According to the Order of My Lord Marchese:

Patronage and the Medieval Master-at-Arms

© Gregory D. Mele 2011

Introduction - The Medieval Fencing Master

Traditionally, masters-at-arms, also known as “fencing masters”, have always been best classified as
holding the role of a non-commissioned officer (when employed in a military context) or on par with
riding and dance instructors (when employed in a civilian one). Today we might compare their role to the
military’s special combat instructor and personal trainers or tennis pros, respectively.

Until the Renaissance, these masters-at-arms were often associated with the lower classes: common -
soldiers, craftsmen, and lesser guildsmen. The exception seems to have been in the Holy Roman Empire
where, by the late Middle Ages fencing masters were more commonly associated with the prosperous,
urban elite such as goldsmiths and furriers, or with the lowest ranks of knighthood.

The most obvious example is of the Marxbruder, the famed fencing guild granted an Imperial charter in
1487, but almost certainly founded at least a generation earlier. The earliest reference to the guild calls
them the Brotherhood of Our dear lady and pure Virgin Mary and the Holy and warlike heavenly
prince Saint Mark. After their recognition by Emperor Frederick, the brotherhood was usually referred
to as "Marxbrüder", "Bruderschaft des heiligen Marren" or "Bruderschaft des St. Markus" ("Marx
brothers", "Brotherhood of St. Mark"). The Guild taught the use of the two-handed sword, falchion, staff,
spear, dagger and wrestling, and was headquartered in Frankfurt, although its members lived
throughout the German-speaking parts of the Empire. Licensed masters generally came from the ranks of
silver-smiths, goldsmiths, furriers, cutlerers, swordsmiths and jewelers, and often held positions in those
Craftguilds as well, although some seem to have been professional men-at-arms.

What this means to us as modern scholars is that these men, particularly those flourishing before the
invention of the printing press and thus the printed fencing book, were generally not men of significant
enough status for their biographies to be much more than a name, a few dates, or notes of where or what
they taught, and to whom they were instructors. However, through this element of patronage, including
the roles to which the patron sometimes assigned his fencing master outside of martial instruction, we
can gain some sense of who these men were and what role they held in late medieval society.

Although we will look briefly at a few other masters, this paper focuses a figure who is perhaps the
exception that proves the rule: Fiore dei Liberi, a fencing master who flourished in northern Italy at the
turn of the 15th century. Dei Liberi’s fame was such that over the last six hundred years he has been the
subject of periodic biographies, and the city hall of his hometown is to this day found on the Via de Fiore
dei Liberi. Likewise, a study of his life, the lives of his students and the socio-politically complex courts at
which they served brings into focus the life of a medieval master-at-arms and his patron.

Fiore dei Liberi and the Court of Ferrara

Fiore dei Liberi of Premariacco was born sometime around 1350 in Cividale, a small town on the river
Natisone in the far northeastern Friuli region of Italy. By the 14th century, the Patriarchate of Aquileia had
become a duchy that included Trieste, Istria, Carinthia, Styria and Cadore, making it one of the largest

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Italian states of its time, and leading it towards an inevitable rivalry with the rapidly expanding Venetian
hegemony.

Dei Liberi’s birth year can be estimated by the prologue of Il Fior di Battaglia (1409), where he says that he
had been practicing the art of swordsmanship for 40 years at the time of its writing. 1 He was the son of Sir
Benedetto dei Liberi, a scion of a minor noble family that had been ennobled by the Holy Roman
Emperor Henry IV in 1110 AD. The scholar Francesco Novati believed that this Imperial deed was a sign
that the family was in direct service to the Emperor and owed no fealty to the Patriarch of Aquileia, who
was then styling himself the “Prince of Friuli”. The family settled in Premariacco, a village located about 5
km from Cividale and 15 km east of the city of Udine.

Very little is known about dei Liberi’s early life except for what is written in the prologue of his work. He
tells us that he was motivated from childhood to learn the art of wrestling, sword, axe and lance. While
he initially learned from local masters-at-arms, he left Premariacco in order to further improve himself,
seeking greater instruction under a variety of German and Italian masters. Only one of the three
manuscripts names any of these masters, specifically, Johannes Suvenus (John of Swabia) “from the
Diocese of Metz, a former scholar of Nicolaus von Toblem”. Unfortunately, here are two more examples
where the biographies of medieval fencing masters are lost to us.

