Masters of Defence
European fighting experts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance who
taught the use of contemporary weapons of military combat and civilian
street-fighting skills along with unarmed defense methods were known as
Masters of Defence. A multitude of martial art styles were practiced from
the Greek peninsula to Spain, the British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia, Rus-
sia, the Baltics, and Turkey. Recognizing that armed fighting and unarmed
fighting were only different facets of personal combat, Masters of Defence
taught an integrated art. The manuals that many of these masters compiled
describe sophisticated techniques for the use of swords, shields, spears,
staffs, and daggers, as well as discussing unarmed skills.
In 1617, Sir Joseph Swetnam wrote, “Then he is not worthy to be called
a Master of Defence, which cannot defend himself at all weapons... and
therefore greatly wronged are they which will call such a one a Fencer, for the
difference between a Master of Defence and a Fencer, is as much as between
a Musician and a Fiddler, or betwixt a Merchant and a Peddler” (Swetnam
1617). In 1599, English master George Silver wrote, “A swordsman should
not be so interested in the destruction of his opponent that he disregards his
own defence. A Master of Defence is he who can take to the field and know
that he shall not come to any harm” (Silver 1599). Moreover, martial artists
of the period recognized the differences between true masters and mere the-
atrical performers or commercial stunt fighters, whom the Germans called le-
ichmeistere(dance-masters) and klopffechter(clown-fighters).
From the 1200s through the 1600s, Masters of Defence produced
over a hundred detailed, often well-illustrated, technical manuals on their
fighting methods. These manuscripts, produced by hand in the 1300s and
1400s or printed and published in the 1500s and 1600s, are invaluable re-
sources on all but lost Western martial arts. These works, produced by pro-
fessionals who fought and killed in battles and duels, present a portrait of
European fighting skills that were systematic and highly dynamic. These
experts developed and taught a craft that had been learned through life-
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