Share this post on:

A few weeks ago Jim Emmons1 gave me a challenge – to research French contre-pointe fencing. His rationale is that there might be something that would align well with Wylde’s system. Honestly, I think Jim knew what I would find all along but like any great teacher he knew he just needed to point me in the right direction so I could “discover” the connections for myself2. So let’s look at Wylde’s system (I know I’ve covered it a lot already but suck it up), a brief description of French contre-pointe, then the similarities and differences between the two systems.

Wylde

Published in 1711, Zachary Wylde’s “English Master of Defence or the Gentleman’s al-la-mode Accomplish”3 covers the use of the smallsword, broad/backsword, quarterstaff, and wrestling.  While he separates the two swords, they can be broadly thought of as instruction in point work and instruction in cutting. In fact, Wylde himself admonishes “so-called Masters” who only teach smallsword or broadsword, claiming they are like a Master doctor who only knows one cure or a Master musician who can only play one instrument.  Wylde states “Suppose I have a Sword that will not only Cut but likewise Thrust, do one as well as the other” and goes on to say that with such a sword you are on equal terms with someone with a smallsword in terms of thrusting and same for cutting against someone with a broadsword. But because you can cut in the former case and thrust in the latter, that gives you an advantage over both4. By saying this, and several times explicitly saying that the parries are the same between small- and broadsword, it is clear that Wylde’s preference is for a shearing sword, or a spadroon. The following are three images of different sword hilts: smallsword, backsword, and shearing sword (specifically a “Walloon” style). While the hilts so a lot of difference, the biggest differences in the swords is the style of blade – a smallsword blade is idealized for thrusting, therefore they often were thin, stiff, & may or may not have been edged. A broadsword blade is optimized for cutting, often being wider & maintaining the width the length of the blade (a backsword is just a single edged broadsword). Finally, the shearing/spadroon/Walloon/Mortuary sword have a blade optimized for cutting AND thrusting.

An example of a smallsword
An example of an Insular broad/backsword
An example of a Shearing Sword/Spadroon


Contre-pointe5

Contre-pointe is the name for one of the three types of French fencing in the 17th and 18th century. Rather than differentiating the type of fencing by the type of weapon, the French at this time differentiated by the type of fencing (the assumption being that the weapon you have would be optimized for that type). The three designations are:

  • Pointe – thrust focused 
  • Contre-pointe – cut and thrust
  • Espadon6 – cutting focused

Given that the focus is on the type of fencing rather than the weapon’s shape, it is entirely possible that one could use the exact same sword for all three types of fencing. 

In general, contre-pointe has two guards and seven parries. The guards are Medium, the arm held slightly bent with the blade held True Edge vertical and Extended, the arm held fully out with the blade held True Edge to the outside. The parries are:

  • Prime – hilt high, blade pointing at the ground, True Edge to the Inside
  • Seconde – hilt high, blade pointing at the ground, True Edge to the Outside
  • Tierce – hilt medium, blade pointing at Opponent’s eyes, True Edge to the Outside
  • Quarte – hilt medium, blade pointing at Opponent’s eyes, True Edge to the Inside
  • Quinte – hilt high & over forehand shoulder, blade sloping to the Inside
  • Sixte – hilt high & over backhand shoulder, blade sloping to the Outside
  • Septime – take Quarte, supinate hand, point towards the ground

Similarities

The main similarity between Wylde and contre-pointe (aside from the type of sword used) is the focus on the thrust as the primary tool of distance management and attack. Both systems aim to use simple7 parry-riposte style of defense.

Wylde’s Inside and Outside neatly match Contre-pointe’s Tierce and Quarte. In fact, in his smallsword section, Wylde calls these parries “Cart” and “Ters” respectively. If you look at Wylde’s smallsword terminology as badly Anglicized French then you can easily see how Quarte turns into Cart and Tierce into Ters. In addition, Wylde has a “Saccon” which is his version of Seconde and either Wylde’s St. George or his Hanging is a close match for contre-pointe’s Quinte.

