Joseph Swetnam

Joseph Swetnam was a Renaissance author and Jacobean fencing master, author of the first complete English fencing treatise.^{[citation needed]}

The Pamphlet Wars

Swetnam is best known for his misogynistic authorship as part of the Pamphlet Wars in Renaissance England. These "wars" were fought on the battleground of the printed page, by increasingly common and unknown writers. With the convenience of the printing press, any literate individual with a potent opinion and the time and means to do so could publish a pamphlet for the perusal of the public. The increased availability of printed material brought on by the presence of the printing press also influenced a rise in literacy. These factors, added to the ease of the publishing process and the intensity of social and political tensions in England, made way for a spirited nation-wide conversation. Debates raged back and forth between parties of opposed writers, a war of opinions waged over subjects like religion and the worth of women. Joseph Swetnam's pamphlet attacking women was one of many written in this period, but one of the most influential.

The Arraignment of Women

Swetnam wrote The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women in 1615 under the pseudonym Thomas Tell-Troth (despite this attempt at anonymity, the pamphlet was very quickly associated with its true author). In this document, Swetnam describes what he views as the sinful, deceiving, worthless nature of women. He addresses his remarks to the young men of the world, as if warning them about the dangers of womankind.

He cites personal experiences as well as those of well-known biblical and classical figures to authenticate his claims. Obviously written for the benefit and enjoyment of a male audience, much of his material takes the comical form of what we might today call sexist jokes. For example, he writes, "A gentleman on a time said to his friend, 'I can help you to a good marriage for your son.' His friend made him this answer: 'My son,' said he, 'shall stay till he have more wit.' The Gentleman replied again, saying, 'If you marry him not before he has wit, he will never marry so long as he lives.'"

His borrowing of authority from biblical figures was far more powerful and inflammatory, especially in Protestant England. Most material taken from the Bible in attacks on women and in their defense was used by all writers engaged in the debate. An important part of any author's attack or defense of women (as well as other subjects of debate) was interpretation and counter-interpretation of the Bible to support his or her perspective. Swetnam draws somewhat from the much-debated scene of the Garden of Eden, saying that woman "was no sooner made but straightway...procured man's fall", but he spends more time naming various victims of seduction, including David, Solomon, and Samson, blaming their falls from Godly grace on the wiles of the women with whom they sinned. He even makes use of a number of legendary figures in Classic tradition, including Hercules, Agamemnon, and Ulysses, citing the travails they suffered at the hands of women. While citing scriptural examples lends religious authority to his claims, using Classical examples, even those from a mythology deemed false by Christian beliefs, appeals to the sense of antiquity and cultural superiority associated with Rome.

The Arraignment of Women was popular enough to run through ten editions by 1637, and was still being reprinted in the 18th century. It was even translated into Dutch. Some scholars propose that this popularity was due to its heavy drawing from previous works, including and especially John Lyly's Euphues, and its consequent sense of inclusiveness. Others suppose it could have been its decisively middle-class emphasis and humor. It is also possible that it became popular because of the reaction it sparked from other writers, which does seem to be its most distinguishing characteristic.

Response

Three female writers responded independently to Swetnam's work, rising in defiant defense of their gender and in scathing criticism of their aggressor. The first response was by Rachel Speght, writing under her own name, under the title, "A Mouzell for Melastomus." Speght focuses her defense on biblical material, interpreting scripture to counter Swetnam's attacks, while criticizing Swetnam's grammar and style. She writes, "Whoso makes the fruit of his cogitations extant to the view of all men should have his work to be as a well-tuned instrument, in all places according and agreeing, the which I am sure yours doth not" (p. 36). She also responds briefly to his tract in her second publication, "Mortalities Memorandum".

The second response came in 1617 from a writer under the pseudonym Esther Sowernam ("Sour"nam, as opposed to "Sweet"nam), who wrote "Ester Hath Hang'd Haman," which is most notable for its reasoned an well-ordered argument. Next, also in 1617, was "Worming of a Mad Dogge," by a writer going by the name Constantia Munda, more notable for its impassioned invective and impressive learning. Perhaps the most dramatic response to Swetnam's published misogyny was the comic play, Swetnam the Woman-Hater Arraigned by Women, anonymously written and featuring Swetnam under the alias "Misogynos," made hilariously uncomfortable at the hands of the women he so despises.

Fencing Manual

Further information: Art of Defence

True guard for rapier and dagger as described by Swetnam.

In his 1617 fencing treatise, The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence, Joseph Swetnam represents himself as the fencing instructor for the then-deceased Prince Henry. The treatise itself is a manual detailing the use of the rapier, rapier and dagger, backsword, sword and dagger, and quarterstaff, prefaced with eleven chapters of moral and social advice relating to fencing, self defense, and honor. The influences of George Silver's Paradoxes of Defence and Vincentio Saviolo's works, his two predecessors in English fencing publishing, are clear.^{[citation needed]} Swetnam claims that his is the first complete fencing treatise authored by an Englishman. This is true as Silver's 'Paradoxes' is an incomplete study of basic principles behind fencing^{[citation needed]} and Saviolo, in spite of being an immigrant to England, was an Italian by birth and breeding.

Swetnam is known for teaching a unique series of special guards (such as the fore-hand guard, broadwarde, lazie guard and crosse guard), though his primary position is a "true guard", which varies slightly for each weapon. He advocates the use of thrusts over cuts and makes heavy use of feints. Swetnam favored fencing from a long distance, using the lunge, and not engaging weapons. His defenses are mostly simple parries, together with slips (evasive movements backward).

Swetnam's fencing system has been linked both to contemporary Italian systems as well as the traditional sword arts of England; his guard positions resemble those of contemporary Italian instructors, but his fencing system appears structurally different, and more closely related to a lineage of English fencing. He is also distinctive in his advice to wound rather than kill an opponent.

External links

• Half Humankind: Contexts and Texts of the Controversy about Women in England 1540-1640- Half Humankind, a book about the Pamphlet Wars in England, among other things.
• The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women- the text of Swetnam's pamphlet.
• The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence - Abridged, HTML- a transcription of the practical sections of Swetnam's manual.
• The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence - Complete, PDF- a complete facsmile scan.