View source for Hans Talhoffer

{{Short description|German fencing master}}
{{Infobox person
| name                 = <div style="width:288px; background-color:#ddd;">Hans Talhoffer</div>
| image                = Hans Talhoffer.jpg
| imagesize            =
| caption              = Portrait of Talhoffer from 1467.
| birth_date           = {{circa|1410-1415}}
| birth_place          = [[Swabia]] ([[Germany]])
| death_date           = after 1482
| death_place          = 
| occupation           = [[Fencing master]]<br/>[[Mercenary]]
| nationality          = Swabian
| employer             = [[David vom Stain|David]] and [[Buppellin vom Stain]]<br/>[[Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg|Eberhardt I von Württemberg]]<br/>[[Luithold von Königsegg]]
| notable_works        = {{Collapsible list
 | title = List of manuscripts
 | 1     = Ms. Chart.A.558* (1443)
 | 2     = Ms. XIX.17-3* (1446-1459)
 | 3     = Ms. Thott.290.2º* (1459)
 | 4     = Ms. 78.A.15 (1450s)
 | 5     = Cod.icon. 394a* (1467)
 | 6     = Ms. KK5342 (1480-1500)
 | 7     = Cod.I.6.2º.1 (before 1561)
 | 8     = Cod.Ser.Nov.2978 (1500s)
 | 9     = Ms. 26.236 (1600s)
 | 10    = 2° Ms. iurid. 29 (1600s)
 | 11    = 2º Codex MS Philos. 61 (late 1600s)
 | 12    = Cod.Guelf.125.16.Extrav. (late 1600s)
 | 13    = Cod. icon. 394 (1820)
 | 14    = Cod. icon. 395 (ca. 1820)
: * [[Archetype]]s
}}
| organization         = [[Marxbrüder]] (?)
| relatives            = 
| signature            = Hans Talhoffer Sig 1.jpg
}}

'''Hans Talhoffer''' (Dalhover, Talhouer, Thalhoffer, Talhofer; {{circa|1410-1415}} &ndash; after 1482) was a German [[fencing master]]. His martial lineage is unknown, but his writings make it clear that he had some connection to the tradition of [[Johannes Liechtenauer]], the grand master of a well-known [[Medieval]] German school of fencing. Talhoffer was a well-educated man who took interest in [[astrology]], [[mathematics]], [[onomastics]], and the [[auctoritas]] and the [[ratio]]. He authored at least five [[fencing manual]]s during the course of his career, and appears to have made his living teaching, including training people for [[trial by combat]].

== Life ==
The first known reference to Talhoffer is in 1433, when he represented [[Johann II von Reisberg]], [[archbishop of Salzburg]], before the [[Vehmic court]]. Shortly thereafter in 1434, Talhoffer was arrested and questioned by order of [[Wilhelm von Villach]] (a footman to [[Albert III, Duke of Bavaria|Albrecht III von Wittelsbach]], duke of Bavaria) in connection to the trial of a [[Nuremberg]] aristocrat named [[Jacob Auer]], accused of murdering of his brother. Auer's trial was quite controversial and proved a major source of contention and regional strife for the subsequent two years. Talhoffer himself remained in the service of the archbishop for at least a few more years, and in 1437 is mentioned as serving as a [[bursar|bursary officer]] (''Kastner'') in [[Hohenburg, Bavaria|Hohenburg]].<ref>"[http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/hans-talhoffers-life/ Hans Talhoffer's life]". ''Hans Talhoffer ~ The fencing and life of Hans Talhoffer''. Retrieved 17 March 2012.</ref>

The 1440s saw the start of Talhoffer's career as a professional fencing master. His first fencing manuscript, the Ms. Chart.A.558, was a personal reference book created in ca. 1443. The fencing manual portion is largely text-less and it may have been designed as a visual aid for use in teaching; in addition to these illustrations, it also contains an astrological treatise and a version of [[Konrad Kyeser]]'s famous war book [[Bellifortis]]. Most significant among the noble clients that Talhoffer served in this period was the [[Königsegg]] family of southern Germany, and some time between 1446 and 1459<ref>Hils p73.</ref> he produced the Ms. XIX.17-3 for this family. This work depicts a judicial duel being fought by [[Luithold von Königsegg]] as well as the training that Talhoffer gave him in preparation, but it seems that this duel never actually took place.<ref>"[http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/who-was-luithold-of-konigsegg/ Who was Luithold of Königsegg?]". ''Hans Talhoffer ~ The fencing and life of Hans Talhoffer''. Retrieved 17 March 2012.</ref>

