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A Resource Guide to Historic Combat

Please note that this guide is a work in progress. If you have any comments, suggestions, corrections, or additions please e-mail Lady Elysabeth Underhill (mka Larissa Gordon) at laralu@gmail.com

Recommended resources to begin with:

Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA) - www.aemma.org

This historical European martial arts school possesses a significant online library which includes period manuals, a listing of secondary book sources, and a few articles. A small fee is needed to access most of the materials, except for a few specific manuals.

Bjorn's Sword Site (Sweden) - bjorn.foxtail.nu/swords.htm

Click on the section labeled "Stuff in English" for a wealth of essays on sword-related topics.

Historical Manuals by Patri Jones Pugliese - www.latourdulac.com/fencing/patri.html

The oldest and largest source for photocopied combat manuals from the Middle Ages to the 1800's.

Journal of Western Martial Art (JWMA) - ejmas.com/jwma/

An online peer-reviewed journal for the study of western martial arts. A great resource with information on all aspects of Medieval and Renaissance historic combat.

The Knighthood, Tournaments & Chivalry Resource Library - www.chronique.com/

A fine resource for articles and links on precisely what it says.

Additional Resources

Schools:

UNITED STATES:

Academia della Spada (Washington State near Seattle) - www.academiadellaspada.com

contains articles of interest

ARMA (various study groups) - www.thearma.org/

contains articles of interest

Chicago Swordplay Guild (Chicago) - www.chicagoswordplayguild.com

Davenriche European Martial Arts School (Santa Clara & Morgan Hill CA) - www.davenriche.com/

Gallowglass Academy (Illinois) - www.gallowglassacademy.org/

Higgins Armory Sword Guild (Massachusetts) - www.higginssword.org/guild/study/index.html

contains article of interest

Martinez Academy of Arms (New York City) - www.martinez-destreza.com/

contains articles of interest

Mid-Atlantic Society for Historical Swordsmanship (Maryland & Virginia) - www.mashs.org/

St. Martin's Academy of Arms - www.stmartinsacademy.com/

Northwest Academy of Arms (Oregon) - www.northwestacademyofarms.com/

contains article of interest

Rocky Mountain Historical (Denver, & area study groups) - lamar.colostate.edu/~kenelson/RMHCG

Schola St. George (Dallas, San Francisco, and various study groups) - www.scholasaintgeorge.org/

Schola Solis (Los Angeles, CA) - www.scholasolis.com/

Tattershall School of Defence (Arizona, California, Texas, Washington) - www.tattershall.org/index.html

contains articles of interest

CANADA & EUROPE (only includes schools with websites in English):

AEMMA (Toronto) - www.aemma.org

contains articles of interest

The Company of Maisters (England) - www.maisters.demon.co.uk/

European Historical Combat Guild (several chapters throughout Western Europe) - http://www.ehcg.net/

contains articles of interest

The Exiles (England) - www.the-exiles.org/

contains articles of interest

Hotspur School of Defense (England) - www.historicalfencing.org/Hotspur/index.htm

Linacre School of Defense (England) - www.sirwilliamhope.org/

articles of interest

McDonald Academy (Scotland) - www.historicalfencing.org/Macdonaldacademy/

Schola Gladitoria (England) - http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/

contains articles of interest

School of European Swordsmanship (Finland) - www.swordschool.com/en/index.html

Sussex Rapier School (England) - www.hadesign.co.uk/SRS/html/home.htm

contains articles of interest

Stoccatta School of Defense (Australia) - www.stoccata.org/

contains articles of interest

Organizations:

Association for Historical Fencing - www.ahfi.org/

This association puts out a newsletter which includes articles, a few of which might be of interest to an SCA audience. Past issues are available to the public.

Classical Fencing - www.classicalfencing.com/index.shtml

Dedicated to preserving and promoting classical and historical fencing, the website of this organization has many useful articles within its pages, though all will not fall within the SCA's time period.

Historical European Martial Arts Coalition - www.hemac.org/index.php

Several articles and a few period manual translations.

Oakeshott Institute - http://www.oakeshott.org/

Focuses on the study of ancient arms and armour.

Order of the Seven Hearts - www.salvatorfabris.com/Home.shtml

A member of the Mid-Atlantic Society for Historical Swordsmanship, this group of individuals focuses its study on the teachings of Fabris. This site contains several articles.

Sword Forum International - swordforum.com/

This organization exists to promote the study of swords and swordsmanship from all cultures and time periods. There are a few useful articles and some links to images, but the most valuable resource on this website is the online forum.

Websites:

The Arador Armor Library - www.arador.com

Dedicated to providing information about armor and armor construction. Includes articles, links to images, reviews, and more.

Armour Archive - www.armourarchive.org

Devoted to teaching people how to make armor. Includes many articles with information about historic armor, links to useful websites, and a discussion board.

Bjorn's Sword Site (Sweden) - bjorn.foxtail.nu/swords.htm

Click on the section labeled "Stuff in English" for a wealth of essays on sword-related topics..

Destreza Translation and Research Project - www.plumes.org/destreza/

Dedicated to the Spanish system of period rapier combat.

The Duellist - http://www.theduellist.co.uk/

Provides useful information of all types for those interested in European swordsmanship in the United Kingdom.

Elizabethan Fencing & the Arte of Defence - jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/fencing.html

A good starting point to learn the basics about later period historic rapier combat. The site includes basic information about a number of period masters, different styles of fencing, a useful links page, a few period manuals which have been translated into English, and other articles & information of interest.

HistoricalFencing.org- www.historicalfencing.org/

Links to several different organizations related to historic fencing.

