Codex Wallerstein

The Codex Wallerstein, also known as the Bauman Fechtbuch (Codex I.6.4º.2), is a late medieval German fencing manual (fechtbuch) that documents anonymous techniques for unarmored and armored combat using the longsword, falchion (messer), dagger, and wrestling.^[1] Compiled by the Augsburg fencing master Paulus Hector Mair in 1556 as a copy for his associate Hans Bauman, the manuscript integrates three distinct earlier sections originating from the Augsburg martial tradition: Parts A and B, dating to the 1470s and covering longsword, messer, dagger, and grappling; and Part C, from the 1420s, which includes longsword, short sword, long shield, and additional grappling in the pseudo-Gladiatoria style.^[2] Housed in the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg since at least the 19th century, it comprises 110 folios of paper with double-sided illustrations and Early New High German text, featuring three varied artistic styles that reflect its composite nature.^[3] This fechtbuch stands out among late medieval treatises for its practical emphasis on counters to common attacks, concepts like Vor (fore), Nach (after), and Indes (meanwhile), and techniques such as pommel strikes, half-swording, and joint locks, without direct references to the Liechtenauer school's Meisterhau strikes.^[4] Unlike more theoretical works, it presents "stills" of dynamic actions through stylized drawings, offering insights into a regional South German fighting style distinct from broader Liechtenauer traditions, possibly influencing later artists like Albrecht Dürer in his own fencing illustrations.^[2] The manuscript's survival and scholarly transcription—including the 2002 English edition by Grzegorz Żabiński and Bartłomiej Walczak, which provides original text alongside modern translations, and the 2025 edition Bauman's Fight Book translated by Jessica Finley and Christian Henry Tobler—have made it a key resource for reconstructing Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), highlighting the evolution of civilian and judicial combat in 15th-century Europe.^[1]^[5]

History

Origins and Compilation

The Codex Wallerstein, also known as the Bauman Fechtbuch, was compiled in 1556 by Paulus Hector Mair, a prominent 16th-century German fencing enthusiast and civil servant, who assembled it from three distinct 15th-century fechtbücher originating from southern Germany. Parts A and B originate from the Augsburg area in the 1470s, while Part C dates to the 1420s in the Upper Rhine region.^[6] This compilation preserved anonymous treatises on unarmored and armored combat techniques, reflecting a regional South German martial tradition distinct from the Liechtenauer school.^[2] Codicological analysis dates the manuscript's components through watermark examination and paleographic evidence. Parts A and B, covering unarmored weapons and grappling, were produced on paper bearing watermarks dated to 1464/1465, placing their creation around 1470.^[7] In contrast, Part C, focused on armored and specialized combat, uses paper watermarked 1420, indicating its origin in the first half of the 15th century.^[7] These datings correct earlier assessments and highlight the manuscript's layered composition over decades.^[7] The inside cover bears an inscription dated 1549 from Michael Baumann, possibly a descendant of an Augsburg mercenary of the same name recorded in local tax registers as active between 1471 and 1495, marking the Baumann family as the likely original owners of at least some components before Mair's assembly.^[8] Baumann's possession underscores the manuscript's circulation among practical fighters in the region. During compilation, Part B was inserted in two segments that interrupt the sequence of Part A, creating a non-linear structure that integrates wrestling techniques amid swordplay illustrations.^[7] The resulting codex, now housed in the Augsburg University Library as Cod. I.6.4º.2, exemplifies 16th-century efforts to consolidate medieval martial knowledge.^[6]

Provenance and Ownership

The Codex Wallerstein entered the possession of Paulus Hector Mair, a prominent Augsburg official and fencing enthusiast, in 1556, having previously belonged to the Baumann family.^[9] Mair, who compiled and annotated several fencing treatises, added his own notes and possibly other material to the manuscript during his ownership, which lasted until his execution for embezzlement in 1579.^[9] After Mair's death, the codex may have passed to the extensive library of Markus Fugger, the Augsburg banker and avid collector of manuscripts, around 1580. It remained in the Fugger collection until 1653, when it was sold to Prince Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein, entering the princely library that would later bear the family name.^[10] The Oettingen-Wallerstein library, renowned for its holdings of historical manuscripts, housed the codex through the 19th century, with the collection relocated to Maihingen Castle in 1841 and later stored at Harburg Castle after World War II. In 1980, the State of Bavaria acquired the Oettingen-Wallerstein library, and the codex was transferred to the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg, where it has been cataloged as Cod. I.6.4º.2 ever since.^[11] The manuscript's association with the Oettingen-Wallerstein provenance inspired its modern designation as the "Codex Wallerstein" around 2000, particularly within Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) communities studying medieval fencing treatises.^[9]

