Dating from the 1520's, Bolognese swordsmaster's Antonio Manciolino's Opera Nova is the earliest surviving printed book on Italian martial arts. This seminal and eclectic Renaissance work contains clear and systematic instruction on the use of the sword and small buckler, sword and large buckler, sword and targa, sword and dagger, sword and cape, two swords, sword alone, and sword and rotella, plus a fascinating compendium on the use of polearms. Clearly and elegantly written, Manciolino's text is one of the best and clearest presentations of the martial skills required of the ideal Renaissance man. For the first time since its original publishing, this book has been translated into English by experienced historical fencing instructor Tom Leoni. Also included is a valuable and extensive technical introduction, complete with illustrations from both original sources and modern photographs, making it easy to follow Manciolino's instructions, sword-in-hand, even by beginners, while providing years of training for veteran martial artists.
This is the most thorough work ever about historical swordsmanship. It is both a general reference and an instructional guide for advanced and beginning sword enthusiasts, students of military history and martial artists. Includes rare historical info and 100 original drawings.
This short text with beautiful watercolour illustrations dates from 1595, and details fencing with the single sword, rapier and dagger, rapier and buckler, halberd, and full pike. Schermkunst is one of the oldest known martial arts treatises from the Low Countries and provides a glimpse into the `Art of Defence' as it was practiced during a particularly volatile time in Netherlands history. Rebellion against Philip II of Spain led to independence of the Calvinist Northern provinces from Catholic Spain. In the same year, the spice trade expedition set into motion events culminating in the formation of the Dutch East India Company, and a golden age of Dutch history that spanned the 17th century. The original anonymous manuscript is held in the special collections of the Newberry Library of Chicago. - Verlagstext.
From the author of Renaissance Swordsmanship comes the most comprehensive and historically accurate view ever of the lost fighting arts of Medieval knights, warriors and men-at-arms. Based on years of extensive training and research in the use of European swords, it contains highly effective fighting techniques for the sword, sword & shield, long-sword, great-sword, pole-arm and more. And with more than 200 illustrations and rare historical documents, it is a scholarly reference as well as a hands-on training guide for martial artists of all levels.
Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.
Celebrate two decades of historical martial arts development with the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Swordsman's Companion by Guy Windsor. This seminal guide has transformed the lives of thousands of swordsmanship enthusiasts worldwide, becoming a timeless classic in historical martial arts literature. This special edition retains the original's practical approach with detailed instructions, illustrations, and drills, which were state-of-the-art in 2004. The field has moved on considerably, so this book includes access to Guy's fully updated interpretation of Fiore's longsword techniques in The Medieval Longsword. Whether you're revisiting this influential text or discovering it for the first time, The Swordsman's Companion is a fascinating resource for both beginners and seasoned martial artists. Join the community of dedicated practitioners who have begun their martial arts journey through this book.
Camillo Agrippa's widely influential "Treatise on the Science of Arms" was a turning point in the history of fencing. The author - an engineer by trade and not a professional master of arms - was able to radically re-imagine teaching the art of fencing. Agrippa's treatise is the fundamental text of Western swordsmanship. Just as earlier swordsmanship can be better understood from Agrippa's critiques, so too was his book the starting point for the rapier era. Every other treatise of the early-modern period had to deal explicitly or implicitly with Agrippa's startling transformation of the art and science of self-defense with the sword. Likewise, all of the fundamental ideas that are still used today - distance, time, line, blade opposition, counterattacks and countertime - are expressed in this paradigm-shifting treatise. This is a work that should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history, practice or teaching of fencing. His treatise was also a microcosm of sixteenth-century thought. It examines the art, reduces it to its very principles, and reconstructs it according to a way of thinking that incorporated new concepts of art, science and philosophy. Contained within this handy volume are concrete examples of a new questioning of received wisdom and a turn toward empirical proofs, hallmarks of the Enlightenment. The treatise also presents evidence for a redefinition of elite masculinity in the wake of the military revolution of the sixteenth century. At the same time, is offers suggestive clues to the place of the hermetic tradition in the early-modern intellectual life and its implications for the origins of modern science. Camillo Agrippa's "Treatise on the Science of Arms" was first published in Rome in 1553 by the papal printer Antonio Blado. The original treatise was illustrated with 67 engravings that belong to the peak of Renaissance design. They are reproduced here in full. "Mondschein has at last made available to English-speaking readers one of the most important texts in the history of European martial arts. Agrippa marks a turning point in the intellectual history of these arts.... Mondschein's introduction to his work helps the reader understand Agrippa - and the martial practices themselves - as pivotal agents in the evolving cultural and intellectual systems of the sixteenth century. Above all, Mondschein's translation is refreshingly clean and idiomatic, rendering the systematic clarity of the Italian original into equally clear modern English - evidence of the author's familiarity with modern fencing and understanding of the physical realities that his author is trying to express. Mondschein's contextualization of his topic points the way for future scholarly exploration, and his translation will doubtless be valued by both students of cultural history and practitioners of modern sword arts." - Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Paul S. Morgan Curator -Higgins Armory Museum, Adj. Assoc. Prof. of Humanities, Worcester Polytechnic Institute First English translation. Hardcover, 234 pages, 67 illustrations, introduction, bibliography, glossary, appendix, index."
In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Windsor spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, Windsor takes you through all of Fiore's longsword techniques on foot without armour. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, Windsor's transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice is essential reading for all martial artists and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance.
