Interpreting Fiore dei Liberi

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This page is the index for our interpretive work on Fiore dei Liberi.

Note: this page is a work in progress.

The Getty Manuscript

Fiore: The Getty Manuscript

Research and Interpretation Resources

The Wiktenauer page on Fiore dei Liberi collects biographical information, scholarship, transcriptions, translations, and access to the four surviving manuscript witnesses of his treatise.

Facsimile: The Spada Press facsimile of Il Fior di Battaglia includes a complete reproduction of the Getty Manuscript, and a second reproduction of the manuscript with the Italian text replaced by Dr Guy Windsor's translation.

Books:

From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi

From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Dagger Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi

From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi

Training Resources

For training in armizare, Fiore's art of arms, start with the Fiore Basic Syllabus.

Books:

The Armizare Workbook: Part One: The Beginner's Course, Right-Handed Version

The Medieval Dagger

The Medieval Longsword

Advanced Longsword: Form and Function

Online courses: The following courses are all relevant, and all available in the Mastering the Art of Arms membership package:

The Complete Medieval Longsword Course

The Medieval Dagger Course

The Medieval Wrestling Course

Who was Fiore dei Liberi?

Fiore dei Liberi was a master of the art of arms, which he called armizare. He was born some time around 1350 and died some time after 1410. Most of what we know about his life comes from the introductions to his manuscripts, and from research done by Francesco Novati, who published the Pisani-Dossi manuscript in facsimile in 1902, and Luigi Zanutto, who published Fiore dei Liberi da Premariacco e i ludi e le festi marziali in Friuli nel Medio-evo in 1907. Dr Ken Mondschein has published an excellent summary of Fiore’s life based on the manuscripts and these two early twentieth-century sources in his book The Knightly Art of Battle and his open-access article ‘On the Art of Fighting: A Humanist Translation of Fiore dei Liberi’s Flower of Battle Owned by Leonello D’Este’. You can find the article here.

Glossary of Italian Terms

You can find our glossary of terms such as zogho largo and mandritto fendente here: Glossary of Italian Fencing Terms.

Interpretation: The Manuscript by Sections

Abrazare

The Abrazare section of the Getty Manuscript begins with four guards, and continues with 20 plays, of which the last four involve a bastoncello (a short stick or baton).

The first six plays are an integral part of our Fiore Basic Syllabus and our Abrazare Basic Training.

Guards

Unarmed Abrazare Plays

Bastoncello Plays

Related resources

Manuscript source: Fiore: The Getty Manuscript

Book: for a complete transcription, translation, interpretation, and academic treatment, see From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi.

Online course: Medieval Wrestling: The Abrazare of Fiore dei Liberi

Dagger

The Dagger section is the largest single section of the Getty Manuscript. It begins with five variations on Porta di Ferro held with the dagger, and the "Four Blows" and "Five Things" principles. It is then organised into nine masters, each master showing a specific defence against a dagger attack.

Guards, Blows, and Things (Fol 09r–10r)

1st Master of the Dagger (Fol 10v–13r)

2nd Master of the Dagger (Fol 13r–13v)

3rd Master of the Dagger (Fol 13v–14r)

4th Master of the Dagger (Fol 14v and 38r)

5th Master of the Dagger (Fol 38r–15v)

6th Master of the Dagger (Fol 16r–16v)

7th Master of the Dagger (Fol 17r)

8th Master of the Dagger (Fol 17r–17v)

9th Master of the Dagger (Fol 17v–18v)

Dagger against Sword

Sword in the Scabbard against the Dagger

Sword in One Hand

The sword-in-one-hand section of Fiore dei Liberi's Getty manuscript begins with its master on folio 20r, followed by the plays on folios 20v–21v.

The First Two Longsword Guards

Longsword Grips

Longsword Blows

The Twelve Longsword Guards

Sword in Two Hands: Zogho Largo

The zogho largo (wide play) section of Fiore dei Liberi's longsword material shows techniques to be done when the tactical conditions of "wide play" are met. These are discussed in From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi, and on Guy's blog, here: Freedom to Strike: a lengthy discussion of largo and stretto.

Plays of the First Master

Plays of the Second Master

Sword in Two Hands: Zogho Stretto

Plays of the First Master

Additional Plays

This marks the end of the combat on foot out of armour.

Fiore: The Plays of Abrazare

Fiore: The Plays of the Dagger

Fiore: The Plays of the Longsword on Foot out of Armour

Note: we have yet to video the armoured combat and mounted combat sections, but all of the plays on foot out of armour have been shot, and we are updating the wiki with the relevant 100+ links section by section. Currently all of the Abrazare plays can be found on one page here: The Plays of Abrazare, and the dagger plays here: Fiore: The Plays of the Dagger. We are also in the process of creating a proper page-per-play format to apply to this content.

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