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When history throws you a curveball.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486 - 1535) is an infamous historical figure. I say "infamous" because while he's not well known, he's often referenced by prominent authors of horror and fantasy fiction, usually in regards to black magic. Historical sources which document parts of his life like to corroborate this, claiming him a sorcerer (among other things). Heinrich also left us with writings of his own, though, which reveal a proto-feminist perspective, honest-to-goodness Catholicism and sympathy towards the Lutheran Protestant movement. He's also referred to as a "freifechter" -- that is, a "free fencer". This means that he had completed high-level studies in martial arts and was recognised for it. The status of "free fencer" was just below "master of the longsword", which is the highest qualification one could earn in Germany at the time. With all that, though, it's not clear whether Heinrich was actually a member of the Brotherhood of St. Mark, the Holy Roman Empire's premiere and most well-regarded fencing guild.
That's just a brief overview. Here's an easy-to-read list of stuff Heinrich either was, claimed he was or was accused of being:
- Author
- Knight
- Swordmaster
- Black Magician
- Physician
- Battle Pyrotechnician
- Lecturer
- Proto-feminist
- Spy
- Probably more!
This guy lived to the ripe old age of forty-nine. In less than fifty years, this guy probably experienced and accomplished more than anyone else would in two full centuries, all the while falling prey to consistent tragedies, major and minor. For instance, he had a habit of not getting paid by benefactors who commissioned his services. That would be alright, if two of his wives and at least one of his children didn't die, and he didn't spend years imprisoned by a former benefactor. He also got into trouble with the Inquisition due to his opposition to the witch hunts. This guy lived by the skin of his teeth and then found time to do things like teaching university students.
So that's Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim. Master swordsman, black magicker, spy and, if we discount the possibility of bad luck, the devil's favourite plaything.
Comments
I ought to get a qualification in medieval-Renaissance history. I'm tentative about that, though. Historical studies have come a long way in the past few decades, but I still get the impression that the dominant old guard enforce outdated notions of what these time periods were like.
Medieval history in particular is a tough one. There's a lot of minutia and a lot of information pertaining to the larger scale, but the sweet spot in between isn't always easy to find. I think that's a part of why I love the histories of the martial arts so much; there's a lot of hidden information in there that only comes out of cross-referencing a wide array of sources. A lot of the inferences aren't taught in mainstream history classes and have to be worked out in a "grassroots" fashion.
One good example is the aforementioned Brotherhood of St. Mark. It's easy to pass it off as "just" a martial arts guild, but it was probably a part of the destabilisation of noble rule in warfare and general coercive force. We can speculate that the Brotherhood of St. Mark (the "Marxbruder" from here on out) begins, ultimately, with the mid-late 14th century knight Johannes Liechtenauer. It would be many years before the actual Marxbruder is formed, but all things need a foundation to build on.
Liechtenauer was an instructor in martial arts as well as being a knight. He was said to have travelled around Europe learning a variety of different techniques, which he then organised into a single martial art and a single martial philosophy -- "Kunst des Fechtens". We can't tell if he ever wrote anything except the poetic verse that accompanies most of the manuscripts in his tradition, but even if he did, most of the material pertaining to his martial art was written by his students, or students or his students, and so on. Initially, I suspect his students would have numbered in the mere dozens, if that many, but his admonitions and instructions would go on to possibly define the German mode of close combat throughout the Renaissance.
One of the more notable author of Liechtenauer tradition manuscripts is Hans Talhoffer, whose manuscripts are notable for their plentiful and clear depictions of the described techniques. Notably, one of Talhoffer's manuscripts depicts him with the emblem of the Marxbruder. So we know that Talhoffer had affiliation with the Marxbruder at the very least, although the prominence of the emblem suggests that he held a significant amount of authority within the organisation -- he may have even been one of the founding members. In 1486, the Marxbruder were given unique privileges. If memory serves, they were the only fencing guild officially recognised by the Holy Roman Empire, which gave them the authority to award ranks and qualifications in the study of martial arts. This is some time after the actual formation of the guild, but it's an important part of the guild's relevance.
Many students of the Marxbruder ended up employed as mercenaries, particularly landsknecht mercenaries. The first landsknecht regiments were organised in 1487, about a year after the Marxbruder were given exclusive charter to award martial rank within the Holy Roman Empire. The timing here seems significant. The effectiveness of these landsknechte, however, undermined conventional warfare at the time. They were cheaper than knights and comparatively effective, and with firearms and pikes on the rise, the old ways of heavy cavalry warfare were slowly being obsoleted. The irony of this is that it's probably true that Liechtenauer's Kunst des Fechtens was the basis of the Marxbruder curriculum, which means that Liechtenauer's success ultimately ended up undermining knighthood by assisting with its eventual military obsoletion.
Long after the era of knights on the battlefield, the Marxbruder continued to exist and even continued to teach the correct methods of the two-handed sword. This appears to cease in the early or middle 17th century, although there are whisperings of remnant elements lingering into the 18th century. Of course, the Marxbruder taught more than the two-handed sword, but such longswords were the characteristically "German" weapon. Rapier, various other types of single sword, dagger, polearms and unarmed combat were taught as well. But the highest rank was, as noted, "master of the longsword".
In any case, there's a short, partially speculative history of Liechtenauer, Kunst des Fechtens, the Marxbruder and the changing modes of warfare from the Middle Ages into the Early Modern period.
Dude, you would totally be a great history teacher. And yeah academic old guards always suck.
The kids will love you!
And you might be able to get the headmaster/principal to agree to a duel for class funding.
>Implying that everything in Alex's class would not be solved with duels.
Well they would have to get to group tactics eventually.
It would have to be a very narrow curriculum, though.
So, was he called "Agrippa the Rippa?"
*Shot*
Agrippa was a badass, plain and simple. Paracelsus was interesting because of his tripped-out theories on chemistry, and Erigena's views on God are truly inspiring to me, but Agrippa just did everything, with epic panache.
There's also the speculation that the other Agrippa might have been his son.
I recognize the name from Harry Potter; maybe this is not a good thing? Anyway, interesting! I always like finding out that things people think are new are really not new, like feminism! *highfives like 500 years into the past*
I would love to sit in this class.
Seems like he was multi-classing.
*shot*
By the sound of it, he was a warrior/cleric build, of some Neutral Good domain.