Court battle between man and woman (Hans Talhoffer)

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Starting position for the court battle between man (right in the pit) and woman (left), 1467, 122v
The Breaking Throat, 1459, 82r
Stun with the stone-weighted veil - bring down, 1459, 83r
Hit the chest with the piston - choke with the veil, 1467, 126r
Pull out of the pit, 1467, 126v

The court battle between man and woman is the representation of a judicial duel by Hans Talhoffer in the copies of his fencing book from 1459 and 1467. These late medieval illustrations are the earliest of such a fight in a fencing book. With this and in the accompanying explanations, it is documented in these codes that court cases in the late Middle Ages could or were also decided by women through duels.

background

In Talhoffer's fencing book, the genres of judicial duels are described. The original copy with Talhoffer's ownership entry dates from 1443 and has come down to us in six manuscripts.

Only two copies deal with the court battle between men and women. The one from 1459 was initially owned by Talhoffers and later came into the private collection of the Danish Count Otto Thott, who bequeathed it to the Danish Royal Library in 1785 , where it is kept under the signature Thott 290 2 °. The date and the entry in Talhoffer's ownership can be found on folio 103v.

The copy from 1567 belongs to the third editorial level. It was commissioned by Talhoffer's pupil, Count Eberhard im Bart, from a scriptorium working for him . After subsequent storage in the Old Court Library in Munich, it came to Gotha as looted art during the Thirty Years' War and was bought (back) by the Bavarian State Library in 1951 under the signature Cod. Icon. 394a.

The latter expressly assigns the work to the shelf mark Codices iconographici - pictorial manuscripts with little or only explanatory text. In contrast to the Munich copy, the Copenhagen copy contains an introductory “preliminary report”. The explanatory texts for the images themselves are shorter and sometimes differ in content from the Munich copy.

The texts are written in early New High German . In the preliminary report of 1459 the admissibility of a fight and the rules of conduct applicable during a fight are dealt with.

Seven particularly serious " crimes " that can justify a duel for life and death in the sense of a divine judgment are listed. The latter is the rape of a virgin or woman ("ainer junckfrowen or frowen benotzogt"). Court battles were only allowed between strangers. Through a corresponding oath of seven men from the male or female lineage of the plaintiff / defendant, fights between people up to the fifth degree of kinship should be excluded ("if two men are minded, bit on the fifth sip or closer to the ugly by | quite nit." fighting others "). In preparation for the fight, the contestants were given six weeks by the court. During this time, they were also allowed to take lessons from fencing masters ("So you get mailed in six weeks | on your day"). Talhoffer points out - not unselfishly - that it is necessary to understand with regard to the selection of his teacher ("to be made necessary") that one recognizes a master by the fact that he has mastered the real art, is pious, does not take advantage of the protégé and not withhold parts of the teaching from him (“dz sin kunstrecht und gewer sy and dz er frum sy and dich nit | veruntruwe and dich nit shortened in the lerr”).

Illustrations with explanatory texts

In the light of the fair fighting conditions demanded in the preliminary report for physically disadvantaged people who could go up to a substitute in the fight by third parties ("It may also be the lam or with the | bosen ougen wol someone to win instead of fighting for | iro ainen" ), the man's fight against the woman from a waist-deep pit appears as a measure of equalization of opportunities . The weapons for men and women were gender-specific (see explanations and illustration for the initial position 1467, 122v).

Only in the Copenhagen copy is the staked battlefield shown in addition to the fighting.

