French school of fencing

French School of Fencing

Henry de Sainct-Didier
Also known as	L'école française d'escrime
Focus	Weaponry
Country of origin	France
Creator	Henry de Sainct Didier
Ancestor arts	Italian School of Swordsmanship
Descendant arts	Modern Fencing, Canne de combat, HEMA
Olympic sport	No

The known history of fencing in France begins in the 16th century, with the adoption of Italian styles of fencing.

There are medieval predecessors, such as the Burgundian Le jeu de la hache ("The Play of the Axe") of ca. 1400, but the history of the classical French school begins with the foundation of the Académie des Maistres en faits d’armes de l’Académie du Roy (also known as the Ecole Française d’Escrime) by Charles IX of France in December 1567.

One master produced by this school was a 16th-century fencing master and author of a 1573 treatise, titled Traicté contenant les secrets du premier livre (Treatise containing the secrets of the first book on the single sword), dedicated to Charles IX.

Rapier treatises are known from the early seventeenth century, such as François Dancie's 'Discours des armes et methode pour bien tirer de l'espée et poignard' (c.1610) and 'L'Espee de combat' (1623) and André Desbordes' 'Discours de la théorie et de la pratique de l'excellence des armes' (1610), with both authors citing the Italian origins of their systems. Earlier, in 1597, the great traveller Seigneur de Villamont who translated Girolamo Cavalcabo of Bologna’s treatise into French, along with a shorter piece by Paternostrier of Rome.

Fencing in France was developed into a sport during the 17th century, with codificaion of rules and terminology and a system of teaching, by masters such as Le Perche du Coudray (1635, 1676, teacher of Cyrano de Bergerac), Besnard (1653, teacher of Descartes), Philibert de la Touche (1670) and L'Abbat of Toulouse (1690, 1696).