Embedded Files
Hallowed Hippology - Equos toto orbe terrarum
English Translation (Wiktenauer)
English Translation (Wiktenauer)
A fight where the rider has a spear and the foot soldier is defending himself with a sword.
A fight where the rider has a spear and the foot soldier is defending himself with a sword.
Do thus: Raise the spear over your right leg with your right hand and as you spur your horse toward your opponent you insert the spear into the arret, and aim for his visor(!). If the rider comes at you in this manner, and you have neither pike nor halberd to protect yourself with, only the sword, then draw it and hold it up in front of your face, and move his sword upward with the cross in this manner, than you have defended yourself against his thrust. Then you raise the sword over your head, step in triangle and cut the horse's sinews so that it falls to the ground and you may do whatever you wish with the opponent.
Munich II Transcription (1540s) by Per Magnus Haaland
Munich II Transcription (1540s) by Per Magnus Haaland
Certamen equitis venabulo utentis con[tra] peditem ensem se defendentem.
Certamen equitis venabulo utentis con[tra] peditem ensem se defendentem.
Hac ratione te accommodato: venabulum supra pedem dextru erectum tollas dextra manu, atque inde contra hostem incites equum iniecto venabulo in hamum supernum, adpetasque ipsius buculam. Id autem si contra te constituatur neque bipennem neque lanceam habentem, sed tantum te ense defendentem, eo educto ultra faciem tuam tollas, atque ensis cruce eo habitu venabulum equitis sursum urgeas, et impetum ipsius removeris. Post autem levato ense supra caput, in triangulum concedas, nec non equi adversarii nervos pedum posteriorum incidas, eo igitur negocio confecto equus procidet, et conari contra hostem poteris quodcumque placebit.
Marc's Comments
Marc's Comments
The description of the fencer’s defensive position puts him in “Kron”, one of the secondary guards in the KdF tradition.
It’s interesting to note that the footsoldier’s stance seems to be centrally weighted, which would allow for changes of direction in footwork easily.
The “triangle” is a specific type of offline step, described clearly in Meyer’s 1570 treatise:
“The other ones are the steps to the sides which are delineated through a triangle, namely thus: Stand in a straight line with your right foot before your opponent, and with the left behind the right step toward his left, this is the first. The second which is done double you do thus: Step as before with the right foot against his left, then follow with the left behind the right somewhat to the side to his left, and then again with the right farther to his left.” (Forgeng, 2006)
Getting offline is very important both for having a safer defense, and having a better angle for the counter attack, in this case probably a “mittlehut” (middle cut) at the horse’s sinews
The illustration seems to have the foot soldier’s initial motion to the right of the horseman, he is crossing the centerline with this step, and lifting the lance not just up but to the horseman's right, which would potentially disarm/unhorse the rider, or at least make a more difficult recovery.
Else's Comments
Else's Comments
Unmounted combatants coordinate two legs not six leaving them to make rapid changes of direction. I agree that the centrally weighted stance is important to the success of the foot soldier.
Rossfecten attacks originate far away from the opponent due the horse's canter stride length. The rider initiates positioning his lance by locking it into the breastplate. He also spurs the horse asking for a longer canter stride. This forward motion creates something analogous to a fencing lunge.
Once the mounted pair commits to line of attack, the centrally balanced foot soldier catches the lance on his quillions and parries the lance offline. The triangle step turns him towards the passing horse whose neck is exposed.
There is substantial ligament (nuchal ligament) that runs along the top of the horse’s neck (below-yellow). It begins in front of the saddle to attaches behind the ears. The spine runs along the base of the horse's neck (below-pink). This ligament is the likely targeted sinew. It pictured unarmored but can be protected by plates across the top of the neck. Attackers could also target the Achilles tendon of the hind limbs as the horse travels past. That tendon is more difficult to armor. (Singh, 2017)
Humans tend towards right-handedness. Horses tend towards left-sidedness. Grissone (1550) addresses these tendencies. First he encourages riding “always with the right stirrup a half point shorter than the other” presumably to counter attempts to unhorse or disarm the rider to the right. Further in early training he encourages the rider to “always do the first and last turn towards the right” (Tobey ed, 2014) This repetition adds lateral balance and strengthens the horse's weak right side.
Demonstration of the Technique
Yellow line represents one possible "sinew" target as seen when Marc chops down (video above)
Armor to protect the ligament that runs along the top of the horse's neck. (Crinnet)
c1547 InnsbruckKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria
Image by Else
Image by Else
Maille caparison - This drape would protect the muscles of the upper thigh, but not the Achilles tendon.
Romania Mid-Sixteenth Century Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria
Image by Else
Image by Else
3 Videos of practice drills - The rider makes the horse's stride longer or shorter to reach the target pole on the ground at the desired time. When the rider asks for a longer stride coming into the target, it gives the effect of a fencer's lunge.
Video by Heinrich?
Left: Germany - Hilt (c. 1580) - Blade (14th cent)
Center: Germany and Switzerland (c. 1525 - c. 1550)
Right: Germany - (c. 1525 - c. 1550)
Left: Medium: Iron or steel, copper, cord and leather, blued
Length: 95.5 cm
Width: 5.4 cm
Weight: 2.05 kg
Inv: A477
Location: European Armoury I
Center: Date: c. 1525 - c. 1550
Medium: Iron, steel and cord, blued
Length: 133.5 cm (total); 103.2 cm, blade
Width: 4.2 cm, blade at guard
Weight: 1.91 kg
Width: 22.3 cm, guard
Balance point: 10.8 cm, forward of the guard block
Inv: A478
Location: European Armoury I
Right: Medium: Iron or steel and leather, blackened
Length: 100.3 cm (total); 24.5 cm (grip)
Width: 2.7 cm, at shoulder
Weight: 1.16 kg
Inv: A476
Location: European Armoury I
Images by Marc
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