At some point dei Liberi made the transition from student to teacher, and began traveling as a weapons-
instructor throughout the northern Italian cities. Apparently this did not sit well with the local masters,
who frowned upon the competition he represented.

And I was especially wary of other masters and their scholars. And through envy, these masters challenged
me to play with sharp swords in arming doublets, without other armour but for a pair of chamois gloves.
And I endured this all because I had not wished to practice with them, nor to teach them anything of my
art. And five times I was required to undergo this ordeal; and thus five times for my honor I was compelled
to play in strange places, without family and without friends, and without hope in anything but in God, in
the Art, in me, Fiore, and in my sword. And by the grace of God, I, Fiore, have always come away with
honor and without injury to my body. 2

The Friulian Civil War

Maestro Fiore also participated in the military engagements that plagued Italy in the last decades of the
14th century. In 1383 he returned to his homeland and entered Udine, offering his military services to the
town. At this time Friuli was being rent in two by civil war. The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an ancient
bishopric, founded by St. Mark, which had a perpetually uneasy relationship with Rome, and the
Patriarchs had learned to play Pope and Emperor against each-other. However, the power of the
Patriarchs began to wane in the 12th century and repeated earthquakes and disasters reduced Aquileia to
a few hundred residents by the early 14th century. The bishop’s seat was relocated to Udine, and found
itself under increasing pressure from the Papacy.

The final move came in 1381, when Pope Urban VI appointed Philip of Avençon, second son of King
Charles II of France and former Archbishop of Rouen, as Patriarch. For over a century the people of
Udine had had a number of special privileges, including a great influence over the election of the
Patriarch. The city refused to acknowledge the Pope’s election of Philip. Rebellion began to brew, and

1 Just to confuse the issue, one version of Fiore’s work, the Pisani-Dossi manuscript, increases this claim to 50 years.
2 Getty Ms. Ludwig XV 13 4r, Translation mine.

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many of the Friulian nobility began to join with Udine in defying the Pope’s authority to appoint the
Patriarch without their consent. Udine became the rallying point and began organizing an army to be
lead by a local hero, Federigo da Savorgnan.

Six months after the trouble began, Fiore dei Liberi arrived in Udine, and approached the council to offer
his services. The city records of 3 August 1383 state that a Maestro Fiore de Cividale, dimicator (“fencer”)
was petitioning for citizenship. This petition was granted by da Savorgnan. 3 A month later, da Savorgnan
and the city council placed Fiore in charge of its ballista crews and tasked him with searching the city
arsenal for firearms which could be used to assist the allied towns. 4

Although the details of the fighting that followed are scant, dei Liberi must have played some notable
role in its defense, as to this day there is a street in Udine named for him. The last mention of Magister
Flor, dimicator comes from a document in 1384 that states he was one of 354 citizens appointed to serve as
mounted peace-keepers throughout Friuli, and was assigned to the city of Gemona. 5 After this, there is no
record of his returning to Udine.

Shortly after this document’s date, Francesco di Carrara, governor of Padua, was brought in to adjudicate
a truce between Udine and her Patriarch. Udine, threatened with the great military strength of Padua,
agreed to submit, so Maestro Fiore may have believed his work (and opportunities) to be finished, and
may have sought advancement elsewhere. If so, the irony is that the truce quickly collapsed, and the
Friulian civil war did not end until 1390, ceasing only with the utter exhaustion of the region, and the
dissolution of the Patriarchate itself.

The Master and His Scholars

In his prologue, Maestro Fiore writes,

“…many and many times many Signori, Knights, and Squires have asked to learn this art of fighting and of combat
in the lists to the death, from the aforementioned Fiore. 6”

One of the Premariacco master’s modern biographers, Luigi Zanutto, traced Fiore’s path across the cities
of northern Italy, including Mantua, Padua, Pavia, and likely Milan, whose ambitious Duke Giangaleazzo
dominated Italian politics in the late 14th century. While the details of dei Liberi’s life in this period are
lost, the names of the students he trained, and the feats of arms they performed, are not. Although their
ranks and pedigrees varied widely, all were condottieri – mercenary soldiers. So, if we cannot know
Maestro Fiore directly, perhaps we can understand him through the lives of the extraordinary men who
sought him out.

