George Silver & The London Masters of Defence - Native 16th/17th century English Fighting Arts
By David Black Mastro
By David Black Mastro
The English of the 16th and 17th centuries had an especially rich martial tradition, focusing on weapons like the "short sword" (actually a basket-hilted broadsword/backsword with a rather long 37"- 40" blade), the "short staff" (aka quarterstaff - not particularly "short" either, being 8’-9’ of ash), and the dreaded "Welsh hook" (aka "forest bill" - a type of bill with a rather light head). English fighting men proved their skill - and the effectiveness of their methods - on numerous occasions against foreign swordsmen, with such obvious examples as:
1. Austin Bagger, who used his sword-and-buckler to defeat Rocco Bonetti, who was armed with a two-handed sword during their encounter. Bagger certainly roughed up Bonetti, but let him live.
2. The mysterious Englishman known only as "Cheese", who pitted his sword-and-dagger against the rapier-and-poinard of Jeronimo (who was Vincentio Saviolo’s assistant at their rapier school in London). "Cheese" killed Jeronimo.
3. The English sailor Richard Peeke, who was shipwrecked in Spain in the early 17th century. Before the Duke of Medina Sidonia, Peeke used a quarterstaff to defeat three Spanish rapier-and-dagger men who attack him at the same time. Peeke killed one of his opponents outright, and disabled the other two.
