Paulus Kal: Kunst des Fechtens II

'Kunst des Fechtens' (the Art of Fighting) refers to the traditions and written manuals associated with the german school of combat techniques in the middle ages. Among these Fechtbücher (fight manuals) is the untitled fechtbüch of Paulus Kal, depicted above and in the previous post, which is online at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. (produced sometime before 1479)

Paulus Kal was a Master fencing/combat instructor employed in the mid-15th century by a Bavarian Duke and he was also a contemporary and rival of the more famous Hans Talhoffer. Both produced fechtbücher associated with the legendary 14th century Grandmaster swordsman, Johannes Liechtenauer. And it is from Kal's writings that we know something of the manner by which the secret Liechtenauer techniques were disseminated. (geneaology of fight schools)

There is little online about Kal and in fact I was reminded during searching that it's not simply information overload that can be a problem using the internet - information duplication makes searching frustrating. There are many sites that simply reproduce a single line entry on Kal from wikipedia and one other encyclopedic source - I kept seeing a link to the Bayerische manual above in a bunch of sites; the very same link that I had added to the wikipedia entry last night.

Kal's manual is about 200 pages long with beautiful and detailed illustrations about fighting on horseback with sword and lance, on foot with lance, sword, dagger and poleaxe, duelling with shields; sword and buckler techniques and wrestling, on virtually every page. There are a couple of pages regarding the provenance of the work at the beginning of the site but I don't read german and couldn't copy it from an image into a translator. So I'm unsure whether the work was first produced in black and white or not - the digitized images are a little 'different' to my mind and the subtlety of the shading suggests to me that it probably was in colour; the link below suggests this but they are not categorical.

I swear that it's by amazing coincidence that a limited edition leather bound version in colour of this work - 'In Service of the Duke' - is about to be released by Chivalry Bookshelf. They have example pages for viewing and you can read snippets of commentary if you squint.

• The most reliable sites with respect to medieval combat are: ARMA and AEMMA.
• I found this short essay by Greg Mele worth reading.
• 'The Secret History of the Sword' and The Academia della Spada have some useful articles.
• Fencing with the Longsword site by Michael Rassmusson.
• Previous combat entries here (including further links).

Paulus Kal: Kunst des Fechtens I

The Fechtbüch [or fechtbook or fighting/fencing manual] of Paulus Kal was digitized and uploaded by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek last year. (sometime before 1479) More information in Part II.

Cruydeboek

Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585) was a medical Professor from Belgium with a particular affection for botany. His interest led him to publish a number of works on the medical aspects of plants.

'Cruydeboek' from 1554 was heavily influenced by the work of Leonard Fuchs. Indeed, many of the woodcuts were taken from Fuchs' Herbal but Dodoens added a large number of new illustrations and wrote his own text. The work veered towards being a pharmacopeia and Dodoens broke with the alphabetical arrangement of Fuchs, grouping plants according to their characteristics in 6 different sections (the first image above shows the cover of 4 of these).

'Cruydeboek' was hugely successful, particularly after it was translated from the flemish into french ('Histoire des Plantes' by Charles de L'Ecluse, 1557) and english ('A Niewe Herball' by Henry Lyte, 1578). "It became a work of worldwide renown, used as a reference book for two centuries."

• This is the easiest link to the blocks of thumbnail pages from 'Cruydeboek' with high resolution images available (it was digitized by the great Kurt Stüber).
• The originating (dutch) site is Plantaardigheden but they do have a short outline in english.
• These are a few of the many sites online with information on Rembert Dodoens.

Trades

The top section of images come from 'The book of trades; or, Familiar descriptions of the most useful trades, manufactures, and arts practised in England : and the manner in which the workmen perform their various employments. London: A. K. Newman, undated, inscribed 1829' at the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture from the University of Wisconsin. {click on 'Display Gallery View'} [And apologies to normanpublishing]

The rest of the images are from 'London Labour and the London Poor' [Volume 2] 1861 by Henry Mayhew, among the 'The Bolles Collection on the History of London' at Tufts Digital Library. [Mayhew: CISS/Wikipedia] -- This is a truly fascinating (not to mention patronising) and detailed survey of the wretched vagabonds and street hustlers of Victorian London. It includes extensive interviews of subjects and methodical profiling of the seediest 'occupations'. It is the Dickens of non-fiction.

Of the Street-Finders or Collectors

"These men, for by far the great majority are men, may be divided, according to the nature of their occupations, into three classes:--

1. The bone-grubbers and rag-gatherers, who are, indeed, the same individuals, the pure-finders, and the cigar-end and old wood collectors.
2. The dredgermen, the mud-larks, and the sewer-hunters.
3. The dustmen and nightmen, the sweeps and the scavengers.

The first class go abroad daily to find in the streets, and carry away with them such things as bones, rags, “pure” (or dogs’ dung), which no one appropriates. These they sell, and on that sale support a wretched life.

The second class of people are also as strictly finders; but their industry, or rather their labour, is confined to the river, or to that subterranean city of sewerage unto which the Thames supplies the great outlets. These persons may not be immediately connected with the streets of London, but their pursuits are carried on in the open air (if the sewer-air may be so included), and are all, at any rate, outof- door avocations.

The third class is distinct from either of these, as the labourers comprised in it are not finders, but collectors or removers of the dirt and filth of our streets and houses, and of the soot of our chimneys."