Journal of Western Martial Art (JWMA)- ejmas.com/jwma/

An online peer reviewed journal for the study of western martial arts. A great resource with information on all aspects of Medieval and Renaissance historic combat.

The Knighthood, Tournaments & Chivalry Resource Library - www.chronique.com/

A fine resource for articles and links on precisely what it says.

Medieval Sword Resource Site -www.vikingsword.com/

Extensive information on Medieval Swords including a virtual museum, bibliography, on-line library, collectors guide, and more.

MyArmoury.com- www.myarmoury.com

For those who collect modern reproductions of arms and armor. Features articles and other information on the history of weapons and armor.

The Secret History of the Sword - www.swordhistory.com/

Website for the book of the same name authored by J. Christoph Amberger. This site includes excerpts from the book.

A Study of the London Masters of Defense - www.iceweasel.org/lmod.html

Article providing an overview of the London Masters of Defense

Western Arts Digest - www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4933/westernarts.html

Hosted by Ken Pfrenger (of Irish Stick Fighting), the Western Arts Digest is read by an international group of active Western stylists.

Period Manuals:

AEMMA - www.aemma.org/library_top.htm

This organization has a very extensive "knowledge base." Access to scanned original copies, translations, and interpretations of Liberi and Silver are free for anyone to use. Access to AEMMA's other resources requires the purchase of an online library e-card for a nominal fee.

ARMA - www.thearma.org/manuals.htm

ARMA has resources from a wide variety of well known and more obscure manuals, however, many of the scanned copies of original manuals on this website are only available as excerpts. Some of these can be accessed in full if you become a member of ARMA and pay their membership fee.

Elizabethan Fencing & the Arte of Defence - jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/fencing/manuals.html

Agrippa (original), Alfieri (original) Capo Ferro (original), Carranza (translated & original), Fabris (original), Giganti (original) Lovino (translated), Marozzo (original), Tamiriz (original)

Fiore de Liberi (translation) - www.varmouries.com/wildrose/fiore/fiore.html

Giacomo di Grassi (interpretation) - www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/

DiGrassi (transcription) - www.cs.unc.edu/~hudson/digrassi/

Don Danulf's Academy of Defense - www.musketeer.org/online.html

In English - De Grassi, Saviolo (book 1), Silver (two manuals)

The Exiles - www.the-exiles.org/FioreProject/Project.htm

Fiore (translations and transcriptions based upon several origiinal texts with scans of images)

Higgins Armory Sword Guild - www.higginssword.org/guild/study/index.html

Myer, scan of original

Historical Manuals by Patri Jones Pugliese - www.latourdulac.com/fencing/patri.html

The oldest and largest source for photocopied combat manuals from the Middle Ages to the 1800's.

Linacre School of Defense - www.sirwilliamhope.org/

Primarily focuses on out of period masters and manuals. The works of Silver are available as well as many out of period manuals, such as the manual written by Sir William Hope.

The Raymond J. Lord Collection - www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord/

All original - Agrippa, Auerswald, dall'Agocchie, di Grassi (English), Dudley, Giganti, Gunterrodt, Liancour, Lovino Manciolino, Marcelli, Marozzo, St. Didier

Pallas Armata (English) - www.plumes.org/manuals/PallasArmata/PA-title.html

Sussex Rapier School - www.hadesign.co.uk/SRS/html/tretis1.htm

Agrippa (original & interpretation), Alferi (original) Carranza (translated), Capo Ferro (translated & original) de Grassi (English), Fabris (original), Giganti (original), Lovino (translated), Marozzo (translated & original), Palladini (translated), Saviolo (English), Silver (English, two manuals), & Alfred Huton's "Old Swordplay"

Tattershall School of Defence - www.tattershall.org/index.html

Capo Ferro (translation - bad link use www.archive.org to retrieve), Giganti (partial translation), Liberi (original), Manciolino (original), Quintino (partial translation), Vigianti (translated), an out of period small sword manual, a period Italian/English dictionary

Books:

Chivalry Bookshelf - www.chivalrybookshelf.com/

Chivalry Bookshelf publishes a wonderful selection of books written by experts in all areas of historical combat. The books listed on there website are also available through purchase at Amazon.

Discussion Forums:

Historic_Combat_SCA (SCA forum) - groups.yahoo.com/group/Historic_Combat_SCA/

Livre_de_combat (SCA forum) - groups.yahoo.com/group/livre_de_combat/

Western-Arts - sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/western-arts/

Sword Forum International - forums.swordforum.com/

ARMA - www.thearma.org/forum/

Conferences:

Known World Academy of the Rapier (SCA), Sept 2006 - kwar2006.sca-caid.org/classes.php

International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention - artofcombat.org/public/thespis/Convention/aocflyer.htm

Western Washington WMA Workshop (4W) - www.academiadellaspada.com/events/4w/2006/about.html

Western Martial Arts Workshop (WMAW) - www.wmaw.us/

Museums:

Mediaeval Swords in Museums: www.vikingsword.com/index1.html
An annotated list of major museums in Europe, Canada, and the United States featuring exhibits of arms and armor from the Middle Ages. (Click on "museums")

North American Museums:

Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) - www.rom.on.ca/
Higgins Armory Museum (Massachusetts) - www.higgins.org/
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) - www.metmuseum.org/
Philadelphia Museum of Art - www.philamuseum.org/
Cleveland Museum of Art - www.clevelandart.org/
Oakeshott Institute - www.oakeshott.org/

Museums in England:

The British Museum - www.british-museum.ac.uk/
Royal Armouries - www.royalarmouries.org/
Wallace Collection - www.wallacecollection.org/

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