A session to be presented at the 41st International Congress in Medieval Studies, May 4–7, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Sponsored by the Association for Historical Fencing (www.ahfi.org)

Organizer: Kenneth Mondschein, Fordham University

The textual tradition of fencing treatises forms the earliest and longest tradition of illustrated technical works in Western history. Surviving in the hundreds from all European countries from a time-span that extends from the fourteenth century until today, these works, little-studied until the past few years, have the potential to speak volumes about conceptions of masculinity, violence and conflict-resolution, the book as an article of consumption, and the written word as the mimesis of reality. Past congress sessions on “The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe” (as Sydney Anglo has dubbed them) have proven popular; we hope to show the additional worth of these sources by inviting scholars of literature, art, intellectual history, gender, violence, and science to present papers utilizing these sources as they pertain to their own fields of interest, as well as historical fencing experts who wish to present papers on medieval and early modern fencing traditions themselves.

Inquiries and abstracts may be forwarded to Kenneth Mondschein (mondschein@fordham.edu). Please submit abstracts by September 1, 2005.