• The History of Work Information Systems have 746 images "on the world of work in the past, taken from various books and collections." The images are not very big, however.
• I spent so much time dithering, reading about the convoluted intricacies of Crossing Sweeps that I didn't even manage to have an entry ready for posting on the 1st birthday of this here lowly establishment. I may have to have a week off as penance.

New France

'Map of Brouage, to serve for the projects of the year 1729'

"In the age of discovery, the French ports along the Atlantic shoreline and the English Channel were naturally attracted to the New World. From Bayonne to Dieppe, by way of the salt-rich ports of Saintonge, such as Brouage (birthplace of Samuel de Champlain), ships travelling the sea routes with North America supplied all of France with cod."

'Costumes of Canada (c. 1650)'

"From the start, the Aboriginal peoples of North America made themselves essential to the French as suppliers of pelts and furs, and played a key role in the economy of New France. They also took part in the conflicts between the French and English in North America.

The arrival of the immigrants — with evangelization, attempts at cultural assimilation, technical progress and diseases brought from Europe — resulted in a profound upheaval in the way of life of the Aboriginal population. Because their culture was oral, it was through accounts written by missionaries and explorers, and the iconography they used to describe them, often not based in reality, that Aboriginal traditions and language were revealed."

'The land of Hochelaga in New France by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, 1565.'

"In 1535, Jacques Cartier visited the Iroquois village of Hochelaga, the future site of Montréal, and described it in the account of his second voyage. This woodcut, published in Venice, is the first printed plan of an urban area in North America."

'Cross-section of a 104-gun flagship giving the main dimensions and
the names of the interior compartments], from 'Le Neptune françois ou Atlas nouveau des cartes marines', by Pène, Cassini et al., 1693'

"In the 15th century, fully rigged sailing ships became more common than galleys because of their higher waterline, rounded form and the complex rigging of their two or three masts. However, they were heavy and slow. French shipbuilding, long a craft-based enterprise, improved in the 18th century thanks to the contribution of specialized engineers, and it became possible to build ships with increased tonnage."

'Louisbourg Lighthouse 1733'

"Cape Breton Island became Île Royale [and] [b]eyond its defensive role, Louisbourg soon became an important port, and the hub of exchange for France, the West Indies and Canada. The fortified town included half the population of Île Royale, about 4,000 in 1750, and a large proportion of soldiers were quartered there in barracks. The English took control of Louisbourg in 1745, but Île Royale was given back in 1748. It fell permanently to the English in 1758."

'The Governor's House and St. Mather's
Meeting House, Halifax (Nova Scotia), 1764'

"As a major confrontation brewed between France and England over control of North America, Acadia became of vital strategic importance. England sought initially to reinforce its military presence in the region. It founded the town of Halifax in 1749 and introduced settlers throughout the territory. The Governor of Nova Scotia, Edward Cornwallis, demanded that Acadians swear unconditional allegiance to the British Crown, in order to eliminate any possibility of neutrality. In their petitions to the Council of Nova Scotia, the Acadians refused to take such an oath, which could oblige them to take up arms against France, but they did confirm their loyalty to the King of England.

The members of the Council, under President Charles Lawrence, rejected any possibility of tolerance towards the Acadians, and on July 28, 1755, decided to expropriate and expel them. Approximately 7,000 Acadians were thus assembled and sent by ship to the English colonies on the Atlantic coast; by 1762, another 2,000 to 3,000 had suffered the same fate. Sickness, epidemics, difficult voyages and harsh exile conditions, which were the result of this deportation, led to many deaths."

'Canadians of 1750' (c. 1815-1835)

"From the 16th century, the naked "Indian" wearing a feather headdress appeared in European iconography. Artists could base their works on the several Aboriginal people brought back by the explorers to be shown as curiosities at court and for entertainment in shows. The image of Aboriginal peoples formed by Europeans was largely the conception of artists who had never been to America. The European attitude was divided between the image of a "noble savage," virtuous and pure, and that of a barbarian in need of civilizing."

'Hudson Bay Porcupine 18th century'

"In addition to cartographic elements, descriptions of places and ethnographic observations, travel accounts often included a brief account of the flora and fauna. The earliest descriptions are approximate. [..]

All types of animals were of interest, but particularly those noted for their hides and pelts. Starting from the first voyages, specimens were brought back to Paris for the king's garden."

'Present state of Canada based on numerous Memoirs and
knowledge acquired in the field by Seigneur Boucault, Former
Special Lieutenant of the Provost Court and Lieutenant General
of the Admiralty of Québec], by Nicolas-Gaspard Boucault, 1754.'

"An organized society did not take shape until the creation of the royal colony in 1663, with the establishment of an administration by the Church and the monarchy, the arrival of new immigrants (who brought with them the traditions of various provinces of western France), and the development of urban communities centred around hospitals and educational establishments. [..]

The social structure in the colony was less rigid than in France, and before long, individual status became less a matter of birth than of merit, talent and usefulness. The spectrum of social positions narrowed, and the population gradually integrated characteristics that reflected the influence of the land, the climate, and contact with the Aboriginal peoples. During the 18th century, most of the colony's inhabitants defined themselves as Acadians or Canadians"

New France - New Horizons: On French Soil in America.