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“Young knight learn to love God and revere women so that your honor grows. Practice knighthood and learn the Art that dignifies you, and brings you honor in wars. Wrestle well and wield lance, spear, sword and dagger manfully, whose use in others’ hands is wasted. Strike bravely and hard there!”

With these words, the 14th–century Master-at-Arms Johannes Liechtenauer begims his instructions into the knightly art of arms, a robust martial art whose other masters would expand upon over the course of the 15th century to cover the entire panoply of medieval arms: swords, shields, polearms, daggers, wrestling and mounted combat.

Of course, nothing more symbolizes the medieval knight than his harness of plate armour, and armoured combat with all of these tools, and none at all, played an important role in the tradition. It is also the driving passion of Christian Henry Tobler. Author of the seminal "Fighting with the German Longsword", Mr. Tobler returns for an equally detailed exploration of armoured combat with sword, dagger, spear, and axe. Filled with techniques, drills, explanation of armour and its component parts, and an overview of the various sources and their authors, the pages are photo-illustrated with beautiful replica armours of the 14th and 15th century. This is a true first-of-its-kind primer of medieval armoured combat, and a love song to the Knightly Art whose spirit has infused the author’s own for most of his life.