Last year at Falling Leaves, I took Mistress Eva Woderose as my provost. We had been working on her fencing over the summer and decided to make the training a bit more official in the fall.

And since I had signed a contract when I was provosted to Master Donovan Shinnok, I figured it’d be fun to continue the tradition by writing up a similar contract for Eva.

The Research

London Masters of Defense (Sloane Ms 2530 papers)

I wanted to make the contract as historical as I could. The contract I had with Donovan was based off of a transcription of the Sloane Ms 2530 papers on the London Masters of Defense. It’s a great resource and played well into Eva’s 16th Century English persona.

Specifically, I used a transcription of the Sloane MS 2530 papers found in The Noble Science as the start of the contract. There were 12 articles listed in the manuscript, but I stripped it down to just two items from the Sloane papers. My contract with Eva has nine items listed, which includes mostly French-inspired items (more on that below). I also made sure to get rid of any language related to fealty and religion.

What was left included from the Sloane manuscript:

• Report treason
• Not to use the art of defense to rob or murder
• Don’t teach murderers and thieves the art or keep their company

Renaissance France Fencing Regulations & Ordinances

Being a Gascon and a Frenchman, I also wanted the contract to reflect my persona. So I did some online sleuthing and found a cool paper by Olivier Dupuis on the organization and regulation of fencing in Renaissance France.

In it, Dupuis analyzes the various regulations and ordinances surrounding teaching and studying fencing in France. He also points out particular terminology that I incorporated to make the contract more accurate and a little spice to it.

For example, French fencing masters weren’t called “masters of defense” or the like, but went by the term maistre joueur (master player). The study of arms were also referred to a “game” rather than “fencing” hence the use of jeu and joueur (play and player, respectively). Fencing was often referred to as “sword play” (jeu de l’espée) .

The paper also breaks down the most common rules of fencing ordinances of the time. The ones I included in the contract:

• Saluting fellow fencers (joueurs) & showing polite behavior
• No spitting in the hand while fencing
• Must fence with decent clothes
• Not letting the sword fall to the ground nor picking the sword up via the foot

Dupuis also mentions a term found in the ordinances called passer en roue which literally translated into “pass in wheel” but it’s actual meaning is unclear. Dupuis guesses that it has to do with a ceremony or public demonstration, which we see also with the London Masters.

Since the exact meaning is unclear, I took the phrase to mean “demonstration of skill” and aligned it with being given a grant level of arms. Similarly, I used the phrase passer en defense (which were prize fights that aligned with the student graduating) to be being elevated into the Order of Defense.

Lastly, the paper also describes four virtues and qualities that a student should possess — the heart of a lion, the eye of a hawk, the feet of a greyhound. The fourth virtue varied between the “hand of a griffin” and “corage de feme” (courage of a woman).

I decided to incorporate all of the virtues in the contract. Why? Because they’re all super awesome sounding and I figured it’d be fun.

Remy & Eva’s Provosting Contract Text

Here is the end result. I’ll note that I wanted both her and my arms painted onto the contract. I started doing that myself and quickly realized it was above my artistic skill. So Eva added our arms.

The contract was also read aloud in a ceremony at Falling Leaves and signed by those who witnessed the provosting. The red ink is Eva’s daughter leaving her “signature” on the contract.

My handwriting isn’t anything special beyond me trying to make some of the letters look a little historical. One day I’ll learn better secretary hand.

There are two copies of this contract that we both have.

I also gave Eva the blue leather collar that Donovan gave me (lineage collar), as well as “fighting collar” that I made out of my old commander’s sash.

TEXT:

Inprimis you shalbe true subjecte to our Kingdom and not to know of anny treason but that you utter it within four and twenti houwers at the farthest & sooner if you canne and to serve the East against all nations to the uttermost of your power.

Item you declare not to use the arte taught by your Maistre for any malicious or treachery, including robbery or murdere, and to behave honorably for the Kingdom and your Maistre.

Item you shall sweare not to teache anny suspecte person as a murtherer, a thefe, a common drunkarde or soch as be common quarellers but to avoyde your hands of them and toe kepe no companye with them so nigh as you canne.

Item you shal posses certain qualities and virtues of a studente of arms, including the heart of a lion, the eye of a hawke, the feet of a greyhound, the hande of a griffen, and the corage de feme.

Item you shal follow the teachings and lessons of your Maistre as you passer en roue into a grant level of armes, and until you are to passer en défense and ordained into the Order of Defence as a maistre, maistresse, or thereother.

Item you shalbe adherent to the proper etiquette of arms. You muste salute your Maistre and fellow joueurs of the arte and show them polite behavior. You muste not spit in your hands while partaking in jeu de l’espée. You muste not fence without decent clothes. You muste not let your weapon fall to the ground nor lift your sword with your foot nor tread upon the same.

Item you shalbe not under fealty or oath to your Maistre Joueur, but shalle continue to upholde all previous spoken and writen oaths and fealties to the Kingdom or otherwise. 

Item in return your Maistre promises to teache you jeu de l’espée, the arte of defence, with the sword alone, with dagger, cape, and buckler, and other arms deemed fit and reasonable of a provost of the East. In addition, you shall learn the arte of war, its sciences and philosophies, to be a righteous commandre and an honorable soldier.

Item either the Maistre Joueur or the joueur maye rescynd this agreement at annytime without penalty, fine, or retribution.

Signed

____(Joueur)___ ____(Maistre Joueur)___

Sources:

Dupuis, Olivier. “Organization and Regulation of Fencing in the Realm of France in the Renaissance”, Acta Periodica Duellatorum, p233-254, April 2015

Herbert, Berry. The Noble Science, p95-101