Press Releases

September 26, 2003, Contact: Sara Murphy, (508) 853-6015 ext. 26, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Higgins Armory Museum Curator Publishes Two Books

WORCESTER, Mass., Sept. 26, 2003 - Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Paul S. Morgan Curator at the Higgins Armory Museum, has recently accomplished something many may only dream about--he's published two books...at the same time. The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship: A Facsimile and Translation of Europe's Oldest Personal Combat Treatise and an edition of Francis Willughby's Book of Games are now available to the public after a decade of intense study and dedication.

Work on The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship began with the discovery of a manuscript at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England. Most likely dating back to 13th century Germany, the manuscript was written by priests entirely in Latin. In those days, swordplay was not only a sport practiced by students, but could also be a life-saving skill should one ever find himself in battle. Hand-painted images in the manuscript show a priest demonstrating personal combat techniques with a male student, however, toward the end of the writings, the student is replaced by a female. This is the only known documentation of a woman practicing the art of combat. Forgeng, whose languages include French, Latin, German, Spanish, and Icelandic, translated the text, then added modern references and explanations.

Francis Willughby's Book of Games, a transcription of seventeenth-century manuscript at the University of Nottingham, England, describes and diagrams sports and games in the 1660s. Included are hopscotch, tag, various board and word games, and the earliest known description of football (America's soccer). This edition, co-authored with Dorothy Johnston of the University of Nottingham and David Cram of Jesus College, Oxford, has the addition of significant commentary by the authors, and a biography of the manuscript's author, Francis Willughby.

Willughby, an aristocratic ichthyologist and ornithologist, and important figure in the Scientific Revolution of the 1600s, died when he was only 36, leaving behind manuscripts for many unpublished books (only 2 were published in his lifetime). The Book of Games, now published nearly 300 years after his death, is particularly fascinating in that a young boy, most likely between the ages of eight and ten, wrote a portion of the text, a rarity at that time. Willughby did, however, return to the text and correct mistakes in spelling and grammar.

The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship: A Facsimile and Translation of Europe's Oldest Personal Combat Treatise is published by Chivalry Bookshelf, Union City, CA. Francis Willughby's Book of Games is published by Ashgate Publishing, Leicester, UK. Both are also available for purchase in the Higgins Armory Museum Gift Shop.