Gérard Thibault d'Anvers
His manual is one of the most detailed and elaborate extant sources on rapier combat, painstakingly utilizing geometry and logic to defend his unorthodox style of swordsmanship.
[citation needed] Not unlike the Spanish, Thibault advocated the use of upright postures, walking steps instead of lunges, and non-linear footwork.
[1]: 289 The latter contains handwritten notes and celebratory poems from Thibault's friends, relatives, pupils, and colleagues, included among whom are several contemporary fencing masters.
Hendrick Thibaut came from a well-known family in Ypres, living in Ghent and Antwerp before going into exile in the northern Netherlands.
[1]: 289-290 Although initially met with skepticism, Thibault convinced his fellow Dutch fencing masters, including Johannes Damius of Haarlem, Dirck van Stervergen of Leiden, Cornelis Cornelisz van Heusden of Amsterdam, and Thibault's former teacher Lambert von Someron.
It is during his time in Leiden that Thibault likely began working on Academie de l'Espée and employed a team of sixteen master engravers.
[1]: 294-296 [1]: 310 Thibault's only known work was a rapier manual whose full title can be translated as Academy of the Sword: wherein is demonstrated by mathematical rules on the foundation of a mysterious circle the theory and practice of the true and heretofore unknown secrets of handling arms on foot and horseback.
[citation needed] Academie de l'Espée is widely considered to be the most lavishly-illustrated swordsmanship manual ever produced.
[2] The controversial 19th century fencing historian Egerton Castle described Academie de l'Espée as "without exception, the most elaborate treatise on swordsmanship, and probably one of the most marvellous printed works extant, from a typographic and artistic point of view" yet simultaneously dismissed the manual as nothing more than a "bibliographic curiosity.
"[3]: 122 Academie de l'Espée was translated into English by John Michael Greer and first published by The Chivalry Bookshelf in 2006.
He discusses at great length the precise geometric relationships between opposing fighters, always stressing the importance of natural proportion.
These relationships are expressed through a circular diagram that Thibault refers to as the "mysterious circle,"[2]: 3 visible on the floor in most of the plates in Academie de l'Espée.
This allows for a kind of geometric shorthand, whereby Thibault can simply refer to a location by the nearest intersection in the diagram.
Because of its use as a stepping guide, Thibault details how to draw such a proportional circle on the ground for the reader's own use with nothing other than basic tools.
[citation needed] Thibault's primary stance is an upright posture which allows for fluid, graceful motion while remaining profiled to the opponent.
