Konrad Kyeser

Originally conceived for King Wenceslaus, Kyeser dedicated the finished work to Rupert of Germany.

A native of Eichstätt, Kyeser was trained as a physician and lived at the court in Padua before he joined the crusade against the Turks which ended in disaster at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396.

The book is the most prominent illustrated treatise on military engineering of the Late Middle Ages.

The diving suit presented in the book has precedents reaching back to the 12th century and to Roger Bacon.

Other editions include the following: Kyeser appears as an NPC in the 2018 video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and is voiced by Brian Blessed.