Champion (fighter)
In the early Middle Ages was a champion ( fr. [ Ʃɑpjɔ ], from lat . Campus field also in the sense of the battlefield to German, even wage Kempe and wage fighters ) a fighter who in judicial duels represented one of the parties for a certain reward. Women, children and old people in particular had the right to appoint such representatives, unless they were accused of lese majesty or murder of their parents. The duels were part of the judicial proceedings and were initially used as a means of decision-making, then later to collect evidence.
Since the legal battles were literally a matter of life and death, the duelists always took a great risk. Even if the defeated champion survived the duel unharmed, his physical integrity was not assured. The line “The one who sigelos is going to do it” in the Schwabenspiegel was interpreted in such a way that it affected not only the Eideshelfer but also the Kempen. Since the defeat in the divine court battle was equated with perjury , the Lohnkempe also risked losing his hand of oath. One possible way out, however, was to buy the hand out through financial payments to the judges, whereby the Kempe only lost part of his wages.
The “Kempen” who worked as professional fighters generally belonged to the lowest social class and were considered dishonorable. This status was inevitable for the simple reason that they were guilty of perjury in every lost argument. Their socially despised outsider role was underlined by the fact that neither active princes or kings - nor clergymen were allowed to personally participate in such struggles. The Kempen had to wear leather clothing and certain weapons, which were also considered dishonorable. They were not allowed to fight on horseback and their hair was cut. Nevertheless, the wage caps were considered to be indispensable within the legally institutionalized court battle. This also made it possible for members of this class to advance socially. While traveling Lohnkempen were dishonorable and without rights, settled and permanently employed Kempen could easily acquire property and reputation.
In Spain , the cid was nicknamed el Campeador (Spanish "the fighter"), which apparently refers to the victorious passing of duels as the king's representative. In England , too - probably for the first time under King Richard II - a king's champion was appointed who had to challenge everyone to a duel who did not want to recognize the prince as the legal ruler of the three kingdoms.
Later, a champion was generally referred to as a knight who stepped in for an offended lady, for a child or for other incapable of fighting. In the late medieval tournaments , the knight, who had to make sure that the assembled ladies were not offended by anyone, was also called champion.
A famous wage fighter from the 15th century was the German Hans Talhoffer .
Individual evidence
literature
- Marcus Coesfeld: Lohnkempen in the late Middle Ages. Social outsiders as pillars of legal practice. In: Soziologiemagazin 2/2013, pp. 54–66. ( Online version ; PDF; 5.0 MB)
- Henner Huhle , Helma Brunck: 500 years of fencing masters in Germany. Oldest privileged profession. ( Small writings of the Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main 34) Kunz, Kelkheim im Taunus 1987, ISBN 3-923420-08-0 .
- Professional knowledge for fencing master VdF. Association of Fencing Masters, Würzburg 1968.
- Hans-Peter Hils: "Kempen and he children ... de are all without rights". On the social position of fencing masters in the late Middle Ages. In: Joerg O. Fiche, Karl H. Göller, Bernhard Schimmelpfennig (ed.): Connections, influences, effects. Berlin, pp. 255-271.