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IMC 2018: Sessions

Session 748: Historical European Martial Arts Studies: Practices, Contexts, and Narratives

Tuesday 3 July 2018, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Society for Historical European Martial Arts Studies
Organiser:Iason-Eleftherios Tzouriadis, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Moderator/Chair:Jacob H. Deacon, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Paper 748-aLearning the Sword: Fighting Manuals and Pedagogy
(Language: English)
Robert W. Jones, Advanced Studies in England, Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania
Index terms: Education, Military History
Paper 748-b'To teche or to play or ellys for to fyзte'?: The Purposes of the Fight-Book in Harley MS 3542
(Language: English)
Jacob H. Deacon, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Index terms: Education, Language and Literature - Middle English, Military History
Paper 748-cFighting in a Banquet in the Mid-16th Century: The Fantastic Exchange of Gioan Girolamo and Mutio under the Pen of the Fencing Master Marc'Antonio Pagano
(Language: English)
Daniel Jaquet, Musée militaire, Château de Morges / Centre d'Etudes Supérieures de la Renaissance, Université François-Rabelais, Tours
Index terms: Military History, Performance Arts - General
Abstract

This session addresses issues concerning the practice of martial arts throughout late medieval Europe. Martial arts systems were used for a wide range of purposes, from self defence needs, preparing for a judicial duel, to displaying or practising skills for training and entertainment. These different applications are all governed by equally varying systems of rules. These studies are mainly based on investigations focusing on the so called 'fight books' - technical literature which codified the martial gestures both with text and illustrations from the early 14th century. Researchers also draw on other material and textual elements such as arms and armour, literary and normative texts, or iconography studied in context.