3 Municipal Archive of Udine, Deliber. Consilii Civit. Utini, v. VII, c.208: 1383. Die lune tertio Augusti. Utini in consilio.
Magister Flor de Civitate dimicator ieceptus fuit in vicinum Terre, cum capitulis alias observatis et D. Federigus de Savorgnano
fuit fideiussor. « !383, Tueseday August 3, Udine
4 Municipal Archive of Udine, Deliber. Consilii Civit. Utini, v. VII, c.239: 1383. Die 30 Septembris in Consilio Terre Utini

deliberatum fuit supra balistris grossis et sagitamentis magister Flor, qui fuit de Civitate Austria (sic), qui examinet et ponat ad
ordinem omnia existentia in camera Comunis et eciam que habent Fraternitates.
5 Municipal Archive of Udine, Annales, vol. VII, c. 78: Anno 1384, ind. VII. Infrascripti sunt qui iuraverunt astare dominio

Capitaneo pro bono et tranquillo statu Terre quod contra quoscumque delinquentes et excessores fiat iusticia criminalis
secundum laudabiles consuetudines Terre Utini et deliberationes consiliarias maioris Consilii et Consilii Secreti: omissis: In
Burgo Glemone: Magister Florius scarmitor.
6 Ibid.

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Piero del Verde, was a German condottiero who made himself lord of Colle di Val d’Elsa, and had a brief
but violent career fighting throughout Tuscany against the Papal forces. Dei Liberi says that del Verde
fought a duel against a fellow German adventurer, Pietro della Corona, in Perugia. Del Verde died in
1384, so this duel must have occurred before dei Liberi returned to Udine in 1383. 7 The most likely date is
1381 when both men were in the service of Perugia until Pietro della Corona left the city’s service and
attacked some of its tributary towns, in direct contravention of his condotta.

Maestro Fiore apparently prepared his student, Azzone da Castello Barco for a feat of arms against
Giovanni dei Ordelaffi. Sadly, while we know its participants, we do not know the details of this feat of
arms. Azzone’s family dated to the 12th century, and had wielded a great deal of influence in Verona and
the surrounding region. He died in 1411 and Castello di Barco and its territories passed into Venetian
control. The ruins of the castle still stand in Trento today. Although Azzone was a fairly minor noble, his
opponent, Ordelaffi, is remembered as the Veronese commander who lost to the army of Sir John
Hawkwood in 1387 at the Battle of Castagnaro, one of the most famous battles of the condottiero period.

The squire Lancillotto Beccharia of Pavia became one of a long list of Visconti enemies during Milan’s
conquests of Piacenza and Brescia, and his family’s fortified home in Pavia still stands today. 8 Maestro
Fiore tells us that Beccharia fought a feat of arms (as opposed to a duel) comprised of six passes on
horseback with sharpened lances against Sir Baldazar the German in the town of Imola, but we do not
know who this German knight might have been.

Beccharia had an illustrious career during the first two decades of the 15th century, fighting under, with
and against the most famous captains of the era, and at times commanding as many as 800 cavalry. In
1415, he made his peace with the Visconti Duke of Milan with the help of Pietro Visconti, Bishop of
Novara. In return, members of his family were released from prison, and he was awarded a large number
of holdings. Unfortunately, the reconciliation was short-lived. He was besieged at Serravalle Scrivia by
the Duke’s general, Carmagnola, in 1418, and surrendered after negotiating for clemency. The clemency
was a ruse, however, and Beccharia was brought to Pavia and hung in the town square.

The most notable of Fiore dei Liberi’s students in this period, however was the short but powerfully built
Sir Galeazzo da Mantova, Captain of Grimello. Dei Liberi tells us that Galeazzo is the only student to
whom he had ever given a book of his art. Fiore writes:

“As he [Galeazzo] has said that without books there will never be any good master or scholar in this art. And I Fiore
confirm this truth, for this art is so vast that there is not a man with a good enough memory to retain the quarter
part of it without books.” 9

It is no surprise that he chose to give Galeazzo this gift. While we may have few details of Fiore dei
Liberi’s life, we know a great deal about this student of his, who was considered one of the most fearless
and stalwart military commanders of his day. His life epitomizes the ideal career of a condottiero at the
turn of the 15th century, and is worthy of some detail.

