Methods and Practice of Elizabethan Swordplay

by Craig Turner, Tony Soper

Featuring period drawings and prints of swordplay, this book examines and compares the only three existing Elizabethan fencing manuals written in English before 1600: Giacomo Di Grassi’s His True Arte of Defense (1594), Vincentio Saviolo’s His Practice in Two Bookes (1595), and George Silver’s Paradoxes of Defence and Bref Instructions Upon my Paradoxes of Defence (1599). More than a technical manual on swordplay, this book explores the influence of a new form of violence introduced into Elizabethan culture by the invention of the rapier. The authors examine the rapier’s influence on the various social classes, the clash between the traditional English fencing masters and those embracing the new style, the growing concern with unregulated dueling, and the frequent references to rapier play in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. As producer Joseph Papp notes in his Foreword, this is a book that "makes a difference in performance."

168 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 1990

Reviews

[Jacob Lehman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a quick read outlining the combative approaches of a few of the sword masters active in Elizabethan England. There are some fine insights into the transitions in combat and weaponry of the era, and the connections to Shakespeare's text are nice insights into some particular lines. That said, the authors repeat themselves verbatim more frequently than a great editor would have allowed, and they call their knowledge into question a bit by characterizing broadsword combat as primarily a test of strength/fitness and trading of blows- any number of HEMA scholars would likely disagree. In some cases their descriptions are also unclear; they mention a stance with the feet wide apart as "requiring bent knees" as compared to one with the feet closer together; my anatomy/geometry don't define a causal relationship there (if anything, at the extreme case a wider stance requires straighter legs).

If you only have time to read a <150 p. book on rapier play, this isn't a bad one to get some context. If you're hoping to learn meaningful technique or bring depth to a choreographed fight beyond the most basic elements of movement, you'll need to look elsewhere.