Medieval Armoured Combat

The “Gladiatoria” group of German fencing manuscripts are several editions of a treatise on armoured foot combat, specifically aimed at duel fighting. Gloriously-illustrated, and replete with substantial commentary, these works are some of the greatest achievements in the corpus of late medieval fight books. These works have both tremendous artistic merit and incalculable historical value.

In this remarkable full colour volume, authors Dierk Hagedorn and Bartłomiej Walczak elegantly present their work on the copy of this treatise now in the Yale Center for British Art, including a reproduction of the manuscript, a full transcription, and translations into English.

The work includes a foreword by Sydney Anglo which explains how the work shows a highly sophisticated pedagogical system of movement and applauds the editors for presenting the material in a clear and practical way.

Additional essays discuss other aspects of the manuscript – including a tale of Dierk Hagedorn’s adventures tracking down the manuscript.