A cadet of the famed Gonzaga of Mantua, Galeazzo fought in the service of both Milan and Venice. 10 He
gained fame by crossing spears with the renowned Marshal Boucicault of France on two occasions. The

7http://www.condottieridiventura.it/condottieri/v/2113%20%20%20%20%20%20PIERO%20DEL%20VERDE.htm

8http://www.condottieridiventura.it/condottieri/b/0172%20%20%20%20%20%20LANCILLOTTO%20BECCARIA.htm
9Getty Ms. Ludwig XV 13. 4v.

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first of the feats of arms between Galeazzo and Boucicault was fought on foot with lances, and is
specifically mentioned in the prologue of il Fior di Battaglia. 11 The combat occurred in Padua in 1395, and
dei Liberi was in attendance.

Boucicaut is said to have accused the Italians of cowardice during a banquet, and Galeazzo at once
challenged him to combat. The challenge took place before both the lord of Padua, Francesco Novello di
Carrara, 12 and Galeazzo’s kinsman, Francesco Gonzaga, the lord of Mantua. The two lords intervened
during the combat and the antagonists were placated.

In September of that same year, Galeazzo gained additional fame when he attended the elevation of
Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan to the rank of Duke by the Holy Roman Emperor Wenceslas. Maestro
Fiore’s student participated in the celebratory tournament on the Piazza St. Ambrogio, and shared the
first prize of 1,000 florins with the Bohemian knight, Benezio di Cumsich. Galeazzo entered and left
Milanese service several times over the next four years, but by 1399 the Duke had enough confidence in
him to send him as the commander of 3000 cavalry and 1500 infantry, to invest the city of Pisa. 13

Galeazzo da Montova was almost constantly at war during the next seven years, and he was often
victorious. His fame in personal combat was cemented during a siege of Bologna in 1403, when he
personally climbed the city walls and fought his way through the Papal forces to open the gates. He and
his men killed 22 of the enemy’s troops in the exploit, gaining him great renown if little wealth. By 1405,
Galeazzo had become captain-general of the Venetian armies and was awarded the castles of San Martino
della Vanezza and Arlesega. For his capture of Padua a month later, the Venetian Doge Michele Steno
granted him the title of “noble of the Venetian Republic” and a yearly pension of 1000 ducats.

In 1406, eleven years after their first meeting, Galeazzo and Boucicault met once more, this time with
lances from horseback. Unlike the first meeting, Galeazzo was declared the victor. Out of shame,
Boucicault took a vow never to wear a visor on his helmet again. This vow proved to be particularly
ironic, however. Only one month later, Galeazzo found himself preparing for battle outside the castle of
Medolago. The defenders requested a parley, and when Galeazzo lifted his visor to negotiate, he was
shot in the eye with a crossbow bolt fired from the castle. The bolt pierced his brain, killing him
instantly. 14 Battle ensued, and a number of Galeazzo’s men were lost recovering his body. Galeazzo da
Montova was buried with Venetian and Milanese honors - a well-born, but not well-placed, knight who
had climbed to the heights of his profession.

In Service to the Familia d’ Este

After his presence at the Galeazzo – Boucicault duel in Padua, Fiore dei Liberi disappears from surviving
records, until he appears again at Pavia in 1399. From there he entered the court of his last and greatest

10http://www.condottieridiventura.it/condottieri/m/0997%20%20%20%20%20%20GALEAZZO%20DA%20MANTOV

A.htm
11 At least, dei Liberi implies it is Jean III the older Boucucault, and Renaissance historians such as Jakob Burkhardt

have long asserted the second duel occurred against the French marshal. However, a contemporary author Thomas
III, Marquis of Saluzzo, claims in his Le Livre du Chevalier Errant that the spear duel, at least, was fought with Jean III’s
younger brother, so the issue remains unclear. Thanks to Ariella Elema for bringing Saluzzo’s comments to light.
12 This was the son of Francesco “il Vecchio” Carrara, the Paduan lord who had failed to end the Friulian civil war.

