Hagedorn: Jude Lew – Das Fechtbuch

Sold out, re-print probably availabe in April 2025 (according to publisher)!

Like so many medieval fencing masters, Lew the Jew is a mysterious figure. His teachings are recorded in five surviving 15th and 16th centuries fighting books, but only the Augsburg manuscript is unmistakenly attributed to his name.

Lew's writings are closely connected to the teachings of master Johannes Liechtenauer, the most prominent figure in medieval European martial arts. Liechtenauer's system has been passed on in several different lines, two of which – those by Peter von Danzig and Sigmund Ringeck – have been thoroughly covered in the past. In contrast to that, the Lew tradition has so far been lrgely neglected.

This volume presents his complete manuscript from the middle of the 15th century for the first time in print. Particularly in comparison with the two other lines of tradition it shows the attraction and importance of his work. The present edition clearly shows the characteristics of Lew's Fechtbuch, and it contains an annotated full transcription as well as translations into modern German and English. In addition, readers will find a codicological description and a glossary.

The editor Dierk Hagedorn is a well-known expert in Historical European Martial Arts and has previously prepared acclaimed editions of fencing manuals by Peter von Danzig, Hans Talhoffer, and the Gladiatoria.

Hardcover, c. 440 pp. Bi-lingual edition German/English. Volume 5 of the Bibliothek der historischen Kampfkünste.