[[File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 102r.jpg|275px|right|thumb|Talhoffer's coat of arms, including the Lion of St. Mark]]
Talhoffer's name appears again in the records of the city of [[Zürich]] in 1454, where he was chartered to teach fencing in some capacity and to adjudicate judicial duels. The account notes that a fight broke out among his students and had to be settled in front of the [[city council]], resulting in various fines.<ref>Hils p176.</ref> He seems to have passed through [[Emerkingen]] later in the 1450s, where he was contracted to train the brothers David and Buppellin vom Stain; he also produced the Ms. 78.A.15 for them, a significantly expanded version of the Königsegg manuscript.<ref>Hils p42.</ref>

In 1459,<ref name="Thott date">Internally dated on [[:File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 103v.jpg|folio 103v]].</ref> Talhoffer commissioned the Ms. Thott.290.2º, a new personal fencing manual along the same lines as his 1443 work but expanded with additional content and captioned throughout. He appears to have continued instructing throughout the 1460s, and in 1467 he produced his final manuscript, the Cod. icon. 394a, for another of his noble clients, [[Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg|Eberhardt I von Württemberg]].<ref>Internally dated and dedicated on [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00020451/image_34 folio 16v].</ref> This would be his most comprehensive work, and the count paid 10 [[Guilder]] as well as quantities of rye and oats for the finished work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/1467-the-price-of-a-fencing-master/ |title=1467 Hans Talhoffer in service of Eberhard im Bart of Württemberg |access-date=17 March 2012 |date=21 April 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705054951/https://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/1467-the-price-of-a-fencing-master/ |archive-date=5 July 2013}}</ref>

While only a few facts are known about Talhoffer's life, this has not stopped authors from conjecture. The presence of the [[Lion of St. Mark]] in Talhoffer's 1459 coat of arms (right) has given rise to speculation that he may have been an early member or even a founder of the [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]-based [[Marxbrüder]] fencing guild, though there is no record of their existence prior to 1474.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} Additionally, much has been made of the fact that Talhoffer's name doesn't appear in [[Paulus Kal]]'s list of members of the [[Johannes_Liechtenauer#Society_of_Liechtenauer|Society of Liechtenauer]].<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Paulus |author-last=Kal |author-link=Paulus Kal |title=Untitled [manuscript]. Cgm 1507. |location=[[Munich]], Germany |publisher=[[Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]] |date=c. 1470}}</ref> While some have speculated that this indicates rivalry or ill-will between the two contemporaries, Kal's list seems to be a memorial to masters who were already deceased,<ref name="Tobler1">{{cite book|author-first=Christian Henry |author-last=Tobler |title=In Service of the Duke: The 15th Century Fighting Treatise of Paulus Kal |location=Highland Village, TX |publisher=[[Chivalry Bookshelf]] |date=2006 |ISBN=978-1891448256}}</ref> so it is more likely that Talhoffer was simply still alive in ca. 1470 (just three years after writing his final treatise).{{Original research inline|date=March 2015}}

== Works ==
Talhoffer's writings exist in well over a dozen manuscripts created in the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries; they have also been published a number of times beginning in 1893, including translations into English and French. His writings cover a wide assortment of weapons, including the [[arming sword]], [[buckler]], [[crossbow]], [[dagger]], [[flail (weapon)|flail]], [[Messer (weapon)|longknife]], [[longshield]], [[longsword]], [[mace (bludgeon)|mace]], [[poleaxe]], [[spear]], and unarmed [[grappling]], often both [[armor]]ed and unarmored, on [[horse]] and on foot, and in scenarios including tournaments, formal duels, and unequal encounters implying urban self-defense. Despite the obvious care and detail that went into the artwork, the manuscripts generally have only a few words captioning each page (and in many cases none at all).{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

There are four known archetype copies of Talhoffer's works:

* The '''Ms.Chart.A.558''' was probably created in 1443.<ref>Internally dated on folio 1r.</ref> The original currently rests in the holdings of the [[Universitäts- und Forschungsbibliothek Erfurt/Gotha]] in [[Gotha]], Germany. This is the earliest of the four known archetypes and Hils speculates that it was created as a personal reference book. Aside from Talhoffer's own work, this manuscript also contains [[Johannes Hartlieb]]'s {{lang|el-latn|Onomatomantia}} and Johannes Liechtenauer's {{lang|de|Zettel}}.
* The '''Ms.XIX.17-3''' was created some time between 1446 and the creation of the Thott manuscript in 1459.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} The original currently rests in the private collection of the [[Königsegg-Aulendorf]] family in [[Königseggwald]], Germany. This manuscript may possibly have been commissioned by the very Luithold von Königsegg who is featured in several of Talhoffer's works.
* The '''Ms.Thott.290.2º''' was created in 1459;<ref name="Thott date"/> it was scribed by Michel Rotwyler and illustrated by Clauss Pflieger. The original currently rests in the holdings of [[Det Kongelige Bibliotek]] in [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]. This manuscript was likely a reference book created for Talhoffer's personal use, and is much more lavish than the 1443.<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Hull |author-first=Jeffrey |url=http://www.hemaalliance.com/documents/Fight%20Earnestly.pdf |title=Fight Earnestly - the Fight-Book from 1459 AD by Hans Talhoffer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308073958/http://www.hemaalliance.com/documents/Fight%20Earnestly.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2012 |publisher=The Historical European Martial Arts Alliance |date=2006 |access-date=31 October 2010}}</ref> Aside from his own teachings, this manuscript also includes Liechtenauer's {{lang|de|Zettel}} and [[Konrad Kyeser]]'s {{lang|lt|Bellifortis}} ("Battle Force"). On the final ten [[Folia (disambiguation)|folia]], the text is inverted and opening the book from the back reveals a brief treatise on a variety of esoteric subjects by [[Jud Ebreesch]].
*  The '''[https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667792/ Fechtbuch von 1467  (Cod.icon. 394a)]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00020451/image_34 |title=folio 16v}}</ref><ref name = "wdl394a">{{cite book|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8970 |title=Fechtbuch von 1467 |location=Swabia, Germany |publisher=World Digital Library}}</ref> -- the "Fight Book" or Combat Manual of 1467 -- was  created in 1467 on the commission of Count [[Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg|Eberhardt I von Württemberg]]. The original currently rests in the holdings of [[Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]] in [[Munich]], Germany.<ref name = "wdl394a" /> This is Talhoffer's final work, as well as the only one to treat the topic of unarmored longsword at length.


