (Castle p.92, also mentioned by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet)