His Works
In 1570, Joachim Meyer wrote a comprehensive, multi-weapon treatise entitled Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens or, in English, Thorough Descriptions of the Art of Fencing. It is seen as one of the most complete systems within medieval German martial arts. Meyer's book was reprinted in 1600, and may have been an influential source for other 16th and 17th century German fencing books, including a 1612 book by Jacob Sutor. Meyer's book itself describes a system of combat designed primarily for sportive, civilian swordplay – an early form of fencing – rather than a system meant for the duel. His book mostly consists of descriptive text, with only a few dozen woodcuts, each of which depicts several players enacting various techniques described in the text itself. The book consists of five chapters, covering the long sword, dussack (a training weapon not unlike the messer), rapier, dagger, and pole weapons.
Meyer's system generally flows from, and uses the terminology of, the German school of swordsmanship as set down by Johannes Lichtenauer, though Meyer's civilian system also appears to draw from contemporary Italian swordplay, including Achille Marozzo.
Meyer's book itself consists of detailed explanatory text describing the guards or postures (huten) for each weapon, cuts, footwork and specific and often quite complex plays or devices (stücke), accompanied by a series of finely executed woodcuts, each of which depicts scenes set amongst somewhat fantastical fight school (fechtschule) settings. These woodcuts typically depict the postures, cutting schemes (signs or 'segno' in Italian) as well as several players enacting various techniques described in the text itself. The book consists of five sections, covering the longsword, dussack (a training weapon not unlike the Messer), rapier (in Meyer's case, a single-handed sword utilised for both cut and thrust), dagger and wrestling, and polearms including the quarterstaff, halberd and pike. In general, the system described in Meyer's book generally flows from, and uses the terminology of, the German school of swordsmanship as set down by Johannes Liechtenauer, though Meyer's civilian system with the rappier also bears some resemblance to contemporary Italian swordplay, including Achille Marozzo. In common with earlier German sources, Meyer's system gives pride of place to the longsword, which is both the first weapon discussed, and the weapon treated in most detail, forming an exemplar-teaching tool for the rest of the system. By the time of publication in 1570, the longsword had largely become a weapon for use in the fight schools, somewhat ritualistic and sporting in nature, and as a result Meyer's system is sometimes characterised (perhaps unfairly) by modern writers as "sportive" in nature. However, the rapier, dagger and polearm techniques and devices described in Meyer's book do not appear to concede much to sporting considerations, featuring as they do the thrusts omitted from the longsword section, as well as a range of possibly lethal fight ending techniques. Furthermore, the longsword section of Meyer's book in particular shows definite descent from the earlier corpus of the Liechtenauer tradition (Meyer mentions Liechtenauer by name), and remains one of the most detailed, systematic and complete sources for this weapon.
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