Montante
With Montante one called on the Iberian Peninsula , the local large two-handed swords , as in 16-17 them. Century were in use. Compared to the German two-handed swords of the same era, they were rather slim and light weapons. The blades were narrow, had parallel cutting edges and mostly a short fuller . Parrying hooks were, if they existed at all, rather small and usually not bent towards the place as with the German two-handed swords. The quillons were also simpler, straight and unadorned and only had two parrying rings.
Although they were between shoulder to crown height, their weight was usually well below two and a half kilograms. The superior range, as well as the high speed of this weapon made possible by the low weight and the approximately 50 cm long handle, is elementary for the associated fencing art with the Spanish-Portuguese Montante.
Differentiation from other sword forms
While the significantly shorter two-handed swords of the other European fencing book traditions were geared towards single combat, the duel, the large two-handed swords as found in Spanish and Portuguese traditions from the late 16th century onwards are intended for completely different purposes. The Montante was rather an area weapon for asymmetrical threat situations (mostly several, differently armed opponents at once) and was mainly used by specialized professionals such as Leibgarden u. Ä., used.
The associated art of fencing
The structure of the gauges obtained is also shown in accordance with the intended use. In the marriage of the Spanish rapier martial art " la verdadera Destreza ", the art, which is probably based on the older Escrima Vulgar / Escrima Commun, was also written down with the great Montante in a few cases. These Montante treatises are characterized by the fact that they are divided into so-called "rules". A rule describes a combination of technology for a specific situation or combat situation. There is a special rule for encircling situations in narrow alleys, another rule for defending a woman who is under protection, a rule against shield-bearers or polearmsmen, a rule for fighting on the narrow catwalk of a galley , etc. In addition, there are a few rules which are only intended as an exercise to train certain skills and movement patterns, comparable to the solo forms of Far Eastern martial arts.
What all these rules have in common is that they usually accept several opponents at once, but who have a different armament than you. Usually the type of enemy armament is not explicitly mentioned, so that here generally lighter weapons ( rapiers , side swords , knives ) than you are assumed, i.e. an asymmetrical threat situation prevails. By using the superior range and mass of the Montante, the numerical superiority of the opponent should be compensated. When fighting multiple opponents, it is important to maintain constant pressure against all attackers equally so that the defender is not killed by the attacker behind or next to him while focusing on the opponent in front of him.
Accordingly, the Montante is often performed in continuous flat swings that cover a lot of space and thus can keep an entire group of opponents in check. No point targets such as body parts or individuals are attacked, but rather rooms are painted. The Montante is rather an area weapon. Each stroke flows smoothly into the next without interruption. Here it is somewhat similar to Liechtenauer's German concept for fencing, where proposition and reference are required as a fluid unit. In contrast to the Liechtenauer school, however, the Montante completely avoids binding work, since a bound weapon opens the door to all other opponents to attack uncovered areas. For the same reason, stitches are very rare and only occur in very specific situations.
The blows used are rather simple compared to Liechtenauer's five hens. The art lies more in the complex footwork, which is necessary with these large and whole-body weapons in order to be able to work in constantly changing directions. So often complete body rotations and even twist jump attacks, z. B. against polearms or encircling situations.
There are some separate rules for dealing with heavily armed opponents such as those who carry polearms or shields.
Most sources on Montante also describe 1–2 rules for fighting another Montante. However, it is always emphasized that this is a rather rare case and that the duel is not the original purpose of the Montante.
Sources for handling the Montante
One of the oldest and most important sources on the Montante is the handwriting of Lois Godinho from 1599. It is characterized by particularly fluid circular movements. Its rules can always be carried out in an endless loop “left-right”. The second important work on the Montante is that of the Portuguese Dom Diego Gomez de Figueyredo from 1651. It is very similar in handling, but also shows some differences to Godinho's teaching. Figueyredo's rules are mostly applicable in a "forwards-backwards" endless loop. Like a film, because you let it run backwards after one pass. Figuereido describes more rules than Godinho, but not as extensively and detailed as this one.
Furthermore, there are some authors who devote very few words to the Montante, mostly in the form of bullet points that are not very illuminating today. Luis Díaz de Viedma describes in his work on Destreza of 1639, in addition to some general things, 3 more detailed rules for exercising with the Montante.
The fencing book by Miguel Pérez de Mendoza y Quijada from 1675 occupies a certain special position. It does not describe any specific rules, but devotes a separate chapter with general instructions to the Montante as well as the Mangual. The Mangual, in English simply " flail ", is a chain weapon of roughly the same overall length as the Montante. The author teaches that the same rules can and should be fenced with the Mangual as with the Montante, only the stitches are to be left out of the flail weapon.
Compared to the Italian Spadone
In addition to the sources mentioned, the late Italian sources on the great two-handed sword show interesting parallels to the Montante. While the Bolognese "Bidenhänder" fencing sources of the early 16th century describe a completely different style with a focus on the duel sword against sword, the fencing books DiGrassis (1570/1594) and in particular Alfieris (1653) then seem to use weapons according to the same principles how to run their Iberian contemporaries.
Unfortunately, no sources have been found from other countries on how to use the big two-handed swords, which makes the fencing books described here something special.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from May 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from June 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from January 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Miguel Pérez de Mendoza y Quijada: Resumen de la verdadera destreza de las armas, en treinta y ocho asserciones ( Memento of January 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), 1675