Thott 290 2 °, Copenhagen, 1459 BSB Cod. Icon. 394a, Munich, 1467
[not included in the code of 1459] It says how man and woman should fight with each other, and here is the starting position - The woman is free and wants to hit and has a stone in the veil that weighs four or five pounds - So it stands in the pit up to the waist and its piston is as long as the veil from the hand ( 122v , Hergsell 1887, plate 242).
Here he hits the foot [supplemented with a different handwriting: and it hits the head] ( 080r ). [not included in the code of 1467]
Here he fended off her blow and caught the arm ( 080v ). Here she has struck a blow - Now he has parried and caught the blow and wants to pull her to him and subdue her ( 123r , plate 243).
The grip on the neck ( 081r ). Then he pulled her to him and threw her under him and wants to strangle her ( 123v , plate 244).
Here she breaks the man's neck ( 081v ). Then she withdrew from him and tried to strangle him ( 124r , plate 245).
Breaking the throat ( 082r ). Here she has laid him on his back and wants to strangle him and pull him out of the pit ( 124v , plate 246).
Here it comes to an end ( 082v ). Then he pulled her to him and threw her into the pit ( 125r , plate 247).
Here she wants to stun him and he cut her down ( 083r ). When she wanted to hit, she got too close to him so that he could grab her thigh and bring her to the fall ( 125v , plate 248).
Here the woman achieves a degree ( 083v ). [not included in the code of 1467]
Here he puts an end ( 084r ). [not included in the code of 1467]
[not included in the code of 1459] Then he hits her in the chest. - Then she put the veil around his neck and wants to strangle him ( 126r , plate 249).
[not included in the code of 1459] Then she took hold of his neck and his stuff and wants to pull him out of the pit ( 126v , plate 250).
Combat robe
In the versions devoted to combat equipment, Talhoffer shows the recommended, tight-fitting combat clothing separately, the hood, jacket and trousers of which have nest holes where they are tied together with nesting straps .

reception

On behalf of a historically oriented Internet channel, an experiment based on experimental archaeological methods was carried out according to the specifications in the Copenhagen Code, which was intended to assess the chances for women and men in such a fight. Both subjects came to the opinion that the chances of victory were largely fairly distributed due to the required weapons and the lower position of the man.

expenditure

  • Hans Thalhofer: Alte Armatur und Ringkunst , Sign. Thott 290 2 °, København, Kongelige Bibliotek, 1459 ( www5.kb.dk ) (Danish), ( archive.org ), ( web.archive.org ).
  • Fencing book from 1467 - BSB Cod. Icon. 394a (formerly Gotha, Memb. I 114). Munich, Bavarian State Library, 1467 ( digital-sammlungen.de ).

literature

  • Gustav Hergsell (Ed.): Talhoffers Fechthandbuch from 1467 . JG Calve'sche Hof- und Universitätsbuchhandlung, Prague 1887 (Gothaer manuscript), p. 43 f. ( Archive.org ).
  • Walther Kabel: duels between man and woman . In: Library of Amusement and Knowledge . tape 3 . Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stüttgart / Berlin / Leipzig 1911, p. 208–210 ( wikisource.org [accessed December 19, 2021]).
  • Rainer Leng : 38.3.43 København, Kongelige Bibliotek, Thott 290 2 ° . In: Hella Frühmorgen-Voss †, Norbert H. Ott, Ulrike Bodemann, Christine Stöllinger-Löser: Catalog of the German-language illustrated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Volume 4/2, Lfg. 1/2, 38. Fencing and ring binders. Bavarian Academy of Sciences 2009, CH Beck, Munich, ISBN 978-3-7696-0937-0 , pp. 47–51 ( www5.kb.dk ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 'Fechtbuch von 1467 - BSB Cod.icon. 394 a '- details | MDZ. Retrieved November 14, 2021 .
  2. ↑ Rainer Leng: 38.3.43 København, Kongelige Bibliotek, Thott 290 2 ° . In: Hella Frühmorgen-Voss †, Norbert H. Ott, Ulrike Bodemann, Christine Stöllinger-Löser (eds.): Catalog of the German-language illustrated manuscripts of the Middle Ages . tape 4/2 , 38. Fencing and ring binders. CH Beck, Munich, p. 47-51 .
  3. ↑ Hans Talhoffer: Master Hans Talhofer's "Old Armature and Ring Art" . 1459 ( Det Kgl. Bibliotek, Copenhagen ).
  4. ↑ Talhoffer 1459, sheet 8 recto. May 30, 2014, accessed November 16, 2021 .
  5. ↑ a b c Talhoffer 1459, sheet 9 recto. May 30, 2014, accessed November 16, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Talhoffer 1459, sheet 8 verso. May 30, 2014, accessed November 16, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Talhoffer 1459, sheet 10 recto. May 30, 2014, accessed November 16, 2021 .
  8. ^ A b Hans Talhoffer, Gustav Hergsell: Talhoffers Fechtbuch from 1467; Representing judicial and other duels. Edited by Gustav Hergsell . Prague JG Calve, 1887 ( archive.org [accessed November 17, 2021]).
  9. ↑ Hans Talhoffer: Old armature and ring art. 1459, p. 167v , accessed November 17, 2021 .
  10. ↑ The World Of Bizarre Medieval Inventions | Medieval Fight Book | Absolute history. Accessed November 17, 2021 .