Alexander DoyleÕs New fashionable knightly Art of Fencing and Defending

Alexander DoyleÕs New fashionable knightly Art of Fencing and DefendingAudax et velox, meaning bold and swift. This was the motto of the Irish fencing master Alexander Doyle, who was employed as fencing master at the court of Archbishop Elector (and Archchancellor) Lothar Franz von Schnborn, in Mainz. In 1715, Doyle published the Neu Alamodische Ritterliche Fecht und Schirm Kunst. Interestingly, Doyles Fashionable Art of Fencing is not only one of the earliest German sources to describe fencing with the smallsword,

Audax et velox, meaning Òbold and swiftÓ. This was the motto of the Irish fencing master Alexander Doyle, who was employed as fencing master at the court of Archbishop-Elector (and Archchancellor) Lothar Franz von Schšnborn, in Mainz. In 1715, Doyle published the Neu Alamodische Ritterliche Fecht- und Schirm-Kunst.

Interestingly, DoyleÕs Fashionable Art of Fencing is not only one of the earliest German sources to describe fencing with the smallsword, providing important insights into the early evolution of smallsword fencing, particularly in Germany, but also contains the earliest known German description of the ligation used as a disarm, a technique that would become important within the German Kreu§ler lineage and its mythology.

This book presents a modern English translation of DoyleÕs treatise, as well as a brief discussion of the work in its historical and martial context.