The use of scholastic concepts in describing fighting technique in European fight books (1400-1600) as cultural and intellectual markers

Abstract

At the end of the Middle Ages and the early modern period, some authors of the fight books, or those involved in copying or rewriting existing content about fighting techniques used scholastic concepts either explicitly or implicitly. Scholastic concepts are tools, methods or references taken from the European reception of Aristotelian writings during the Middle Ages and its inclusion in academic education. This article attempts a survey of such concepts found in the fight book corpus (1400-1600). It yields information about the representation of the art of fighting as a discipline in the broad organisation of knowledge as cultural and intellectual markers. It also provides information about the social and educational context of both the authorship and the intended audience of the heterogeneous corpus of fight books.

Keywords

• Fight Book
• European Universities
• Scholasticism
• Education
• Intellectual history
• Aristotle