The Flower of Battle, by Fiore dei Liberi

Companion volume to the Spada Press facsimile of Il Fior di Battaglia: Edited, transcribed, and translated by Dr. Guy Windsor

Author: Guy Windsor

The Flower of Battle, by Fiore dei Liberi

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The Flower of Battle, by Fiore dei Liberi

This is the companion volume to the Spada Press facsimile of Il Fior di Battaglia.

Il Fior di Battaglia, the Flower of Battle, was written by the great Italian master at arms Fiore dei Liberi around the year 1400. It covers knightly combat on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, in great depth and detail. The sections of the manuscript include an introduction, then plays of wrestling, the dagger, the sword in one hand, the sword in two hands, the sword in armour, the pollax, the spear, the lance on horseback, the sword on horseback, and wrestling on horseback. It is lavishly illustrated with over 250 drawings, each with gold leaf insignia.

The treatise exists in four manuscript copies, of which MS Ludwig XV at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is the most complete, with the most clear and useful explanatory text. Spada Press has produced a beautiful facsimile of the Getty MS. The first half of the facsimile has unaltered scans of the manuscript. The second half of the facsimile is a second reproduction of the manuscript with the original Italian text replaced by Dr. Guy Windsor's English translation. This recreates the experience of reading the original Italian as closely as possible.

This companion volume provides a transcription of the Italian text, and Dr. Windsor's translation, and includes an introduction to Fiore and his life and times, the provenance of the manuscript, and suggestions for further study.

Edited, Transcribed, and Translated by Dr Guy Windsor

About the Author

Dr. Guy Windsor is a world-renowned instructor and a pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts. He has been teaching the Art of Arms full-time since founding The School of European Swordsmanship in Helsinki, Finland, in 2001. His day job is finding and analysing historical swordsmanship treatises, figuring out the systems they represent, creating a syllabus from the treatises for his students to train with, and teaching the system to his students all over the world. Guy is the author of numerous classic books about the art of swordsmanship and has consulted on swordfighting game design and stage combat. He developed the card game, Audatia, based on Fiore dei Liberi's Art of Arms, his primary field of study. In 2018 Edinburgh University awarded him a PhD by Research Publications for his work recreating historical combat systems. When not studying medieval and renaissance swordsmanship or writing books Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.