The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship

What a tour de force! Expertly analysed and impeccably edited, The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship is a superb addition to the growing corpus of scholarly publications on the medieval martial arts, and will stand as the definitive edition of this important manuscript for years to come. – Noel FallowsRoyal Armouries Manuscript I.33 is a unique survivor and deserves to be widely known. Impeccably edited, meticulously annotated and accurately transcribed and translated, this facsimile with its erudite introduction does full justice to the earliest-known fencing manual. The volume should be studied not only by specialists in the history of personal combat but also (and far more so) by anybody interested in the history of movement notation, in medieval pedagogy, and in book illustration. – Sydney AngloJeffrey L. Forgeng is a pioneer of European Martial Arts studies and holds the HEMA lifetime achievement award. He has packed more than 25 years of study into this new edition of the earliest Fight Book, which has been revised in light of the latest research. The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship is a must-have publication for both scholars and practitioners. – Daniel JaquetRoyal Armouries MS I.33 is without doubt the most important early book of swordsmanship. It is essential for even a basic understanding of European martial arts, and Jeffrey Forgeng’s new edition should be considered required reading for anyone interested in the history of weapons. – Tobias Capwell

Jeffrey Forgeng serves as Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts and as adjunct professor of Humanities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is the author of multiple books on medieval and Renaissance history, and is one of just a handful of scholars with specialist knowledge of the martial arts techniques of the period. His work on the I.33 manuscript is internationally renowned.