For a complete list of the known manuscripts incorporating Talhoffer's work, see the infobox.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Ms.XIX.17-3 16v.png|From '''MS XIX.17-3''' showing a technique for armoured knights
File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 017r.jpg|From '''Ms.Thott.290.2º''' which contains colourful images of various devices as well as fighting techniques
File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 080r.jpg|From '''Ms.Thott.290.2º''' showing a duel between a man and a woman
File:De Fechtbuch Talhoffer 014.jpg|From '''Cod.icon. 394a''' showing a technique for unarmored longsword
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[German school of swordsmanship]]
* [[Historical European Martial Arts]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* ''[http://diglib.hab.de/?grafik=graph-res-b-24 Zwei junge Männer kämpfen mit Schwertern und ringen miteinander, von einem älteren Mann beaufsichtigt.]'' 1826 - 1850.
* [[Gustav Hergsell|Hergsell, Gustav]], and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. {{google books|3_w0AQAAMAAJ|Livre d'escrime de Talhoffer (codex Gotha) de l'an 1443}}. Prague: Chez L'Auteur, 1893.
* Hergsell, Gustav, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. ''Livre d'escrime de Talhoffer (manuscrit d'Ambras) de l'an 1459''. Prague: Chez L'Auteur, 1890.
* Hergsell, Gustav, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. {{google books|Gf00AQAAMAAJ|Livre d'escrime de Talhoffer de l'an 1467}}. Prague: Chez L'Auteur, 1894.
* Hergsell, Gustav, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. ''Talhoffers Fechtbuch (Ambraner Codex) aus dem Jahre 1459: gerichtliche und andere Zweikämpfe darstellend''. Prague: J.G. Calve, 1887.
* Hergsell, Gustav, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. {{Google books|-3oVAAAAYAAJ|Talhoffers Fechtbuch (Gothaer Codex) aus dem Jahre 1443: gerichtliche und andere Zweikämpfe darstellend}}. Prague: Selbstverlag, 1889.
* Hergsell, Gustav, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. ''[https://archive.org/download/talhoffersfechtb00talhuoft/talhoffersfechtb00talhuoft.pdf Talhoffers Fechtbuch aus dem jahre 1467: Gerichtliche und andere zweikämpfe darstellend]''. Prague: J.G. Calve, 1887.
* Hils, Hans-Peter. ''Meister Johann Liechtenauers Kunst des langen Schwertes''. [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]/[[New York City]]: Peter Lang, 1985.
* Hull, Jeffrey, with Monika Maziarz and Grzegorz Żabiński. ''Knightly Dueling: The Fighting Arts of German Chivalry''. Boulder, CO: [[Paladin Press]], 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-58160-674-4}}
* Knight, Hugh T., Jr. ''The Ambraser Codex by Master Hans Talhoffer''. Lulu.com, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-557-38531-7}}
* Rector, Mark, and '''Talhoffer, Hans'''. ''Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat''. London: Greenhill Books, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1853674181}}
* Schulze, André and S.E. Johannes Graf zu Königsegg-Aulendorf. ''Der Königsegger Codex. Die Fechthandschrift des Hauses Königsegg.'' [https://archive.today/20130412102050/http://zabern.de/buch/Der_Koenigsegger_Codex/02072010/18361 Geschichte Neu Erleben: Philipp von Zabern], 2010. {{ISBN|978-3-8053-3753-3}}
* Schulze, A. and Fortner, S. (eds.), ''Mittelalterliche Kampfesweisen'' Zabern, Mainz (edition of the 1467 ms.)
** vol. 1 Das Lange Schwert (2006), {{ISBN|3-8053-3652-7}}.
** vol. 2 Der Kriegshammer, Schild und Kolben (2007), {{ISBN|3-8053-3736-1}}.
** vol. 3 Scheibendolch und Stechschild (2007), {{ISBN|3-8053-3750-7}}.

== External links ==
{{commons category|Hans Talhoffer}}
* [http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Hans_Talhoffer Transcriptions, translations, and microfilm and digital manuscript scans] at the Wiktenauer
* [http://www.thearma.org/pdf/Fight-Earnestly.pdf Fight Earnestly – the Fight-Book from 1459 AD by Hans Talhoffer] by Jeffrey Hull
* [http://www.truefork.org/DragonPreservationSociety/TalhofferDaggerClass.php Dagger Techniques From Hans Talhoffer] by Eli Steenput
* Manuscript images:
** [http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/File:Talhoffers_Fechtbuch_%28Gothaer_Codex%29_aus_dem_Jahre_1443_%28Hergsell%29.pdf Ms. Chart. A. 558] (1443)
** [[commons:category:ms.XIX.17-3|Ms. XIX. 17-3]] (1446-1459)
** [http://www.kb.dk/da/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/thalhofer/thott-2_290.html Ms. Thott. 290. 2º] (1459)
** [http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Talhoffer_Fechtbuch_%28MS_78.A.15%29 Ms. 78.A.15] (1450s)
** [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00020451/image_1 Cod. icon. 394a] (1467)
** [http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/File:Talhoffers_Fechtbuch_%28Ambraser_Codex%29_aus_dem_Jahre_1459_%28Hergsell%29.pdf Ms. KK5342] (1480-1500)
** [http://media.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/node?cunfold=82374&dir=82374&id=82374 Cod. I.6.2º.1] (1561)
** [http://orka.bibliothek.uni-kassel.de/viewer/image/1359717472218/1/ 2º Ms. iurid. 29] (17th century)

{{Authority control}}<!--LC gives dates as ca. 1420-1490-->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talhoffer, Hans}}
[[Category:People from Swabia (Bavaria)]]
[[Category:1410s births]]
[[Category:1480s deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century fencers]]
[[Category:15th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire]]