Description

Physical Characteristics

The Codex Wallerstein is a paper manuscript consisting of 110 folios, measuring approximately 140 mm by 210 mm in quarto (4º) format.^[2] It represents a compilation of three distinct 15th-century booklets bound together into a single volume during the 16th century by Paulus Hector Mair.^[2] The current binding is a modern reconstruction from 1989, which incorporates elements of the original structure.^[2] The text is written in brown and red inks, and the manuscript remains generally well-preserved, though edges are worn from use and some text has been cropped at the margins due to rebinding.^[9]

Illustrations and Artistic Features

The Codex Wallerstein contains over 100 ink and watercolor illustrations that depict various combat techniques, rendered in a simple, didactic style characteristic of 15th-century German fechtbücher. These images prioritize instructional clarity over artistic realism, featuring bold lines and minimal shading to convey positions and actions effectively. The manuscript exhibits three distinct artistic hands, reflecting its compilation from multiple sources, with variations in figure proportions and composition that align with medieval illuminators' conventions rather than anatomical precision.^[9]^[13] The artwork draws from a regional South German style, evident in the attire and settings of the figures, who appear in both civilian clothing and full armor to illustrate unarmored and armored scenarios across the codex's parts. This influence manifests in the straightforward depiction of dynamic poses, often using a limited color palette of black ink outlines filled with washes of red, blue, and green for clothing and weapons. The opening folio (1r) exemplifies this approach, portraying a central fencer grasping an array of weapons—including a longsword, dagger, and messer—in a symbolic display of martial versatility.^[14]^[9] Beyond combat scenes, the codex includes notable non-martial illustrations that provide cultural context. Folio 108v depicts a wedding ceremony with figures in elaborate courtly costumes, highlighting social rituals of the era. Folio 74v illustrates an armed robbery, showing an assailant overpowering a victim in a roadside ambush, complete with instructional annotations. Additionally, folios 1v–2r portray a fighting arena setup, including barriers and spectators, evoking the environment of judicial duels. These images enrich the manuscript's visual narrative while maintaining the overall didactic focus.^[13] A prominent example of the codex's illustrative motifs is the half-sword thrust on folio 107v, where an armored figure grips the blade to deliver a precise stab, contrasted against an opponent's strike; this plate underscores the blend of technical detail and stylized drama in the artwork. Such features not only visualize techniques from the unarmored, grappling, and armored sections but also preserve the fechtbuch tradition's emphasis on practical visualization.^[13]

Part A: Unarmored Weapons

Part A of the Codex Wallerstein comprises an anonymous German treatise on unarmored combat with weapons, compiled around 1470 and featuring approximately 48 illustrations across 24 folios. This section emphasizes practical techniques for civilian duels and self-defense, focusing on the longsword, dagger, and messer without reference to armored fighting. The treatise draws on principles from the German fencing tradition, including concepts of vor (initiative), indes (simultaneous action), and nach (follow-up), which align broadly with the Liechtenauer school of swordsmanship.^[13] The primary focus is on unarmored longsword fighting, detailed in folios 3r–14v and resumed briefly on 21r–21v after an interruption by grappling material. These passages describe a sequence of 26 illustrated plays, beginning with fundamental strikes such as the oberhau (overhead cut) and unterhau (underhand cut), progressing to guard positions (hengen) and counters. Techniques include halb-schwert (half-swording) for close control, schwertnehmen (sword-taking) to seize the opponent's blade, pommel strikes to the head, and leverages exploiting stärke (strong part of the blade) versus schwäche (weak part). The text stresses binding the swords to gain advantage, with examples of transitioning from wide cuts to thrusts or grapples when blades cross.^[13] Dagger techniques occupy folios 22r–28v, integrated into the resumed longsword section as close-quarters options. These seven plays illustrate disarms, strikes to vital areas, and counters to grabs, such as trapping the opponent's arm while delivering a pommel blow or using the dagger to pry open defenses during a bind. The emphasis is on rapid, economical movements in indes, prioritizing control over the adversary's weapon hand to enable lethal thrusts to the face, throat, or torso.^[4] The messer section, on folios 29r–32v, presents eight concise plays for the single-edged sword, often used by commoners. Each play pairs an illustration with a brief description of guards, cuts from the tag (roof guard), and parries leading to thrusts or slices to the hands and legs. Techniques highlight the messer's curved edge for hooking blades or limbs, with examples of transitioning from a high oberhau to a low wrap-around cut.^[15] This portion concludes the unarmored weapons material before the treatise shifts to wrestling. The overall structure reflects a pedagogical progression from open-distance swordplay to tighter weapon integrations, interrupted on folios 15r–20v by the first insertion of grappling techniques. Detailed transcriptions and translations of these contents are available in the 2002 edition by Grzegorz Żabiński and Bartłomiej Walczak.^[1]

