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Hallowed Hippology - Equos toto orbe terrarum
English Translation (Wiktenauer)
English Translation (Wiktenauer)
"An upper winding in with the sword over his lance."
"An upper winding in with the sword over his lance."
[107] When you have inserted the lance into the lance rest, you ride toward the opponent and aim the point to his chest. If your opponent comes at you in this manner, and you are without armour, holding your sword before your chest in your right hand, and the reins in your left, then ride toward him and remove his lance thrust to your right. Then you reach over his lance with your right arm so that you hold it under the arm, and make sure to put the sword underneath so that the cross lies against the underside of the lance. If you then continue forward, you will strike the opponent's lance out of the lance rest with your sword in your left side.
Munich II Transcription (1540s) by Per Magnus Haaland
Munich II Transcription (1540s) by Per Magnus Haaland
“Certamen peditis lancea utens cum equite hasta equestri utente.
“Certamen peditis lancea utens cum equite hasta equestri utente.
"Si quando evenerit, ut eques cursu te urgeat equestri, atque te laedere conetur, tum lanceae mucronem posteriorem terrae infigas, anteriorem vero contra hostem porrigas. In primis autem diligenter curabis, ut lancea utrinque commode uti possis, ut si adversarius equo insidens contra te invehitur, cursu citato, hastam equestrem usurpans, ex utroque latere eum repellas. Et si te adgreditur, eius hastam de latere tuo dextro versus equitis sinistrum, lancea tua excutias. Si igitur is te porro is te porro urserit, tuque lanceam tuam in faciem ipsius subinde direxeris, futurum est, ut ipse semetipsum deiicias, et inde ense Hispano agere contra hostem poteris quodcumque libuerit."
Marc's Comments
Marc's Comments
It’s important to note that this shows and describes an unarmored rider winning this exchange. The other plays advise aiming specifically for the visor, since it is so hard to damage a person through their armor, but here the initial attacker is free to aim for an unarmored chest, rather than seeking vulnerable gaps.
“Vinden” (winding or turning) is a hallmark of the Kunst de Fechten tradition. This tradition breaks the body into 4 quadrants, and the action of winding is to turn the weapon to gain a leverage advantage in order to control the opponent’s weapon in opposition, control the centerline and strike them safely. The author is assuming knowledge of these basic concepts as they are not explained in the play.
In this case after deflecting the point, you are wrapping your arm over the opponent’s lance with pressure from the crossuard underneath to maintain control and injure the opponent safely.
The civilian clothing adds an extra importance to the emphasis on control and safety,
Else's Comments
Else's Comments
Weapon in the right hand, reins in the left is a common starting position.
The unarmored defender rides in a war saddle with a high rear arcon bracing his back. The armored attacker likely atop similar under the pictured waffenrock (skirted war coat).
Armored riders in war saddles brace securely from front to back forces. Once an attacker places his lance in his breastplate rest, the upward and forward force of the horse’s canter stride transmits through the saddle's structure to the armored rider and via the lance to the defender. War saddles do not support the rider against forces from the side.
When parrying the lance off-line, the defender removes himself as the target. The defender then traps the lance's weak portion (away from the attacker’s body) with the strong portion of himself (near the defender’s body). This relative position gives him leverage.
Riding encounters occur off-line so that the horses for not foul each other. Riding forward pulls the lance to the attackers right. Bringing the sword moving to the left will pull the attack further to the right and the defender will shift his weight encouraging his horse to travel to the left. The resulting lateral movement by the defender’s horse adds more sideways pressure.
In mounted encounters, Grissone (1550) recommends:
“Therefore, be aware the enemy, you should direct your gaze towards the right side of you enemy's horse and his movements and nowhere else...When the horse leaps or stops or for any other movement, you will accompany him in a timely manner, conforming to his motion just as he responds to your every thought and command, so that it is necessary that your body fit his back evenly, and you are always attuned with him and that you govern him with the same harmony as in music.” (Tobey ed, 2014).
Demonstration of the Technique
Video by Marc, 2021
1516 War Augsburg War SaddleKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, AustriaImage by Else, 2018
Note the plate that wraps around the riders hips.
c 1546/7 Innsbruck Armor Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria Image by Else, 2018
The lance rest is just visible on the right side of the chest behind the rondel.
Video of exaggerated examples rider weight shifts impacting horse movement. The weight shift recommended would be more subtle, but would direct the horse to travel to the left as the rider returns to center.
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