Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza

Don Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, , Jerónimo de Carranza, ; c. 1539 – c. 1600 or 1608) was a Spanish nobleman, humanist, scientist, one of the most famous fencers, and the creator of the Spanish school of fencing, destreza. He was the author of the treatise on fencing ('The Philosophy of Arms') from 1569, published in 1582. Carranza created the ideal of a poet and a warrior, which became the main guide to life for noblemen.

His work on fencing is the beginning of the fighting style in Spain, which lasted almost 300 years.

Jerónimo de Carranza, as the founder of destreza, is also called "the pioneer of the science of handling weapons." His work was continued by his followers pupil Luis Pacheco de Narváez, and Dutch master of fencing Gérard Thibault d'Anvers. It was they who put philosophical, intellectual and moral ideals into the system of combat and continued to develop the school of Spanish fencing.

Biography

Hidalgo Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza was born in Seville around 1539 and educated at the universities of Seville and Salamanca. Two of his sons went with him to Honduras: the eldest son Gil Sanchez de Carranza, who died returning from the Philippines in 1606, and Geronimo Sancho de Carranza. |author=Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza|title=The Philosophy of Arms

Sánchez de Carranza puts a certain medieval meaning into the formation of the ideal of the warrior, the master. The man of letters is a scientist, a knowledgeable, well-read person capable of applying science, describing his sphere of knowledge with the help of an extensive scientific and intellectual apparatus, comparing its scope with that of other sciences, and framing it literarily in an entertaining form. This is undoubtedly consistent not only with the humanistic goals of the era, but with all the desire of Carranza and his readers to build the philosophy and science of the new system of fencing.

As mentioned by D. Gómez Arias de Porres, master of the Spanish school of fencing and follower of Pacheco de Narváez, in his treatise ('Summary of true swordsmanship skills'):