The beloved HEMA wiki – Wiktenauer – is getting regular updates on one of the most well-known German masters recently, since the new 1570 manuscript of his came out.

The latest one is the transcription of the Meyer’s chapter about dagger and wrestling made by Michael Chidester. Translation is still in progress, though Google Translate handles this 16th C German (also known as Frühneuhochdeutsch) pretty decently if you can’t wait.

Fechten im Dolchen.

Das vierte theil dises Buchs handlet vom Fechten im Dolchen daraus mann lehren kan, wie mann allerley dergleichen kurtze Wehren gebrauchen soll, sampt vil schönen Ring stucken so darunder begriffen.

Remember – Wiktenauer is a free encyclopedia, but it’s continued existence and growth also depends on the community. Donate if you can, or learn how to help in other ways here.

More about the human face of Joachim Meyer is shown in the inspirational story of his life and death posted on The Historical Fencer. Meyer’s love towards the Art led him to debt, and eventually death.

“Why do we bother?” – asks Alexander Olsson from Umeå Historical Fencing School.

And even if the fame he accumulated in life resulted in a short flame that quickly burned out, the knowledge he left would ignite the hearts of fencers centuries later. In a way, his dream of preserving the arts came true. Through his works, they never died.