Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33, also known as the Tower Fechtbuch or the Walpurgis Manuscript, is the oldest known manual of swordsmanship in the Western canon. Dated to c. 1310, it is a stunning work of late medieval art and the Armouries’ most treasured manuscript, one so famous it has become known simply by its shelf number: I.33.
This translation, complete with all illustrations from the manuscript, makes the treatise accessible for the first time since the author's untimely death less than a year after its completion left his major work to be lost for generations. An extensive introduction, notes, and glossary analyze and contextualize the work and clarify its technical content.
The manuscript, produced in Strassburg around 1568, is illustrated with thirty watercolor images and seven ink diagrams. The text covers combat with the long sword (hand-and-a-half sword), dusack (a one-handed practice weapon comparable to a saber), and rapier. The manuscript’s theoretical discussion of guards is one of the most critical passages to understanding this key feature of the historical practice, not just in relation to Meyer but in relation to the medieval combat systems in general.