Part B: Grappling Techniques

The grappling techniques in the Codex Wallerstein form a comprehensive unarmed combat treatise dating to circa 1465–1470, presented in two distinct segments across folios 15r–20v and 33r–74r. These sections interrupt the broader unarmored weapons content, totaling approximately 96 illustrated pages that emphasize close-quarters body-to-body engagement within the context of German martial traditions.^[16] The material reflects influences from South German fencing schools, particularly the Augsburg group, where wrestling (ringen) served as a foundational element of fechtbuch training, integrating principles of balance and control derived from practical combat scenarios.^[17] The treatise is structured around sequential plays, often grouped by initial stances such as the "long arms" position or horizontal guard, with each illustration depicting paired combatants in dynamic poses to illustrate attacks and counters. Over 50 illustrations—executed by at least two artists in a somewhat stylized, linear style—accompany the German text, showing unarmed sequences that progress from standing clinches to takedowns and submissions.^[9] Techniques prioritize leverage over brute strength, utilizing body mechanics like hip rotation and weight shifting to unbalance opponents; for instance, the "waage" (scale or balance) stance on folio 15r establishes a low, centered posture to facilitate throws while maintaining stability.^[16] Representative techniques include a variety of throws, such as hip throws (where one fighter pivots to sling the opponent over the thigh) and foot sweeps (tripping with the instep while controlling the upper body), as seen in folios 33r–40v. Joint locks and arm breaks follow, exemplified by elbow hyperextensions and wrist manipulations that exploit limb alignment to immobilize or injure, detailed in sequences around folios 50r–60v. Ground techniques appear in later plays, such as mounted positions where the dominant fighter applies pressure to the torso or neck for chokes and pins, emphasizing transitions from upright to prone combat to simulate prolonged struggles.^[9] These methods underscore a systematic approach to close combat, with counters designed to reverse grips or escapes, aligning with broader German fechtbuch emphases on vor (forehanded initiative) and nach (afterward responses).^[16] A unique transitional element concludes the second segment: folio 74v features an illustration of an armed robbery scenario, depicting a knife-wielding assailant feigning a lethal stab, which may serve as a contextual bridge to subsequent armed techniques while highlighting grappling's role in disarming threats. Overall, the grappling content demonstrates the codex's focus on practical, leverage-based unarmed fighting as an essential counterpart to weapon work in late medieval German martial arts.

Part C: Armored and Specialized Combat

The earliest section of the Codex Wallerstein, dating to circa 1420, comprises Part C and focuses on armored combat techniques, forming the manuscript's foundational layer known as the Pseudo-Gladiatoria. This portion spans folios 75r to 108r, encompassing roughly 34 folios that illustrate specialized fighting in full plate armor, including judicial duels and tournament scenarios. The content emphasizes adaptations of traditional weapons for the constraints of armor, distinguishing it as a key early representation of Harnischfechten, or armored fencing, in German martial traditions.^[3] Central to this section are longsword techniques in armor, depicted on folios 76r–80v and 101r–102v, where combatants employ half-swording grips and precise thrusts to exploit vulnerabilities in plate harnesses. A notable example of judicial armored fencing appears on folio 106r, showing two figures in formal combat attire engaged in a structured duel, likely intended for legal or honor-bound resolutions. These illustrations prioritize close-quarters maneuvers suited to restricted mobility, such as pommel strikes and levering actions against armored opponents.^[3] Specialized techniques extend to Stechschild combat on folios 96r–98v, featuring the use of a large padded shield paired with a short sword or dagger for thrusting encounters in tournament settings, reflecting practices in jousting variants. Integrated grappling in armor follows on folios 98v–100v, illustrating throws and joint locks adapted to the weight and rigidity of harnesses, often transitioning from weapon binds. Miscellaneous armed techniques, including short sword engagements, are shown on folios 81r–95v and 103r–108r, providing diverse applications for armored scenarios such as battlefield or judicial fights.^[3] The illustrations throughout Part C adopt an archaic style, characterized by bold outlines, minimal shading, and somewhat stiff figures, which contrasts with the more dynamic artwork in later sections and underscores the material's early 15th-century origins in the Upper Rhine region. This segment's emphasis on armored and judicial elements highlights its role in documenting elite martial practices, influencing subsequent fechtbücher compilations.^[3]

