English Longsword School
While the majority of surviving sources concerning the use of the two handed Longsword detail the German school of swordsmanship and the Italian school of swordsmanship, there was also a smaller English school[when?] with its own techniques (for an example: Half-sword).[1] The body of techniques used in English Longsword use has survived to the modern day in three manuscripts: The Ledall Roll, Man yt Wol ("The Man that Will")/The Harley Manuscripts)[2][3] and the Cotton Titus Manuscript[4][5]
Sources
The three main sources are not widely available. None of the originals has been scanned, however some of them are accessible in the museums in which they reside, for example the Ledall Roll can be seen in the British Library reading room.[6] The sources range in time from the Harleian manuscript (1450) [4] to the Ledall Roll (first half 1600s) [6]
Comparison to German and Italian School
The most obvious comparison is the scarce extent of surviving manuscripts. While there are many Italian and comparatively numerous German manuscripts, there are only three English Longsword treatises. Additionally, the English sources are without illustration, so they are text only. This makes them more difficult to interpret. The last challenging factor is that they have largely not been scanned. Despite this, there are some dedicated HEMA Historical European Martial Arts practitioners, in the United Kingdom, and in Australia (largely associated with the Stoccata School of defence) dedicated to the study of the English longsword form.[7]
References
- ↑ Bradak, Benjamin "Casper", and Heslop, Brandon. "Lessons on the English Longsword". Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-58160-734-5
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Bradak, Benjamin "Casper", and Heslop, Brandon. "A Brief Introduction to the Boon of the English Flourysh." Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts. Ed. Jeffrey Hull. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.