Federfechter The Freifechter or Federfechter ( " Freifechter von der Feder zum Greifenfels " ) were a fencing guild founded around 1570 in Prague . They were known , from early in their existence , to be skilled , rivalling the Marx brothers who for the best part of a century had held a monopoly . In 1575 they were admitted by the council of Frankfurt in spite of the Marx brothers ' s protests , and on 7 March 1607 , they were officially recognised by Rudolf II , although they had been acknowledged to be equally capable long before . The origin of the name is unclear , though it is believed that it was derived from the name of Saint Vitus , who is often depicted with a feather . In their " Deutsches Wörterbuch " , the Brothers Grimm hold it plausible that it derives from the custom of pinning feathers to one ' s hat or lance , but the coat of arms accorded to the brotherhood by Rudolf II displays two arms each holding a quill ( " schreibfeder " ) , inducing the Grimms to speculate that the brotherhood may merely have originated as the fencing guild of the professional scribes . Johann Fischart in " Gargantua " ( 282a ) has : " darumb hat allein unter den göttern Mercurius ein hütlin auf und darzu als ein guter federfechter federn drauf " : " among all the gods , Mercury alone wears a hat and , as a good " Federfechter " , sports feathers on it " . But also ( 188ab ) " ' schreib mit dinten ' so sicht wie blut , ' die feder ' must ihm oben schweben und solt es kosten sein junges leben " : " write with ink that looks like blood , the " feder " ( Fechtfeder , but also " quill " ) must sway above him , even if it should cost his young life " " Federfechterei " came to mean flashy mock - combat in general , thus , in an anonymous 1697 work called " des träumenden Pasquini kluge Staatsphantasien " , we read " . . . damit der herzog von Savoien ein spiegelfechten mit dem marechal de Catinat in Piemont anstellen , selbigem aber nicht viel weher thun solte , als wenn die Lucas - und Marcusbrüder mit ihrer federfechterei sich die köpfe ein wenig blutig schlagen und darbei den zuschauern die beutel leeren , so gut sie können " : " . . . so that the duke of Savoy undertook a bout of sham - fencing with the marechal de Catinat in Piemont , without doing more hurt to the latter as when the brethren of Luke and Mark with their " federfechterei " bloody each others heads a little while emptying the pockets of the onlookers as well as they may " ( p . 323 ) . Their original charter reportedly derives from the Duke of Mecklenburg , and part of the reason that they might have retained a high reputation ( equal to the Marxbruder , despite not having their cachet ) for so long was the high requirements for any fencing master in Germany to start a school . The need for the nascent fencing master to impress the municipal council of his city to start a fencing school there might have weeded out the most unfit . Once posting his notice at the city ' s Rathaus , making his demonstration , and ( presumably ) impressing the council ( by fighting a number of persons who presented themselves to fence the reviewee ) , he could be granted the use of an open space in which to teach . During the existence of the Federfechter , the application process for starting a school was extremely stringent ; partly because of resentment from the Marxbruder , who felt the Federfechter ' s existence threatened their privileges and interfered in an art that rightfully belonged to the Marxbruder . Ironically , the interference by the Marxbruder may have , in the long term , preserved the Federfechter ' s reputation ; any master who managed to start a school with this much interference would have to be special , indeed . The " Oberhauptmänner " of the Marxbruder and the Federfechter were often seen at the imperial court by the mid - 16th century , and were each consulted on matters of honor . An Eschenbachen Federfechter by the name of Hanns Schuler mentions that , at least in some cases , thick jerkins were worn by both Federfechter and Marxbruder during bouting with the dussack . A quote from Augustin Staidt , a Federfechter : " Who despises me and my praiseworthy craft , I ' ll hit on the head that it resound in his heart . " Additional information can be found in the book " Sechs Fechtschulen der Marxbrüder und Federfechter , " by Karl Wassmannsdorff , published in Germany in 1870 .