Another similarity to both is the use of a Medium guard as a “ready position”. This allows the parries/guards to be used as invitations if needed, but ultimately if you don’t know what to do, go into Medium guard.

The final similarity has nothing to do with the sword itself but something I erroneously thought was unique to Wylde and Insular Broadsword – body positioning. Wylde has two main body positions9 – Half Body (profiled) and Full Body (squared). These two positions are key to the footwork called “Traversing” where one moves from Half Body to Full Body repeatedly to move in a circular fashion. This is mentioned in Wylde, Page, and many other Insular sources. So imagine my surprise when I saw the same body positions, indeed almost the same translated names, in contre-pointe with a Profiled Stance and Open Stance!

Differences

The biggest difference between Wylde and contre-pointe is the focus on naming the weapon versus naming the system used. Perhaps the second biggest is Wylde not including as many guards/parries. Following third is that, in the Profiled stance, contre-pointe keeps the off-hand behind the smalls of the back whereas Wylde keeps the off-hand in front of the chest (a hand position contre-pointe also uses in its Open stance).

Alex’s Wylde Ass Theories

My theory as to why Wylde only has five main sword guards – I do think Wylde was trained in French pointe if not contre-pointe. His terminology in his smallsword section, as I’ve noted, is badly Anglicized French. At first glance he has four smallsword guards: Medium, Cart, Ters, and Faloon. As noted above, Cart and Ters are Quarte and Tierce. Medium is similar to contre-pointe’s Medium but with the arm fully extended (the fully extended arm at all times being a hallmark of Wylde’s system). Faloon is the name for the Hanging guard in the smallsword section and probably best connects to Quinte. However, Wylde also mentions Saccon (Seconde) as being a position to go into; not necessarily a guard but definitely a parry. In addition he has a Low Cart, which is close to how Septime is described and used. So in reality Wylde has one guard and five parries in the smallsword section. In his broadsword section, Wylde features five quintessentially Insular Broadsword8 guards: Inside, Outside, Medium, St. George, and Hanging. The only one here that was not featured already in smallsword is the St. George parry, held with the arm straight, blade parallel to the ground, hilt about forehead level. This can equate to Quinte. The only guards significantly missing from Wylde that are present in contre-pointe are Prime and Sixte. I can make an argument for a Prime like position being the Hanging guard when used to parry a blow/thrust to the Inside line but that is supposition at best on my part. So even though Wylde only names five guards – Inside, Outside, Medium, Hanging, and St. George – he actually describes two more, Saccon and Low Cart. So all told Wylde includes, to use the contre-pointe terminology, Seconde, Tierce, Quarte, Quinte, and Septime. 

Conclusion

There is enough evidence, in my mind, to say that Wylde was a student of early contre-pointe or just pointe. Then he brought this home and combined it with his “native” broadsword system to create his own system. This system of his, which he applies to quarterstaff as well, is still very much in the family of contre-pointe, if not directly than a cousin thereof. 

Footnotes

  1. If you don’t know Jim, you should. He runs Sala delle Tre Spade in Newberg, OR and helps run Capitale Escrime in Salem, OR. I have yet to meet someone more knowledgeable about early modern (16th through 19th century) fencing. Others may have greater depth, but he has a breadth of knowledge that is unmatched.
  2. It was also Jim’s idea that the connections I found would make a good article. At the time I said “Maybe…” and yet here we are.
  3. https://smallswordproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/zach-wylde.pdf 
  4. Ibid.
  5. My primary sources for this section are the HEMA Misfits blog and this PDF from Montreal Sword Meisters 
  6. I have a really funny anecdote on the trials of translation involving someone translating “espadon” to mean “swordfish”. That is the modern French translation but as we all should know, meanings of words can shift over time. Clearly it is difficult to take a Medium guard with a swordfish (it is far better to use a salmon).
  7. As I am fond of saying “Simple but not simplistic”
  8. Insular Broadsword being coined by Jim Emmons to include all styles of broadsword taught in the British Isles – Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, et al.
  9. He mentions, once in passing, a unique situation in which you have a more profiled stance with your left foot forward.
Share this post on: