Is there a western medieval equivalent to Miyamoto Musashi?
Namely, someone who was so uniquely skilled in martial combat that he became a near-legendary figure, maybe even penning philosophical or literary works, memoirs, anything. Someone who stands above all others as a machine bred for the death of other men, but did not devolve into lechery, alcoholism, instead retaining an untarnishable sense of honor.
Or, honestly, anyone with Mushashi's record of 60 wins in 1v1 deathmatch
>that kdr
He's not very well known but I guess a comparable example would be Conn of the Hundred Battles
Caeser fits all those qualities except for the martial combat. And in that regard, I can't really think of anyone, only generals come to mind. Maybe Scanderbeg?
If you believe it, Cassius scaeva. Not a warrior poet though
Is Mushashi's skill verified by any of his contemporaries?
There are plenty of early-modern (not medieval) European fencing masters contemporary with Musasshi but I don't know how skilled they were.
Did Bertran de Born fight in any battles, or was he just a pussy minstrel who talked a big talk?
El Cid goes unmentioned? Terrible dishonor has been done to Castilla this day--may Tizona smite you fools
Khalid was pretty good
A lot. One of them is Fiore dei Liberi. He got challenged into a duel a lot of times.
>medieval equal with Miyamoto Musashi
Guts
James Bowie
o wait you said medieval
What about Cyrano de Bergereac?
Andrew Jackson
Went 20:1 in duels and 840:1 against Indians.
OP said medieval.
Was 840 actually confirmed? That seems a little insane
Honestly, anybody interesting is fine, medieval's just preferred.
Bowie's a particularly good one, knife fighting and all. Didn't know he wrote anything besides letters.
>pic only tangentially related, but crazy motherfuckers always appreciated
Zawisza Czarny.
Fought shit ton of duels
Was considered to be an example of knight virtues.
When army that he was in lost a battle and was retreating trough the river he was supposed to say
"I can swim but there is no boat big enough to carry my honor" and he stayed
>During his campaigns, El Cid often ordered that books by classic Roman and Greek authors on military themes be read aloud to him and his troops, for both entertainment and inspiration before battle. El Cid's army had a novel approach to planning strategy as well, holding what might be called brainstorming sessions before each battle to discuss tactics.
El Cid was pretty based
>is there a western equivalent to an anime character
No, in western myths you either go full retard and indistinguishable from gods, or more grounded in reality. Musashi is in the middle.
And I seriously hope you guys don't believe all the legends about him. Or even half.
OP youd be better off asking the HEMA general thread on /asp/
No writings to speak of.
But he's as knightly as you can get.
King Arthur of Camelot was a pretty tough dude.
Pelayo.
Would William Marshal count?
If you want knightly as fuck, he went of a Crusade for a liege lord (Henry II's son; he was the fuckface's combat instructor and military teacher) that kicked him out on rumors of adultery (which of course he never did) and there's his entire service with King John.
Combat-wise he's managed to take out 500 knights in tournaments and remained undefeated. And then he unhorsed the future King Richard. Yes, that King Richard the Lionheart. Richard "I fight as a common knight in tournaments because everyone goes easymode on me since I'm the king" Lionheart.
Khalid
This fucking meme over and over again and no one realises that medieval accounts regarding number of combatants are very rarely trustworthy.
>Muslim revitionism
Every time.
>Hey Veeky Forums is there ever a western medieval equivalent to an independent, non-state entity, uniquely skilled martial art/philosopher who became legendary?
>Idiots answer with kings and generals.
simo hayha
You have to realize most of his fights were probably with bokken and not likely to result in death.
This article as a brief description oft he circumstances of one of his later duels
musashi-miyamoto.com
"After running his dojo successfully for a few years, Musashi's reputation started to grow even more and he began to be considered one of Japan's best swordsmen. When Honda Tadamasa, the lord of Himeji castle heard about him, he ordered Miyake Gunbei, his most skilled samurai, to go to Musashi's dojo and show him that he was not actually Japan's greatest swordsman. Musashi accepted the fight and left the choice of the weapon (either a real sword or a wooden sword) to his opponent.
Miyake's orders were to test Musashi's ability, not to kill him, so he decided to cut a piece of bamboo from the garden to use as a weapon. Meanwhile, Musashi wielded his bokuto. Seconds after they had faced off, Miyake Gunbei was defeated."
So while Musashi allowed the possibility of a death match in the challenge, it was decided through a risky, but nonlethal fight with a wooden weapon.
To give an idea a rule set from the early twentieth century involved each participate taking the (wooden) weapon of their choice, and fighting until the other side gave up or was incapacitate. I assume most of his fights were like this, though its clear a few were fights to the death
We do know that he was an exceptionally talented carver and calligrapher. Some of his drawings and sculptures are verified to be made by him.
John Hawkwood
Bertrand du Guesclin
William Marshall
tell us about some of these people, what were their accomplishments?