During the Fechtschulen, the public displays of skill where members of the local fighting guilds vied for prize money and “Kräntzlein“, injuries like noses split by swords, teeth knocked out by hits into the mouth, eyes gouged out by staff thrusts, even deaths were not uncommon… and how couldn’t they, considering the “scoring” mechanism was the “red sweat” pouring out of a head injury.
— so writes J. Christoph Amberger in “Behind the woodshed: Little-known aspects of Dussack play through the ages,” Journal of Western Martial Art, May 2003.
(Thanks to Bettina Kol for bringing this to our attention.)