François Dancie was a French fencing instructor who wrote two treatises in the seventeenth century. He was a gentleman of Limousin in central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He may be the same as the François Dancie of Nonards, who was recorded as marrying Jeanne de Linnars, daughter of Jacques de Linnars, Judge of Bretenaux. Jeanne's brother Jean was married to Marie de Maynard, daughter of Géraud de Maynard, counsellor to the

Parlement of Toulouse The Parlement of Toulouse () was one of the '' parlements'' of the Kingdom of France, established in the city of Toulouse and responsible for a territory roughly similar to the modern administrative region of Occitania. It was modelled on the ...

, and also sister to the poet François de Maynard, who wrote a poem for Dancie's 1623 publication. Dancie's first work, ''Discours des armes et methode pour bien tirer de l'espée et poignard'' (Discourse Of Arms And Method To Properly Fence With The Sword And Dagger) is a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of two parts, written some time before 1617. The first part concentrates on the

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

and

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

, the second on the single sword. Dancie is brief in his description of

posture Posture or posturing may refer to: Medicine * List of human positions ** Abnormal posturing, in neurotrauma **Spinal posture * Posturography, in neurology Other uses * Posture (psychology) * Political posturing Political posturing, also known a ...

and guard, concentrating mainly on drawing the opponent into an attack as well as how to deal with overly aggressive opponents. The second, ''L'Espee de combat'' is a fuller development of Dancie's system published in 1623. In this work, he pours criticism on those who follow the "classic" method of

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, such as Agrippa, yet praises teachers such as the Calvacabos of Bologna, who taught at the French court at the time. Dancie's methodology is predominantly concerned with drawing out and countering an attack from the opponent as well as how to face down an enraged and reckless enemy. Dancie's work does not appear to have been reprinted after 1623, nor does he appear to have been referenced in any further texts.Brioirst P., Drevillon H. & Serna P, ''Croiser le fer: Violence et culture de l’épée dans la France moderne'', 2002

References

External links

Translation of François Dancie's manuscript of c.1610
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dancie, Francois 17th-century fencers Swordfighters Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown French male fencers