Sources of Study

Fiore dei Liberi - The Flower of Battle - c.1409
Presented to the Marquis d'Este in 1409, dei Liberi's treatise includes methods on fighting with longsword, arming sword, dagger, spear, pollaxe, mounted combat, unarmed combat and combined weapons such as sword vs. dagger, sword vs. spear and even two clubs vs. spear. Three copies of Liberi's treatise have survived - Fior di Battaglia (at the J.P. Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, USA), Flos Duellatorum (Pisani-Dossi MS; dated 1409) and Fior di Battaglia (at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City, New York, USA).

A transcription and translation of all three versions (some partial) of Liberi's treatise can be found at The Exiles - Fiore Project
Another translation of the Pisani-Dossi MS can be found at Knights of the Wild Rose


Filippo Vadi - Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi - c.1485-87
Written between 1485 and 1487 for Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, Vadi's treatise is the next step in the evolution of swordsmanship from Liberi's works. His work includes methods for fighting with longsword, spear, pollaxe and dagger, along with some insights with sword vs. dagger. Even though some of his work is very similar (to the point of being exactly the same) to Liberi's, there is an obvious evolution of his methods from his predecessor. He is also the first Master to mention lunging, something which was previously though to have arisen in the sixteenth century, as well as many other fencing techniques which were though to have come by later.

A translation of Vadi's Work can be found at Salle d'Arme Achille Marozzo



Suggested Reading

Baldesar Castiglione - The Book of the Coutier - 1528 - ISBN: 978-0-14-044192-5
This book is a recollection of conversations had in the Court of Duke Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, most probably within ten to fifteen years after Vadi's work. It is not a martial guide, but it provides an interesting look into the court that was contemporary with Vadi and his writings. A very intriguing insight into the minds of the Renaissance nobility.