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There were several good talks this Saturday and some historical information that we can use in our sword shows.

The records of the sword guilds from the 15th, 16th and into the 17th century are not for nobility or military. They are for guilds formed out of the ranks of artisans. In order to join a sword guild you had to already be a member in good standing of an artisan guild.

The biggest represented one, with about 1/3 of the sword guild members belonging to it, was the furrier guild.
In second place was the bakers guild.
So, around half the registered sword fighters in Germany at the time were either furriers or bakers.

Apparently few soldiers or guards joined, but some musicians and tennis instructors did, but at lower percentages. She theorized because the cost of equipment.

The first guild, started in the 1400’s was the Marx Brothers. In 1487 they were granted an “imperial privilege” which meant anyone of their guild with a rank of master could legally travel the holy roman empire giving sword shows, lessons and challenging folks to fights. But, they had to stay members of their other guild. So, not clear how many really traveled.

You could do it as a group, but needed at least one “master” in order to be legal.

There is a record of only one woman being part of this organization. Her name isn’t recorded and it is unclear if she ever tried to be a master or not. It’s only recorded that one master had a woman as part of his troupe doing shows.
There is a record in the 1300’s of a woman fighting a duel with a man and winning. In the 1400’s there were a lot of instructions written on how to make a duel fair between a man and a woman, possibly because of this. But, there are no records of the instructions being used.

There is a record of a traveling sword master coming to town with a student. The inn where they were staying made them check their swords. They got into a fight with two local sword fighters and the guards were called.

Three guards couldn’t stop the two sword fighters and they called in 2 more. All 5 had trouble with the 2 sword people. When finally arrested the sword master said he was surprised the guards were willing to fight them at all.
“I fear no sword master when wrestling,” the guard replied.

Sword “play” was when giving demos, lessons or shows.
“Sharp” sword use was with weapons where you intended to harm the other person.

Placing or throwing a weapon at someone’s feet was a challenge. Apparently usually used for sharp duels. You could get in trouble in some towns for challenging someone this way, but maybe not all. It’s not clear if one person’s defense of “It’s legal in MY town!” is really reflective of the truth.

There was one case where a sword master was drinking in the same establishment as a rival and threw his drinking glass at his opponent and stabbed them 3 times.
He had to leave town as one wound was bad and they thought the man might die. But, he didn’t, so the sword master was allowed to pay a fine and come back.