13An excellent summary of Giangaleazzo’s military career, and that of hundreds of condottieri can be found at:

http://www.condottieridiventura.it/condottieri/m/0997%20%20%20%20%20%20GALEAZZO%20DA%20MANTOVA.
htm
14 Ibid.

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patron, the young, bellicose Niccolò III d’Este, Marchese of Ferrara (1383-1441), for whom he would write
his manuscript. In 1409 Fiore dedicated his treatise to this Marchese, and after 1410 there are no further
records of his life or death.

Niccolò III d'Este was born in Ferrara on 9 November 1383, the illegitimate and only son of Alberto I,
Signore di Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Upon his father’s death, the boy was placed under the protection
of the Lord of Padua and the Republics of Venice, Florence and Bologna. Unfortunately, many of the
nobles of Ferrara were uneasy with the prospect of an eight-year regency, and looked to the exiled Azzo
d’Este, now serving as one of the many condottieri captains in Milan’s employ, as an alternative. A
rebellion was launched, with Azzo at its head. The invasion was crushed by a combined Bolognese,
Venetian and Paduan army, bringing the immediate dynastic troubles to an end, but not before Niccolò
had survived two assassination attempts.

Young Niccolò entered into manhood, and was described as handsome and robust, with a broad,
powerful frame, light complexion, blue eyes and black hair. He proved to have a clever mind and a great
skill in the military arts. In December of 1399, the sixteen year old Niccolò celebrated his coming of age
with a grand passage of arms, fighting twelve skilled swordsmen for which the judges awarded him the
day’s prize. Five years later, he again established his personal prowess by taking part in tournaments
and coming away the acknowledged victor, first in Padua and then in Milan.

Niccolò formally assumed his father’s seat in 1402, at the age of nineteen, and became known for his
martial prowess, his great patronage of fine art, and for being a formidable ruler. In September 1404 the
Marchese Niccolopaid a visit to the Duke of Milan at his castle of San Angelo, accompanied by a vast
retinue of nobles, knights and their entourages, and the Duke held a variety of festivities and martial feats
to honor him. 15

At the Milan festivities, the young Niccolò accepted a Venetian condotta, and later that month attacked
Verona, which was currently under Milanese suzerainty, gaining fame and horrifying his advisors when
he was among the first to scale the city’s walls. The city was taken, and all its fortresses (save for the
citadel) fell into the Marchese’ hands. Yet war is fickle, and by the end of that year, Ferrara found itself
fighting the Venetians, not the Milanese. Three months later, on 27 March 1405, Ferrara found itself on
the wrong side of the negotiating table from Venice, and Niccolò was forced to sign a treaty ceding all
holdings around Este to Venice, again losing the House of Este’s hereditary possessions.

Niccolo now entered the service of the Church. His first mission was negotiating the terms of
reconciliation between Carlo Malatesta (the chief Italian supporter of Pope Gregory XII) and the anti-
pope John XXIII. The negotiations failed, but Niccolò found himself with new allies in the Gonzaga
rulers of Mantua, and his favor with Pope John XXIII increased. Over the next two years, he acted as both
the anti-pope’s 16 diplomatic agent and enforcer.

Yet as much as modern biographers such as Zanutto have searched, the presence of dei Liberi himself at these
15

martial deeds remains unknown.

16 Antipope: a person who makes a widely accepted claim to be the lawful pope, usually with the support of a

significant faction of cardinals, and assumes rule in direct opposition to the pope legally recognized and consecrated
by the Council of Cardinals. In several cases it is hard to tell who was, in fact, the lawful Pope and who was the
antipope.

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Court Life, Education and the Arts under Niccolò
Niccolò d’Este’s home life proved to be both as larger than life and violent as his martial exploits, and it is
for his personal affairs that he has been best remembered to history. As the young lord was first testing
himself in the battlefield, he was also honing another of his famed skills – the ability to produce bastards.
In 1405, Niccolò’s first illegitimate son, Ugo, was born to the lord’s favorite mistress, Stella dei Tolomei.
This would be the first of 20 such children known by name, as well as those born from two of his three
marriages. Some say that there were many more, some sources counting the number into the hundreds.
The Marquis became the subject of a mocking rhyme: On both sides of the Po, all are sons of Niccolò.

But the Marchese is also remembered as one of the first of those great magnates who built around him a
court that was based on the old medieval model, but shaped by humanist ideals, with its emphasis on
classical culture and the arts. Niccolò’s intellectual leanings had been shaped in his boyhood by a private
tutor, Donato da Casentino, who had been the close friend of both Petrarch and Boccaccio. Consequently,
the young lord was a cultured man, fluent in multiple languages, versed in the Ancient classics, and with
a refined eye and ear toward art and music.

These intellectual and cultural interests continued into adulthood, as Niccolò befriended and patronized
artists and greatly endowed the University of Ferrara, whose library held manuscripts by classical
authors and renowned humanists. To further his own son Leonello’s education, the Marchese hired
Guarino Veronese, a famous humanist and teacher of Greek and Latin, under whose guidance the
intellectual life at Ferrara developed considerably - from approximately 30 students in 1430 to over 300 at
the time of Niccolò’s death in 1441. During this same period, Niccolò’s own humanist leanings led to his
drastic increase of the Este library, creating one of the most famed libraries of Italy.

But Niccolò’s rule in Ferrara was also marked by internal strife. His first-born, Ugo is remembered to
history, and helped cement his father’s fame, through his rather Shakespearian end. In 1425 Niccolò
caught his son having an affair with the new marchessa, Parasina Malatesta. He had both beheaded and
ordered the same fate for any unfaithful wife in Ferrara. Eight years later, he discovered a plot by his
secretary Giacomo Giglioli, triggering a purge of much of the Marchese’s inner circle. A paradox of virtue
and vice, and thus a perfect example of the despots of il Quattrocento, Niccolò died suddenly while
visiting Milan in 1441, with a suspicion of having been poisoned. Certainly there were many potential
candidates.

Other Masters at Arms and their Patrons

Filippo Vadi of Pisa was a physician who trained at the University of Ferrara approximately two
generations after dei Liberi, whose own work,“De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi” is highly derivative. He
dedicated and presented this beautifully illustrated handbook on the use of arms to Guidobaldo da
Montefeltro, shortly after the latter’s ascension to the ducal throne of Urbino in 1482. Yet we cannot even
be certain that Vadi was ever formally in the Duke’s service, for while his treatise is dedicated to the ten-
year-old Duke, nothing in those dedicatory verses make clear that he was a member of the court.
Nevertheless, he has been linked to the court by fencing historians ever since, and the considerable cost of
producing a painted book suggests the sort of patronage the martial and artistic culture of Urbino would
have supplied.

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Hans Talhoffer was a 15th century German master-at-arms, and one of the most prolific authors of
fencing texts from this period. His precise martial lineage is unknown, but his writings make clear that he
had some connection to the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, the grand master of the German school of
fencing. He appears to have made his living teaching, including training people for trial by combat.
He produced four distinct fencing manuals during his career, each of which contains significant unique
content. These manuals survive in six manuscripts that he personally created or commissioned, and his
manuals were considered significant enough that they were recopied many times in the following
centuries. Even so, his biography remains sketchy.

In 1435, apparently while still a teenager, Talhoffer made an affidavit in a case against a noble from
Nuremberg, who was ultimately imprisoned by Emperor Sigismund. 17 Talhoffer's name appears again in
the records of the city of Zürich in 1454, where he was chartered to teach fencing and adjudicate judicial
duels. The account notes that a fight broke out among his students, resulting in various fines. 18

He also served as fencing master to a squire, Leutold von Königsegg, and some of his manuscripts
describe a duel for which he apparently trained the nobleman. The presence of the Lion of St. Mark in
Talhoffer's coat of arms has given rise to speculation that he may have been an early member or founder
of the Marxbrüder fencing guild..

