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For thecelebration of the 450-year anniversary of the publication of Joachim Meyer’sfight book, Olivier Dupuis organised a multidimensional event around the fightbook, its author and martial culture in sixteenth century Strasbourg. Itconsisted of a two-day conference at the University of Strasbourg and at thearchives of the city, as well as a gathering of martial arts practitioners andresearchers over the weekend with workshops and practical exchanges. Finally, acompetition was held following rulesets from the sixteenth century. Similarevents focused on fight book authors have previously demonstrated the benefitsof such gatherings and collaborations of scholars and martial artspractitioners.[1]JoachimMeyer used a new medium in a new way for the description of the art offighting, with elaborated didactic features. Based on the so-calledLiechtenauer tradition,[2]the art of combat under Meyer’s pen uses the noble character of chivalricsymbolism, but displays martial disciplines which are more commonly associatedto urban context and foot soldiers (the halberd, the pike, and the rapier).Embedded in what Ann Tlusty coined as “martial ethics”[3]in German towns relying on a militia organisation for its defence, the fightbook is connected with practices followed by fencing guilds and with fencingcompetitions.Regardlessthe frequent mention of Joachim Meyer’s work by specialists, and the existenceof a translation published by a scholarly publishing house, there is littleresearch published to date on the author and his books (2 manuscripts and 1printed fight book with two editions). Establishing a state of research on thematter and exploring new avenues for research was very much needed, and thisevent successfully achieved these goals. This review will focus on theconferences’ part of the event.With thesupport of the Laboratoire Art Civilisation et Histoire de l’Europe (ARCHE)Olivier Dupuis and Guillaume Porte brought together historians, art historiansand archivists together to discuss different aspects of the topic.The two-day programmeDownloadLaurentNaas (Bibliothèque Humaniste de Sélestat) presented the Selestat copy ofJoachim Meyer fight book (L’exemplaire sélestadien de la GründtlicheBeschreibung). He presented on the potential identification of the originalbinder, based on a new study of the remains of the closing devices (nowmissing) of the cover. He also analysed the dedication of the fight book.PierreKintz (ARCHE, Université de Strasbourg) gave a presentation on the assumptionabout the attribution of the illustration of the fight book to Tobias Stimmer(Tobias Stimmer, l’illustrateur du Fechtbuch). He outlined the travels ofStimmer to Cômo and its relation to Paolo Giovio, which justifies the elementsof Italian architecture found in the fight book. &#160;DavidBourgeois (CRESAT, Université de Haute-Alsace) presented the connection of thetowns of Mulhouse and Strasbourg with Basel and the Old Swiss confederation, inthe context of warfare and martial culture (Si vis pacem, para bellum. Bâle, la Confédération et la guerreà la fin du Moyen Âge et au XVIe siècle). He reviewed historiographical trends regardingthe martial renown of Swiss warriors and developed hypothesis of the a “Swiss”signature in the fight book of Joachim Meyer.FannyKieffer (EA ARCHE, Université de Strasbourg) contributed with her perspectiveas an art historian, specialised in the visual representation of technicalknowledge in Early Modern Period (Sous le regard de l’historien de l’art: lesdébuts de l’escrime à la Renaissance, entre chevalerie et humanisme). She outlinedthe general context of “new” weapons: portable guns, rapier and daggers.Several martial sciences (ballistics, military engineering, etc.) benefited fromthe resurgence of science and scientific methodologies (mathematics,Aristotelian principles) through the new medium of printing. She proposed aninvestigation on the inclusion of these new scientific methodologies in thecorpus of fight books.OlivierDupuis (independent researcher), main organiser of the event, presented on the fencingactivities in Strasbourg based on archival documentation (La place de l’escrimeà Strasbourg du XVe au XVIIe siècle). If fencing practices are discrete innarrative sources, other types of documents attest fencing competition(Fechtschulen). Dupuis found 1500 petitions for the organisation of such eventsin Strasbourg between 1540 and 1670 (1338 being approved by the city council).AlexandreLegros (CESR, Université de Tours) analysed questions related to wounds infencing practices as described by Joachim Meyer (Dans l’œil du bretteur et duchirurgien). He analysed both the discourse and images of fight books relatedto wounds, and he queried contemporary chirurgical treatises, including onecoming from Strasbourg.Pierre-HenryBas (IRHIS, Université de Lille) presented his thoughts about the didactic andpedagogic dimension of the fight book (Modernité de l’escrime décrite dans lelivre de Meyer). He analysed the construction and conception of the treatisewhile explaining how “modern” ideas were implemented in the book, in comparisonwith earlier fight books.DanielJaquet (Université de Berne) discussed the reception of the fight book duringthe national socialism regime of Adolf Hitler, through the re-use of thecontent in the Handbook for Hitler Youth (La réception du livre de JoachimMeyer entre 1920 et 1936). The main focus was the institutionalisation of martialarts practice for propaganda and ideology. Questions of re-interpretation andrevival of martial arts traditions were also briefly addressed.On thesecond day, the lecturers joined by martial arts researchers gathered at thearchive of Strasbourg for a morning of discussion and a round table. The firsthalf of the morning was dedicated in establishing a state of research regardingthe author and its book. Desiderata for further research were also formalisedand discussed. The second half of the morning was spent in a round tablediscussion on potential contexts of application of the martial art knowledgedescribed in the book. Interesting arguments were put together while reviewingcontexts such as: duels of honour, warfare, self defence and fencing for leisure.Material culture and modern-day fencing practice deriving from the book werealso briefly addressed.[1] See “The Art of Combat of Pietro del Monte”, University of Tours, 20-21 April 2018. A short review is to be found on the blog of Daniel Jaquet [insert link:], and its proceedings are published in the volume 7.1 (2019) of the journal Acta Periodica Duellatorum [2] Bauer, Matthias Johannes,‘Einen Zedel Fechter ich mich ruem/Im Schwerd vnd Messer vngestuem.Fechtmeister als Protagonisten und als (Fach-)Literarisches Motiv in den deutschsprachigenFechtlehren des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit’, Das Mittelalter, 19.2(2014), 302–325 &#60;https://doi.org/10.1515/mial-2014-0018&#62;.[3] Tlusty, B. Ann, TheMartial Ethic in Early Modern Germany: Civic Duty and the Right of Arms(Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2011)[cite]