Meyer's Trivium?

So I never picked up on this before, and I'm not certain it is in any way significant, but I've just noticed that Meyer orders his Longsword on the divisions of the "classical education" the Trivium which would have been the norm at the time (1.1v Forgeng):

"...to discuss it very briefly but clearly in such a manner as is done with all other arts and practices:

Firstly to show the vocabulary and manner of speaking that pertain to it, which have been invented by the masters of this art with particular diligence, so one may learn and grasp the secret and genius of it more promptly and rapidly

Next to explain and interpret this vocabulary, so that everyone may properly understand what is meant by this manner of speaking.

Then thirdly to present the practice of the art itself, and how it shall be carried out in the work from the cuts and postures that I will have explained."


So the first is his grammar (input), the next his logic (process) and finally his rhetoric (output) which make up the Trivium.

This could explain why his book is structured the way it is. I notice that there three books in Longsword ("the third part of the treatise on the sword" 1.44v/a) but I don't see that as aligning with that. 

It could potentially split out: 
  • The introduction is vocabulary or definitions
  • Chapter 1-9 is explanation
  • Chapter 9 on wards presenting the practice or devices
But I don't think so. 

I think he is ordering each chapter this way, for example: Chapter 3 has an introduction to the vocabulary (1.5v - 1.6r), then explanation (1.6v - 1.9v) and finally the practice (1.9v - 1.10v)

Whatever, it's interesting in the sense that it gives a reason for the sometimes baffling way he presents himself. What's interesting to me is the idea that to advance you could design some kind of Quadrivium. Firstly you learn the number (Mechanics), then number in space (Mechanics & Measure), then number in time (Mechanics & Time) and finally number in space and time (Mechanics, Time & Measure). I need to re-read Meyer bearing this in mind.

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