Masters of Defence or Masters of Fencing is a widespread guild of teachers specializing in close combat military techniques with weapons, civilian fighting skills, and unarmed combat. The title was coined during the Medieval period, and referred to men who were particularly skilled at the art of fighting.

Beginning

The first Master known to history, at least according to this article, is Master Roger (known as ''le Skirmisour'') of 1311 London. The Masters of Defence within Germany were the first to organize themselves into

guilds A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

, such as the 1480

Marxbrüder The Brotherhood of Saint Mark (german: Marxbrüder, Marx brothers) was the name of the most important organization of German swordsmen in the 16th century. History The brotherhood originated in the 15th century, but it is not known when exac ...

. Other guilds included the Company of St Luke (Luxbrueder) and the

Federfechter The ''Freifechter'' or ''Federfechter'' (''Freifechter von der Feder zum Greifenfels'') were a fencing guild founded around 1570 in Prague. They were known, from early in their existence, to be skilled, rivalling the Marx brothers who for the best ...

Later

Organisation

Prior to the year 1540,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

of England, established the Corporation of the Masters of Defence. During 1540, an order was given to nine ''Masters of Fence'' and eleven ''provosts'' to seek out other individuals acting as instructors who were of lower-standing and ill-repute, which included details of the rules of expected behavior and right conduct for those so-called Masters. In addition, fencing schools were already made party to the rules of law during the same time-period. At about 1570, the ruler of the nation of France recognized the first association of fencing masters of his country. During the late nineteenth century and twentieth century, there were a number of masters originating in the countries of Belgium, France, Italy, and Hungary, who migrated to the United States of America.

Personages

Fencing Masters known to history were Captain Caizo (circa sometime a little prior to July 1547), teacher of Le Sieur de Jarnac (who famously fought Lord Chastaigneraie in a duel); the 16th century Italian masters Agrippa, (

Rocco Bonetti Rocco or Rocko is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: First name * Rocco Baldelli (born 1981), American Major League Baseball player and manager of the Minnesota Twins * Rocco Botte (born 1983), American actor an ...

c.1570), Capo ferro,

Di Grassi Di Grassi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Giacomo di Grassi (16th century), Italian fencing master * Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes ...

, Fabris, Giganti, Marozzo, and Viggiani; Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603, French); Wilhelm Kreussler father of the Kreussler dynasty, Wernesson de Liancour (c.1686);

Sir William Hope ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

(1660-1729); Henry Blackwell; James Figg (champion of the Corporation of Masters of Defence);

Heinrich Wilhelm Kreussler Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

a member of Germany's most important master fencing dynasties and teacher of Anthon Friedrich Kahn (18th century); Domenico Angelo;

La Boiëssière père LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

and

Joseph Boulogne Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (25 December 1745 – 10 June 1799), was a French Creole (people), Creole virtuoso violinist and composer, who was conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris. Saint-Georges was born in the ...

, joint inventors of the fencing mask (c.18th century);

Sainct Didier The known history of fencing in France begins in the 16th century, with the adoption of Italian styles of fencing. There are medieval predecessors, such as the Burgundian '' Le jeu de la hache'' ("The Play of the Axe") of ca. 1400, but the histo ...

, the supposed father of modern fencing; and General Franz Siegel, the master of the first fencing school in the USA at the New York turnverein (circa.1851).

Publications

Between the 13th and 17th centuries, there were more than one hundred manuals of martial defense created by these Masters. Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603) was the first of France's modern masters to publish. There is a 1711 publication by Zach Wylde on the subject.Zach Wylde
English Master of Defence
Wyvern Media, etrieved 2015-07-27/ref> Amongst others,

Egerton Castle __NOTOC__ Egerton Castle M.A., F.S.A. (12 March 1858 – 16 September 1920) was an author, antiquarian, and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing, frequently in collaboration with his colleague Captain Alfred H ...

wrote a text entitled ''Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century''. (Master Roger ''le Skirmisour'' of 1311 - p.17)

References