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There are quite a few historic manuals linked from ARMA's page of manuals. The majority are pre-17th century, but there's a good dozen from that period. As to schools, my understanding is that practically every fencing master would claim his/her own style.

Major categories that I am aware of (expanding slightly on Sardathrion's comment): Iaijutsu (居合術) and Iaido (居合道) are the art of drawing the sword. Iaijutsu, theoretically, prefers more practical application while iaido is closer to an internal martial art, but you'll find schools under both names that exist along a bit of a continuum. Kenjutsu (剣術) is ...

Kenjutsu is the skill of using the sword, divided into various styles by ryuha (roughly, "schools"). This can include skills such as drawing (iai) or engaging (battou), as well the disarming of an armed opponent (shinken shirahadome or muto dori). Generally (though certainly not in all cases), kenjutsu is one component of a greater curriculum within a ryuha ...

I've studied iaido for five years, and practiced a variety of styles under one teacher (that's how much my words are worth). In general, parries, blocks and deflections are done with the side or the back of the sword. It provides a very convenient yin/yang balance to the movements, where you can draw from your opponent's strike and smoothly deflect it, then ...

I don't think there are any major umbrella iaijutsu organizations. The All United States Kendo Federation also supports iaido and you'll sometimes find (for instance) Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu or Muso Shinden Ryu instructors among the local kendo sensei. I used to study kendo and iaido in the Pacific Northwest and I thought the quality of the instruction ...

Your question may be answered more generically as thus: What is the difference between -do and -jutsu? (with the exception of judo and jujutsu) -Jutsu, grossly, means 'technique'. It means something applicable, practical, extremely concerned with getting results. -Do, grossly, means 'path'. It has much stronger ties to a lot of other aspects of life, ...

Sorry if this is a vague answer, and I don't know the first thing about the Seido karate style, but I remember an instructor (I can't remember what style. Kajukenbo, perhaps?) at a martial arts camp once telling me that they only taught weapons at black belt level to avoid weapons bias. The idea was that a practitioner should be fully proficient in empty ...

Japanese martial arts traditionally do not block. The theory is Evade and Strike. An easy way to consider this is to look at the footwork. In Aikido, your hanmi is not a strong stance to block, but it's a great stance for moving and evading. With this mindset, I have trouble believing that there is a proper "Block". I can't think of any time I've been ...

The exact answer would depend on which specific styles/lineages your talking about. (And there I am not able to provide specific info.) But a general answer would be the difference is the meaning of 'do' versus 'jutsu'. Iaido would be a "way"; practicing for self-betterment being the more primary intent. Iaijutsu would be "martially effective"; practicing ...

As far as French manuals go, I know of only one from the late 16th century, entitled (deep breath): Traicté contenant les secrets du premier livre sur l'espee seule, mere de toutes armes, qui sont espée dague, cappe, targue, bouclier, rondelle, l’espée deux mains & deux espées, avec ses pourtraictures, ayans les armes au poing por se deffendre & ...

Likely the most significant difference you'd see is that Iaido is practiced as a stand-alone art, while Iaijutsu would be one component of a Ryu (school/style) that has a larger scope. It's unlikely you'd find someone who practices Iaijutsu who doesn't also know Kenjutsu, but you could quite likely find someone who practices Iaido who doesn't know Kendo or ...