Just found solid proof that Johannes Liechtenauer originally came from Sweden and that this Johannes of Sueeno is indeed the fencing teacher that Fiore Dei Liberi says he was taught by.
Sueeno is an older spelling of what is today called “Svea”. Tacitus (and Julius Caesar) wrote about the Suebi’s who originally lived in Northern Germany close to the Elbe, and the Suiones in Scandinavia, in both Svea, Suomi (Finland) and Swabia. The Suebi did indeed move south to what became Swabia.
The Svea clan was one of the competing clans in Sweden and the ones who finally seized power over what would become Svea Rike ie Sverige (Sweden). Finland (Suomi) was a part of Sweden all the way up until 1819 when we lost it to Russia and its name Suomi is linguistically related to Sweden. The names of the clans of Suebi and Suioni has been suggested to mean “Free people” or “One’s own people“.
I can also reveal that Johan originally came from Lidsjön (pronounced “lichoen”) in Värmland, near Dalarna, Sweden. It is easy to see how the name has mutated over the centuries… Johan från Lidsjön became Johannes von Lichtenau.
This evidence also provides a clear link between Viking staff fighting and Portuguese Jogo do Pau as the Swedes ruled Gallicia in Northern Portual and spread their staff fighting techniques while living there. Suebic King Hermeric founded the Galician kingdom in Northern Portugal in 406 and it wasn’t really disestablished until 1833.
Tied to this, Kamprad is actually one of the oldest families in Sweden and they have deep, semi-secret military connections. Their name even means “battle line”. And it was of course them that spread our Swedish way of fighting to the rest of Europe, teaching the Billy-Hook and other traditional weapons…
This new source also reveals that we have all misunderstood some of the basic guards of KdF. Alber and Tag is actually one single guard called “Alber Tag” ie “Fool’s Day.
