''De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi'' was written by Italian fencing master Filippo Vadi between 1482 and 1487. It consists of an opening prologue describing the art of fencing followed by colored plates illustrating specific techniques for the longsword, dagger,

pollaxe The poleaxe (also pollaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, poleax, polax) is a European polearm that was widely used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead mea ...

, spear and club. While much of what he describes closely follows the work of

Fiore dei Liberi Fiore Furlano de Cividale d'Austria, delli Liberi da Premariacco (Fiore dei Liberi, Fiore Furlano, Fiore de Cividale d'Austria; born ca. 1350; died after 1409) was a late 14th century knight, diplomat, and itinerant fencing master. He is the ear ...

, author of ''

Flos Duellatorum The Flos Duellatorum is the name given to one of the manuscript versions of Fiore dei Liberi's illuminated manuscript fight book, written in 1410 (dated to 1409 in the old reckoning). There are five other surviving recensions, under the title ...

'', Vadi's work also differs in some respects, including his footwork and several original techniques of his own. Little is known about the author, a native of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, other than that he appears to have been a mid to late 15th-century fencing master linked in some way to the tradition of Fiore dei Liberi and that he dedicated a fencing book to the Dukes of Urbino, in the last quarter of the 15th century. However, a man of the same name appears as a governor of Reggio under the Estense family in the mid- to late 15th century.Sala d'Arme Achille Marozzo
The book was dedicated to Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro (the same duke who plays a central role in Castiglione's ''

Book of the Courtier ''The Book of the Courtier'' ( it, Il Cortegiano ) by Baldassare Castiglione is a lengthy philosophical dialogue on the topic of what constitutes an ideal courtier or (in the third chapter) court lady, worthy to befriend and advise a Prince or pol ...

'') and kept in the library of the Dukes of Urbino.

References

External links

Summary and Text of Prologue
1480s books Combat treatises

See also

References

Further reading

External links