This website is intended to be a kind of neutral ground for the community, focused entirely on providing useful information. It is not aligned with any political or ideological movements which some individuals within the community are involved with.
We do not endorse the personal lives, lifestyles or other HEMA unrelated activities of the authors of information presented on this website. Both our inclusion of material and our refusal to remove such information based on HEMA unrelated activities should not be considered an endorsement of those activities. We are strictly only interested in whether information has value for the HEMA community or not.
It is worth reminding people that one of the most comprehensive surviving treatises we have today was created by Paulus Hector Mair, who embezzled the city of Augsburg accounts to fund his lavish lifestyle and produce works such as his treatises. He was executed as a thief for this crime. Yet his work has immense value for the modern HEMA community and no one is arguing his work should not be studied because he was a scoundrel. Likewise we do not see a reason to blacklist other authors who may still be living and who may be controversial for activities not strictly related to HEMA. We have articles on our site such as the History of the Modern HEMA Movement that would be impossible to accurately present if we selectively removed the mention and contributions of every individual who is considered controversial today. Therefore we believe this site cannot fulfill its mission if we don’t strive to maintain this policy.
The only thing that matters to our editorial policy is whether the information is useful.
We’re not going to blacklist or shun groups listed in our Club Finder or specific individuals, or remove information based on personal politics or accusations of criminal activities which have not been substantiated by the outcome of legal proceedings. Nor will we respond to any pressure someone attempts to give for us to remove such information. The role of this website is to make information more accessible to the HEMA community. We are not a governing body nor are we the internet police. Please do not bother us with requests to take down information merely because you dislike or disagree with the author of that information, we will ignore you.
The only time we will consider removing a club from our lists is if that club and its owners poses a danger beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a legal definition. ‘Beyond a reasonable doubt’ is a very high standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction. That is to say unless there is a criminal or civil conviction for the accused conduct we are unlikely to respond to requests to remove a club simply because someone feels they are bad, for whatever reason. It is not our place to be the internet police, nor are we going to investigate disputes within clubs and choose sides in disputes.
This website does have a bias, and that bias is that if information is deemed by us to be useful then it will be included, and if it is not useful then it will not be included. That is all.
Historical European Martial Arts Resources does not endorse any political organization or movement, nor support any group that calls for violence or condones illegal activity.