Significance

Historical Influence

The Codex Wallerstein served as a key source for Albrecht Dürer's 1512 Fechtbuch, where Dürer adapted its unarmored longsword figures and techniques, particularly from Part A, into his own illustrations of fencing postures and actions.^[18] This adaptation highlights the manuscript's role in shaping early Renaissance visual representations of German martial arts, blending its stylized depictions with Dürer's artistic innovations.^[9] In the 16th century, the Codex Wallerstein circulated within elite fencing circles, notably through the compilations of Paulus Hector Mair, a prominent Augsburg notary and author of combat treatises. Mair acquired and rebound the manuscript around 1556, adding annotations and integrating its content into his own works, such as the De Arte Athletica, thereby disseminating its techniques among South German practitioners and scholars.^[18] Following Mair's execution in 1579, the codex passed to the renowned Fugger family library in Augsburg from 1580 to 1653, contributing to its circulation among Renaissance nobility and martial enthusiasts.^[2] The manuscript contributed to the broader dissemination of the Liechtenauer tradition in South Germany by preserving core principles such as vor, nach, and indes (initiative, aftermath, and intervening), alongside guards like pflug and concepts of weak and strong sides (schwach and sterck), which aligned with Johannes Liechtenauer's secretive teachings.^[9] Its Augsburg provenance positioned it as a regional exemplar within the South German school of fencing, influencing local martial culture through shared motifs with contemporaneous works like those of Hans Talhoffer.^[18] Despite its impact, the Codex Wallerstein was not widely copied in its exact form during the 16th century, likely due to its compilation nature and the proprietary ethos of fencing guilds; instead, it exerted influence on regional martial manuscripts via selective adaptations in Augsburg-based treatises and compilations.^[9] This limited direct replication underscores its role as a specialized resource rather than a foundational template for widespread proliferation.^[18]

Modern Study and Revival

The Codex Wallerstein gained prominence in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) communities around 2000, when it was named and popularized during the revival of medieval combat studies, stemming from early online discussions and misattributions in historical catalogs.^[2] This naming distinguished it from its archival designation as Cod.I.6.4º.2 in the Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg, where it has been housed since 1980, following centuries at Oettingen-Wallerstein Castle (hence its common name), after its original compilation in Augsburg.^[2] Digital access to the manuscript expanded significantly in the early 2000s through online scans and transcriptions hosted by HEMA organizations. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA) provided early digital resources, including high-resolution images and introductory analyses, making the codex available to global researchers and practitioners by the mid-2000s.^[4] Wiktenauer, launched as a comprehensive HEMA library in the 2010s, further democratized access with full-color facsimiles, Middle High German transcriptions, and English translations of its sections on weapons and grappling.^[2] Scholarly analysis of the codex intensified in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with experts focusing on its technical content and ties to Liechtenauer traditions. Grzegorz Żabiński's 2001 article "Several Remarks on the Bloßfechten Section of Codex Wallerstein" examined the unarmored longsword techniques, highlighting principles like winden (winding) and binden (binding) as core to offensive and defensive strategies, often linking them to broader German fechtbuch methodologies. Żabiński, collaborating with Bartłomiej Walczak, expanded this in their 2002 book Codex Wallerstein: A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling, which offered bilingual editions and contextualized the manuscript's anonymous master's innovations in dagger and wrestling plays.^[9] In HEMA practice, the codex serves as a key source for reconstructing techniques, particularly in longsword and grappling drills that emphasize close-quarters control and transitions from strikes to clinches. Practitioners adapt its illustrations—such as the longsword zwerchhau (cross-cut) sequences and armored grappling flows—into sparring and training regimens, fostering interpretations that prioritize fluid, adaptive combat over static forms.^[2] These reconstructions, documented in HEMA workshops and resources from groups like ARMA, underscore the codex's enduring influence on modern interpretations of 15th-century German martial arts.^[4]