Warrior Training in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Before getting to the main point of this post, I would like to issue the 2016 Advent Challenge.

Today begins the season of Advent in the Catholic Church. It is a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas. Advent begins four Sundays prior to Chistmas and ends on Christmas Day. Advent lasts for a little over four weeks.

As a warm up for the Lenten Challenge, I would like to issue the Advent Challenge.

Beginning today and through Christmas, in spite of the business and general insanity of the season, find a way to train every day. Do what you have to; move heaven and earth, but train every day. Even if it's just a little. No excuses.

These challenges are a form of Shuugyou Renshuu, or "Austere Training."

Won't you join me?

At HROARR.com, a website dedicated to Historical European Martial Arts, is an article about what classical training involved. An excerpt is below. The full article may be read here. 

For someone training in any martial art, looking at how they trained back in the day when the stakes were life and death, is instructive. Enjoy.

"Take great pains in your knightly practices" - A brief review of Medieval and Renaissance training methodologies

Few men are born brave; many become so through care and force of discipline.

- Flavius Vegetius Renatus

Many pages have been written on the subject of medieval and renaissance combat treatises, every year new translations, books, essays and blogs are added to the bibliography of weapons and combat during the Medieval Ages and the Renaissance. However, the subject on how knights and period fencers trained, especially as related to physical conditioning and strength remains nearly unexplored.

There is a mildly generalized understanding that these groups trained their bodies swinging heavy weapons, moving large and heavy objects and throwing stones, but many misconceptions around this subject remain, that is why we will present the advice given by the old combat masters, as well as some statements made in some period documents, and we will briefly analyze some period illustrations, looking for a better understanding of how these men prepared for combat.

Classical Influence

Probably one of the most influential texts during the middle ages and the renaissance, related to combat and military training was the treatise written by the roman writer Flavius Vegetius; entitled "Epitoma Rei Militaris". In the first book, of the four that form his work, Vegetius lists several activities in which recruits should train at. Those activities can be split in four categories: physical work, hand to hand combat, ranged combat and horseback combat.

Related to physical combat he states that recruits should be capable to march near 25 km, in five hours, they should also run, and jump (more likely avoiding obstacles) on a regular basis. During summer months he also recommends swimming when possible. And indicates that it was customary to have three sessions a month, in which recruits should march around 12 km carrying close to 20 kg. Finally Vegetius recommends that all men at arms are accustomed to physical work, such as chopping wood, carrying weight or crossing ditches.

Referring to hand to hand combat, he observes several times the importance to train the recruits on the armatura, which is the use of the weapons, making use of the well known practice of hitting a pole sticked to the ground with wooden weapons, that weighted about twice as much as the real ones. Vegetius also affirms that recruits should be trained twice a day in this fashion, once in the morning, and then again in the afternoon after their meal. Meanwhile the veterans should do it once a day in a non-stop fashion.

He also considers it crucial that the recruits acquire skill handling a horse, and advises that during the winter months, when it was not possible to ride outside, wooden horses were built to train indoors mounting and dismounting techniques. And he constantly puts emphasis on the importance to train the recruits with the bow and arrow, the throw of javelin, and on the use of the sling.

The words of the combat masters

Throughout the middle ages the advice given by Vegetius to keep the troops in good physical shape was maintained almost unaltered. Running, swimming, jumping, fencing, wrestling, riding and what later would be named vaulting were still kept in great esteem.

Hans Talhoffer, a very well known fencing master, in his mid 1400’s work, most likely dedicated to Luithold von Königsegg, recommends to his student, just like Vegetius did, to train twice a day, once in the morning, the second time in the afternoon: “practice for two hours with effort, do not eat much fat, practice again in the afternoon for two hours”. Also, he encourages his student to:

Strive after integrity
апd take great pains
in your knightly practices:
throwing апd pushing stones,
dancing апd jumping,
fencing апd wrestling,
running at the lance апd tournaments,
апd courting beautiful women.