Girard Thibault

Gérard (or Girard) Thibault of Antwerp (ca. 1574–1627) was a Dutch fencing master and author of the 1628 rapier manual Academie de l'Espée. 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.

Academie de l'Espée describes a unique system of combat whose closest known relative is the contemporary Spanish school of swordsmanship, also known as La Verdadera Destreza, as taught by masters such as Don Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez. Not unlike the Spanish, Thibault advocated the use of upright postures, walking steps instead of lunges, and non-linear footwork. However, Thibault differed from his Spanish counterparts in many areas, including his preferred stance and grip.

Details about Thibault's life are sparse, derived from his book and his album amicorum. The latter contains handwritten notes and celebratory poems from Thibault's friends, relatives, pupils, and colleagues, included among whom are several contemporary fencing masters.

Thibault was born in or around 1574 in Antwerp, son of Hendrick Thibaut and Margaretha van Nispen. Although his father used the surname "Thibaut," Gérard used the French form "Thibault." Hendrick Thibaut came from a well-known family in Ypres, living in Ghent and Antwerp before going into exile in the northern Netherlands. Henrick's eldest son, Christiaen, founded the noble family Thibaut van Aegtekerke.

Thibault first studied swordsmanship in Antwerp under Lambert van Someren, who taught between the years of 1564 and 1584. In 1605, Thibault was a wool merchant in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, south of Seville on the Guadalquivir river, and the hometown of Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza. There, he took an interest in swordsmanship, studying the Spanish rapier system of Destreza.

Thibault left Spain to return to the Netherlands, and was in Amsterdam as early as 1610. In or around 1611, he presented his system to an assembly of Dutch masters at a competition in Rotterdam. Thibault won first prize, earning an invitation to the court of Prince Maurice of Nassau, where the Prince observed Thibault's system in a multi-day demonstration.

...
Wikipedia