We offer several conferences throughout the event. They are given by instructors and academic researchers of international renown.
Mars&Sol: a collection for HEMA
By Hélène Leblanc & Benjamin Conan
Benjamin Conan and Hélène Leblanc created the Mars&Sol collection at Éditions Solstices in 2023 by publishing their French translation of the Hans Medl Fechtbuch, Cod.I.6.2.5 (UB Augsburg – Oettingen-Wallersteinsche Bibliothek).
Three years later (this year 2026), the collection expands with a second volume: the translation from Latin into French, by François Siedel, of the manuscript Ms C.15 held at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden, entitled Sciomachia et Hoplomachia. In addition to these two translations, the collection also includes the publication of the proceedings of the FFAMHE symposia, entitled “Le sport, la mort, et le pâté en croûte” (“Sport, Death, and the Pork Pie”), edited by Olivier Dupuis & Ju Garry.
This lecture will be an opportunity to share our journey and our work as series editors, what drives us, and the projects ahead.
Support their new project here : https://www.helloasso.com/associations/solstices/collectes/precommande-sciomachia-et-hoplomachia
Hugo Wittenwiler
This lecture will complement the workshop in our discovery of Hugo Wittenwiler, a Swiss fencer, active during the 15th century, from the area around Wil or Toggenburg, nowadays in the canton of St Gallen.
His fencing manual can be found in the codex Cgm 558, a codex containing several works written in midle high german and covering various subjects from Alemannic Switzerland. The manual covers multiple weapons, fighting on foot or mounted.
Little is known about Hugo Wittenwiler. In the lecture we will look at the other weapons but also at the hunting treatise bearing the signature of Hugo Wittenwiler, trying to gain further insights on our author and his context.
(H)EMA – How important are history and sources in our sport?
Who does not know the situation? You want to fence and get the next best book written by some fencing master in the 16th century, who will tell you everything you need to know. Except that he apparently didn’t know how to structure his methodology and wrote some weird stuff about different positions. You will spend the next hours deciphering his manuscript and it will still not work to your satisfaction.
But then you meet an experienced coach, who will tell you everything you need to know in simple, understandable terms and correct you whenever necessary. And you may be wondering? Why should you read sources? Wouldn’t it be easier – especially if you want to “get good” fast” – to use whatever your coach will provide you with?
As a history student, I have a natural curiosity concerning sources. But at the beginning of my HEMA journey, I couldn’t deal with them properly because I stood before them and couldn’t figure out what Meyer, Lecküchner or Marozzo meant with their descriptions. In this lecture I want to open the discussion about how important sources really are in our sport, when to use them and how to use them properly.
Do you want to give a conference at the 2026 edition ? Please get in touch !