Paulus Kal was another 15th century German fencing master. He studied martial arts under an otherwise
unknown Master Stettner, and was an initiate of the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer. Kal was
Schirmaister to Duke Ludwig IX "the Rich" of Bavaria from 29 September 1450 until the duke's death on 18
January 1479, and then to Archduke Sigismund of Austria beginning on 12 February 1480. The last
written records found to date show that he still held this position in 1485. It is notable that his fencing
manual contains an honor roll of deceased masters which he styled the Society of Liechtenauer. While
several of these masters remain completely unknown, the majority wrote treatises of their own and this
list stands as an independent confirmation of their connection to the grand master. 19 Even so, it is only
Kal himself who left a real, biographical footprint.

We can reconstruct Kal’s life with some detail, and find that he served Duke Ludwig in various military
capacities, including commanding men in at least two campaigns, but not, as one might expect, either as a
mounted knight, or as a front-rank swordsman. Instead, he commanded a gunnery crew. 20 He was also
called to service for a number of non-military tasks, such as being the Ducal agent in purchasing jewels,
or for business roles where possessing martial skills would have been a virtue: such as a diplomatic
courier and escort. 21

Paulus Kal’s service to Sigismund ended with his being granted the position of captaining a toll-house, a
desirable, pensioner’s job, but hardly at the forefront of military service. 22

17 Hull, Jeffrey. Fight Earnestly - the Fight-Book from 1459 AD by Hans Talhoffer. The Association for Renaissance Martial
Arts, 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2011
18 Ibid.

19 Tobler, Christian Henry. In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts. Wheaton, IL:

Freelance Academy Press, 2010. p7

20 Tobler, Christian Henry. In Service of the Duke: The 15th Century Fighting Treatise of Paulus Kal. Highland Village, TX:

Chivalry Bookshelf, 2006.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

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Conclusion
What can the sketchy biographies of four masters-at-arms possibly tell us? The paucity of detail, as
compared to the preponderance of names, is actually our first lesson: with a few, notable exceptions,
being a fencing master in the late Middle Ages was not a ticket to fame and fortune. Masters-at-arms
trained and refined the skills of military commanders and lords; they were not those commanders and
lords themselves. Instead, we can compare them to the drill sergeants at a military academy, instilling the
physical skills of warcraft in an officer, but not serving as commissioned officers themselves. With dei
Liberi and Kal this comparison is even more apt: both took on military service and were placed in charge
of troops; but these were relatively low-level assignments: commanding a gunnery crew, overseeing the
ballista crews during a siege, or acting as a 14th century “rough rider” and leg-breaker; suggesting that
while their experience and skill at arms earned them respect and the chance to rub shoulders with an elite
clientele, it was not a ticket into the actual ranks of the elite.

We can also take dei Liberi’s comments that he is well-paid and wants for nothing as a statement of
rarity; a boast that he has reached a point where he supports himself well, and solely, as a master-at-arms.
Clearly, this was by no means common; as is seen by contrasting this position with Paulus Kal’s. Kal also
served a pair of wealthy, bellicose lords and clearly gained their trust. Yet the records of Ludwig’s
household tell us that he derived his income through a wide variety of tasks in the Duke’s service, of
which fencing master seems to have been the least notable. Similarly, Filippo Vadi seems to have earned
his living as a physician, perhaps attached to one of the mercenary armies that moved across Italy in the
15th century.

Dei Liberi is not the only source to show us that fencing masters clearly were able to make a respectable
living: in 1438 Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy paid a “master of the axe” a salary of 12 pounds plus a
monthly stipend of 40 gros for his services, an amount slightly greater than he paid to his Master of
Horse. However, the rather less impressive 4 pounds and 5 gros stipend paid at the same time to a
swordmaster recorded only as “George,” reminds us that this was still a working-man’s profession. It is
likely that most fencing masters found themselves to be either like Vadi – members of a skilled profession
who “moonlighted” by teaching fencing; or like Hans Talhoffer – itinerant swordsmen, traveling from
city to city and court to court, seeking wealthy patrons from whom they might obtain long-term
employment. Certainly, it seems that the most common form of relationship was like that between von
Konigsegg and Talhoffer, or del Verde, de Beccharia or Gonzaga and dei Liberi: a short-term contract
between patron and master, the latter being hired to prepare the former for some specific deed of arms or
judicial duel. The fencing master was a hired specialis; a coach brought in to prepare his athlete for the
big game.

However, clearly the fighting classes were receiving systematic, formal training in arms, and in the
retinues of great lords, this role must also have been taken up by the master-at-arms. Certainly this is the
impression we are given by the employment records of the masters of sword and axe hired by Philip the
Good to instruct himself, his son and the knights of the Golden Fleece. It may also explain why the court
of a pre-adolescent, sickly lord who clearly would never ride to war, such as Guidobaldo de Montefeltro,
would still be in the market for a professional tutor in the art of arms. However, it seems likely that most
fencing masters would have a had a wide variety of other duties, just as any modern NCO arms
instructor. We can draw a clear comparison to the serjeants and hearth knights of the High Middle Ages,
from whom the profession may in part have grown. Kal and Vadi’s biographies show that those duties
need not necessarily even be directly within the military realm. It is likely that the master, earning his

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living solely from keeping a school of arms, would be a product of the centuries that followed, with the
growth in popularity of the civilian wearing of swords and the rise of the private duel.

Finally, the differing relationships between patron and fencing master is reflected in the manuscripts they
have left behind. Dei Liberi, an established master with a wealthy patron, has produced a memorial; an
instructional text that encapsulates and summarizes his art - at least as he taught it to that patron. By
contrast, Talhoffer’s manuscripts provide illustrated exemplars of all the different fighting arts the master
knows, including the different forms of customary surrounding the judicial duel – club and shield, sword
and shield, man vs woman, etc, practiced in the that particular locale. The work is less a memorial or
instructional text than it is an advertisement for Talhoffer’s service, and it is no surprise that as his fame
grew, and his fees likely increased, he produced progressively finer manuscripts, seeking to draw the
attention of the next higher tier of patron, and perhaps some permanency in assignment.

By contrast, Paulus Kal’s work stands somewhere between that of dei Liberi and Talhoffer, just as did his
professional role to his patron. At first, his fencing book seems very similar to Talhoffer’s: an illustrated
concordance of different combat forms. However, when the text is compared to the wealth of non-
illustrated, memorial sources of the Liechtenauer tradition, it becomes clear that Kal’s text is organized
more concisely, with clear sequences of techniques and their counters, even going so far as to depicting
an obvious master (possibly Kal himself) and student who appear and reappear throughout the work.
Unlike Talhoffer, Kal produced only one work, likely because he had no need to produce others; he had
found on-going patronage, and when his lord’s death required him to move into Austria, he was able to
parley those decades of service into a stable position with an even greater magnate. One can only imagine
that many a German fencing master would have envied Paulus Kal his little toll-house.

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Bibliography
dei Liberi, Fiore; Rubboli, Marco; Cesari, Luca. Flos Duellatorum. Manuale di Arte del Combattimento del XV
secolo. Rome: Il Cerchio Iniziative Editoriali, 2002.

Hull, Jeffrey, with Maziarz, Monika and Żabiński, Grzegorz. Knightly Dueling: The Fighting Arts of German
Chivalry. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2007.

Leoni, Tommaso. Fiore de' Liberi's Fior di Battaglia. Lulu.com, 2009.

Malipiero, Massimo. Il Fior di battaglia di Fiore dei Liberi da Cividale: Il Codice Ludwing XV 13 del J. Paul Getty
Museum. Udine: Ribis, 2006.

Novati, Francesco. Flos Duellatorum, Il Fior di Battaglia di Maestro Fiore dei Liberi da Premariacco. Bergamo:
1902.

Rector Mark, and Talhoffer, Hans. Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting
and Close-Quarter Combat. Greenhill Books, 2000.

Tobler, Christian Henry. In Service of the Duke: The 15th Century Fighting Treatise of Paulus Kal. Highland
Village, TX: Chivalry Bookshelf, 2006.

Vadi, Filippo; Mele, Gregory; Porzio, Luca. Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15th Century Swordsmanship of
Master Filippo Vadi. Trans. Luca Porzio and Gregory Mele. Union City, CA: Chivalry Bookshelf, 2002.

Zanutto, D. Luigi. Fiore di Premariacco ed I Ludi e Le Feste Marziali e Civili in Friuli. Udine: D. Del Bianco,
1907.

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