Johannes Liechtenauer - The Zedel (epitome)

The Zedel (epitome)

Liechtenauer was described by some later masters as the hochmeister ("high master" or "grand master") of the art, and a poem called the Zedel, or "epitome", is generally attributed to him by these masters. Many more masters and manuscripts quote some version this poem without attribution.

These Zedel (Zettel) were intended as mnemonic aids intended to help the student remember concepts he had been taught orally. They do not "explain" the technique in any detail. On the contrary, their wording is intentionally cryptic, and they are identified as "secret and hidden words" by later masters, who assure us that the opaque wording was intended to prevent the uninitiated from learning the techniques described in them. These verses were treated as the core of the art by his followers, and the organization of the earliest of our fencing manuals of the German school, beginning with Codex 3227a and followed by Sigmund Schining ein Ringeck, Peter von Danzig zum Ingolstadt, and Jud Lew in the mid 15th century, is such that first the reading of each Zedel is given, followed by a gloss or detailed explanation of its intended meaning.

The Zedel are organized as follows:

1. a general introduction to the art of fighting
2. a general introduction to fighting with the sword
3. techniques of unarmoured longsword fighting, including the "five strokes"
4. a section on mounted combat (Rossfechten)
5. a section on armoured combat (Kampffechten)
6. a section on grappling or unarmed combat (Ringen)

There are fragmentary allusions to other material, such as fighting with the dagger, the messer and the small shield, in Hs. 3227a, but if Liechtenauer had Zedel on these disciplines, they have not been preserved.

The general introduction is ethical as well as practical and runs as follows (the spelling given is that of MS 3227a, with scribal abbreviations expanded):

In addition to the verses on mounted fencing, several treatises in the Liechtenauer tradition include a group of twenty-six "figures"—single line abbreviations of the longer couplets and quatrains that seem to summarize them. A parallel set of teachings was recorded by Andre Paurñfeyndt in 1516 called the "Twelve Teachings for the Beginning Fencer"., These teachings are also generally abbreviations of longer passages in the Blossfechten, and are similarly repeated in many treatises throughout the 16th century. Thus, it may be that the figures are a mnemonic that represent the initial stage of mounted fencing instruction, and that the full verse was learned only afterward.

An English translation of the text of the Zedel as part of the text of the "von Danzig" treatise (Cod. 44 A 8) was published by Tobler (2010) under the heading of "Johannes Liechtenauer's Verse Epitome".