{{Short description|Guild of combat teachers}} [[File:A. Salzmann - Épée de Godefroy de Bouillon - Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|A. Salzmann - Épée de Godefroy de Bouillon - Jerusalem]] '''Masters of Defence''' or '''Masters of Fencing''' is a widespread guild of teachers specializing in close combat military techniques with weapons, civilian fighting skills, and unarmed combat. The title was coined during the medieval period, and referred to men who were particularly skilled at the art of fighting.<ref name="John Clements">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v32oHSE5t6cC&pg=PA317 |author=John Clements |title=Martial Arts of the World: R-Z |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=317|isbn=1576071502|accessdate=2015-07-27|year=2001 }}</ref><ref name="I. Borden">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fN6BQ1lHTakC&pg=PA132 |author=I. Borden |title=Inside Shakespeare: Essays on the Blackfriars Stage |publisher=Susquehanna University Press |year=2006 |isbn=1575910772 |page=132|accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref>
==Beginning== The first Master known to history, at least according to this article, is Master Roger (known as ''le Skirmisour'') of 1311 London.<ref name="Egerton Castle"/>
The Masters of Defence within Germany were the first to organize themselves into guilds, such as the 1480 Marxbrüder. Other guilds included the Company of St Luke (Luxbrueder) and the Federfechter.<ref name="John Clements"/><ref name="David Levinson, Karen Christensen">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8NMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 |first1=David |last1=Levinson |first2=Karen |last2=Christensen |title=Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0195131959 |page=127 |accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref>
==Later==
===Organisation=== Prior to the year 1540, Henry VIII of England, established the Corporation of the Masters of Defence. During 1540, an order was given to nine ''Masters of Fence'' and eleven ''provosts'' to seek out other individuals acting as instructors who were of lower-standing and ill-repute, which included details of the rules of expected behavior and right conduct for those so-called Masters. In addition, fencing schools were already made party to the rules of law during the same time-period. At about 1570, the ruler of the nation of France recognized the first association of fencing masters of his country.<ref name="I. Borden"/><ref name="David Levinson, Karen Christensen"/><ref name="C. Turner, A. Soper">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_9Wxiod0cIC&q=fencing+masters |first1=C. |last1=Turner |first2=A. |last2=Soper |title=Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay |publisher=SIU Press |year=1990 |isbn=0809315629 |accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref>
During the late nineteenth century and twentieth century, there were a number of masters originating in the countries of Belgium, France, Italy, and Hungary, who migrated to the United States of America.<ref name="Maxwell R. Garret, Emmanuil G. Kaidanov, Gil A. Pezza">{{cite book |author1=Maxwell R. Garret |author2=Emmanuil G. Kaidanov |author3=Gil A. Pezza |title=Foil, Saber, and Épée Fencing: Skills, Safety, Operations, and Responsibilities |publisher=Penn State Press |year=1994 |isbn=0271010193 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/foilsaberepeefen00garr }}</ref>
===Personages=== Fencing Masters known to history were Captain Caizo (circa sometime a little prior to July 1547), teacher of Le Sieur de Jarnac (who famously fought Lord Chastaigneraie in a duel); the 16th century Italian masters Agrippa, (Rocco Bonetti c.1570), Capo ferro, Di Grassi, Fabris, Giganti, Marozzo, and Viggiani; Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603, French); Wilhelm Kreussler father of the Kreussler dynasty, Wernesson de Liancour (c.1686); Sir William Hope (1660-1729); Henry Blackwell; James Figg (champion of the Corporation of Masters of Defence); Heinrich Wilhelm Kreussler a member of Germany's most important master fencing dynasties and teacher of Anthon Friedrich Kahn (18th century); Domenico Angelo; La Boiëssière père and Joseph Boulogne, joint inventors of the fencing mask (c.18th century); Sainct Didier, the supposed father of modern fencing; and General Franz Siegel, the master of the first fencing school in the USA at the New York turnverein (circa.1851).<ref name="Alfred Hutton 1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvTDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |author=Alfred Hutton |title=The Sword Through the Centuries |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=2012 |isbn=978-0486149721|page=48|accessdate=2015-07-28}}</ref><ref name="Aldo Nadi, Paul Gallico">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bVe6Of_EsQC&pg=PA17 |first1=aldo |last1=Nadi |first2=Paul |last2=Gallico |author-link1=Aldo Nadi |author-link2=Paul Gallico |title=Nadi on Fencing|publisher=Courier Corporation |year=2005 |isbn=0486443752 |page=17|accessdate=2015-07-28}}</ref><ref name="Adolphe Corthey">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xjM6CgAAQBAJ|author=Adolphe Corthey (translated by C. Slee)|title=Fencing Through the Ages|publisher=LongEdge Press |isbn=978-0994359001|accessdate=2015-07-28|date=2015-07-08}}</ref><ref>David Glasser - [https://www2.nau.edu/~wew/fencing/masters.notes.html Article entitled ''Fencing Masters''] published by Northern Arizona University also [https://www2.nau.edu/~wew/fencing/masters.html source:''explicitly for personal use only''] [Retrieved 2015-07-28]</ref><ref>The National Fencing Museum of Britain - [https://www.fencingmuseum.com/16-18_century.htm The fencing museum:16-18_century] [Retrieved 2015-07-24]</ref><ref name="Alfred Hutton 2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=saWjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |author=Alfred Hutton |title=Old Sword Play: Techniques of the Great Masters |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=2012 |page=63 |isbn=978-0486140896 |accessdate=2015-07-28}}</ref><ref name="Donald J. LaRocca">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_f769tE97hxYC |author=Donald J. LaRocca |title=The Academy of the Sword: Illustrated Fencing Books, 1500-1800, Books 1500-1800 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_f769tE97hxYC/page/n17 17]|isbn=0870998943|accessdate=2015-07-28}}</ref><ref name="David Levinson, Karen Christensen"/><ref name="N. Evangelista">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyJ8ebnS1HMC&pg=PA301 |author=N. Evangelista |title=The Encyclopedia of the Sword |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1995 |page=301 |isbn=0313278962|accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref><ref name="C. Turner, A. Soper"/><ref name="Maxwell R. Garret, Emmanuil G. Kaidanov, Gil A. Pezza"/><ref name="hcs.harvard.edu">{{cite book |url=http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~fencing/oldweb/history/fencinghistory.html |author=Harvard University |title=History of Fencing|publisher=Harvard Computer Society |accessdate=2015-07-27|author-link=Harvard University }}</ref>
==Publications== Between the 13th and 17th centuries, there were more than one hundred manuals of martial defense created by these Masters.<ref name="John Clements"/>
Jean Baptiste le Perche du Coudray (c.1603) was the first of France's modern masters to publish.<ref name="N. Evangelista"/>
There is a 1711 publication by Zach Wylde on the subject.<ref>Zach Wylde - [https://books.google.com/books?id=sVQmAwAAQBAJ&dq=Masters+of+Defence&pg=PT11 English Master of Defence] Wyvern Media, {{ISBN|1446693708}} [Retrieved 2015-07-27]</ref>
Amongst others, Egerton Castle wrote a text entitled ''Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century''.<ref name="Egerton Castle">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qupwNNpubekC|author=Egerton Castle|title=Schools and Masters of Fencing: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Dover |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0486138756|accessdate=2015-07-27}} (Master Roger ''le Skirmisour'' of 1311 - p.17)</ref>
==See also== Royal Armouries Ms. I.33
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Historical European martial arts Category:Historical fencing