Editing History of martial arts (section)

===Middle Ages===
{{Further|Medieval warfare|Viking Age arms and armour|Holmgang|Trial by combat}}
[[File:Ms I33 fol 04v.jpg|thumb|200px|Fol. 4v of the I.33]]
Pictorial sources of medieval combat include the [[Bayeux tapestry]] (11th century), the [[Morgan Bible]] (13th century).

The [[Icelandic sagas]] contain many realistic descriptions of [[Viking Age]] combat.

The earliest extant dedicated [[martial arts manual]] is the [[MS I.33]] (c. 1300), detailing [[sword]] and [[buckler]] combat, compiled in a [[Franconia]]n monastery. The manuscript consists of 64 images with Latin commentary, interspersed with technical vocabulary in [[Middle High German|German]]. While there are earlier manuals of wrestling techniques, I.33 is the earliest known manual dedicated to teaching armed single combat.

[[Wrestling]] throughout the Middle Ages was practiced by all social strata. [[Jousting]] and the [[medieval tournament|tournament]] were popular martial arts practiced by nobility throughout the High and Late Middle Ages.

The [[Late Middle Ages]] see the appearance of elaborate fencing systems, such as the [[German school of fencing|German]] or [[Italian school of fencing|Italian]] schools. Fencing schools (''[[Fechtschule]]n'') for the new bourgeois class become popular, increasing the demand for professional instructors (fencing masters, ''Fechtmeister''). The martial arts techniques taught in this period is preserved in a number of 15th-century ''[[Fechtbücher]]''.