Johannes Lecküchner, Kunst des Messerfechtens, 1482
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| View online presentation of Cgm. 582 located on Digitale Bibliothek - Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum |
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| View online presentation of Cod.Pal.germ. 430 located on Heidelberger historische Bestände - digital |
Two fechtbücher for the großes Messer by the hand of Lecküchner are preserved, Cod. Pal. Germ. 430 (Heidelberg, 1478), and Cgm. 582, Munich, 1482. The latter he completed on 19 January 1482. The earlier manuscript is considered a draft for the later, and only Cgm 582 contains illustrations whereas, the Cod. Pal. Germ. 430 only has an opening illustration of a beautifully rendered coat of arms, perhaps those beloning to Lecküchner himself as displayed on the right.
The Cgm 582 manuscript on 216 folia (432 pages) gives instructions for the fencing with the grosses messer, illustrated by 415 drawings of fencers. Some 19th century scholars have assumed that the name Lecküchner is in fact a corrupted version of the name of Liechtenauer, and that the two masters are identical. Biographical information from archives as well as the colophon in the manuscript itself makes quite clear, however, that Lecküchner has an independent existence as a historical author. His system is, however, based on the teachings of Liechtenauer dating to about a century earlier, since Lecküchner organizes his system in the same way as Liechtenauer, and also uses the same terminology that is present in his longsword teachings.
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