History « The Science of Defence

History

In 43ad the roman conquest of Britain begun.
The Romans divided England into four areas—London being one of them.
London was home to a roman amphitheatre where gladiators trained and fought.
Cirencester had one of the largest amphitheatres that seated over 8000 spectators.

The Roman departure opened the door for the Anglo Saxon invasion, which is regarded as the origin of England and the birthplace of English Martial Arts.
This is the time of king Alfred the Great who defeated the Vikings in 871ad.
The Anglo-Saxons ruled England for 500 years.

In 1066 , the Normans invaded and conquered England.
England was later to go through the devastating black death of 1348, the 100 years war with France and the war of the roses which finally ended in 1485.
From 1485 to 1603 was the time of the Tudors, where in 1509 Henry the Eighth succeeded to the throne.
It was during this period the Company of Maisters was known to have existed and the ‘Paradoxes of Defence’ were written by George Silver in 1599.
In 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England uniting the two kingdoms.
This period is of great interest as during the reign of king Henry the Eighth, the Company of Maisters became a ruling body for teaching martial arts throughout England in their schools of fence.
The fencers on their admission into the company had to fight at public trials called prizes to advance onwards to eventually becoming a Maister.
English gladiatorial combat was commonplace where the gladiators fought with a large variety of weaponsand even in barefist boxing.
The teachers of Ancient English Martial Arts held that there were certain vital principles which must be adhered to in self defence.
These principles embraced the entire spectrum of the art.
They applied not just to the sword, but to the battle axe, quarterstaff, barefists, indeed any weapon which a human may use in hand to hand combat.

‘The Art Gladiatorie which we call The Science of Defence’

1631 Sir George Buck