Editing Hans Talhoffer (section)

== Life ==
The first known reference to Talhoffer is in 1433, when he represented [[Johann II von Reisberg]], [[archbishop of Salzburg]], before the [[Vehmic court]]. Shortly thereafter in 1434, Talhoffer was arrested and questioned by order of [[Wilhelm von Villach]] (a footman to [[Albert III, Duke of Bavaria|Albrecht III von Wittelsbach]], duke of Bavaria) in connection to the trial of a [[Nuremberg]] aristocrat named [[Jacob Auer]], accused of murdering of his brother. Auer's trial was quite controversial and proved a major source of contention and regional strife for the subsequent two years. Talhoffer himself remained in the service of the archbishop for at least a few more years, and in 1437 is mentioned as serving as a [[bursar|bursary officer]] (''Kastner'') in [[Hohenburg, Bavaria|Hohenburg]].<ref>"[http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/hans-talhoffers-life/ Hans Talhoffer's life]". ''Hans Talhoffer ~ The fencing and life of Hans Talhoffer''. Retrieved 17 March 2012.</ref>

The 1440s saw the start of Talhoffer's career as a professional fencing master. His first fencing manuscript, the Ms. Chart.A.558, was a personal reference book created in ca. 1443. The fencing manual portion is largely text-less and it may have been designed as a visual aid for use in teaching; in addition to these illustrations, it also contains an astrological treatise and a version of [[Konrad Kyeser]]'s famous war book [[Bellifortis]]. Most significant among the noble clients that Talhoffer served in this period was the [[Königsegg]] family of southern Germany, and some time between 1446 and 1459<ref>Hils p73.</ref> he produced the Ms. XIX.17-3 for this family. This work depicts a judicial duel being fought by [[Luithold von Königsegg]] as well as the training that Talhoffer gave him in preparation, but it seems that this duel never actually took place.<ref>"[http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/who-was-luithold-of-konigsegg/ Who was Luithold of Königsegg?]". ''Hans Talhoffer ~ The fencing and life of Hans Talhoffer''. Retrieved 17 March 2012.</ref>

[[File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 102r.jpg|275px|right|thumb|Talhoffer's coat of arms, including the Lion of St. Mark]]
Talhoffer's name appears again in the records of the city of [[Zürich]] in 1454, where he was chartered to teach fencing in some capacity and to adjudicate judicial duels. The account notes that a fight broke out among his students and had to be settled in front of the [[city council]], resulting in various fines.<ref>Hils p176.</ref> He seems to have passed through [[Emerkingen]] later in the 1450s, where he was contracted to train the brothers David and Buppellin vom Stain; he also produced the Ms. 78.A.15 for them, a significantly expanded version of the Königsegg manuscript.<ref>Hils p42.</ref>

In 1459,<ref name="Thott date">Internally dated on [[:File:Ms.Thott.290.2º 103v.jpg|folio 103v]].</ref> Talhoffer commissioned the Ms. Thott.290.2º, a new personal fencing manual along the same lines as his 1443 work but expanded with additional content and captioned throughout. He appears to have continued instructing throughout the 1460s, and in 1467 he produced his final manuscript, the Cod. icon. 394a, for another of his noble clients, [[Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg|Eberhardt I von Württemberg]].<ref>Internally dated and dedicated on [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00020451/image_34 folio 16v].</ref> This would be his most comprehensive work, and the count paid 10 [[Guilder]] as well as quantities of rye and oats for the finished work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/1467-the-price-of-a-fencing-master/ |title=1467 Hans Talhoffer in service of Eberhard im Bart of Württemberg |access-date=17 March 2012 |date=21 April 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705054951/https://talhoffer.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/1467-the-price-of-a-fencing-master/ |archive-date=5 July 2013}}</ref>

While only a few facts are known about Talhoffer's life, this has not stopped authors from conjecture. The presence of the [[Lion of St. Mark]] in Talhoffer's 1459 coat of arms (right) has given rise to speculation that he may have been an early member or even a founder of the [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]-based [[Marxbrüder]] fencing guild, though there is no record of their existence prior to 1474.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} Additionally, much has been made of the fact that Talhoffer's name doesn't appear in [[Paulus Kal]]'s list of members of the [[Johannes_Liechtenauer#Society_of_Liechtenauer|Society of Liechtenauer]].<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Paulus |author-last=Kal |author-link=Paulus Kal |title=Untitled [manuscript]. Cgm 1507. |location=[[Munich]], Germany |publisher=[[Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]] |date=c. 1470}}</ref> While some have speculated that this indicates rivalry or ill-will between the two contemporaries, Kal's list seems to be a memorial to masters who were already deceased,<ref name="Tobler1">{{cite book|author-first=Christian Henry |author-last=Tobler |title=In Service of the Duke: The 15th Century Fighting Treatise of Paulus Kal |location=Highland Village, TX |publisher=[[Chivalry Bookshelf]] |date=2006 |ISBN=978-1891448256}}</ref> so it is more likely that Talhoffer was simply still alive in ca. 1470 (just three years after writing his final treatise).{{Original research inline|date=March 2015}}